Farm Life: Multigenerational Agriculture in the Philippines
In the heart of Southeast Asia, the Philippines, an archipelago of 7,107 islands, is a nation deeply rooted in agriculture. Rice, a staple food for most Filipinos across the country, plays a significant role in their daily lives and cultural traditions. However, climate change poses a grave threat to this essential food source.
Sharif Hamza, a photographer born and raised in London and currently residing in New York, shares a personal connection to the Philippines. His mother hails from this vibrant nation, and his family still owns farms in the southern region, passed down over four generations.
The Philippines, due to its location, is particularly vulnerable to typhoons originating from the Pacific Ocean. Climate change is exacerbating this vulnerability, increasing the frequency and severity of extreme weather events such as intense typhoons, prolonged droughts, and flooding. These events disrupt rice cropping cycles, reduce yields, and damage agricultural infrastructure.
For instance, powerful typhoons in 2024 devastated rice farms in key regions like Central Luzon and Eastern Visayas. Seasonal droughts driven by El Niño can cut rain-fed rice productivity by up to half. Erratic rainfall and extreme heat complicate irrigation scheduling and water management, leading to inconsistent rice production outputs and increased risk for farmers.
Over 60% of Philippine farmers identify climate change as the top challenge in agriculture for 2025, with damage to staple crops like rice driving food price volatility and threatening food security for millions. Adaptation strategies like alternate wetting and drying (AWD), which conserve water and reduce greenhouse gas emissions without significant yield loss in the Philippines, are being promoted locally.
Agriculture plays a crucial role in ending extreme poverty and boosting shared prosperity in the Philippines. The Philippine rice sector has always been the centre of the government's agricultural policies, with the focal points being promoting rice self-sufficiency and providing high income to farmers while making rice prices affordable to consumers.
Despite these challenges, the spirit of resilience remains strong among Filipino farmers. Children often help their parents during the harvest, contributing to a sense of satisfaction and happiness in a full and plentiful harvest. In places like Laguilayan, a small farming village in Mindanao, where the main trade is farming, specifically coconuts, palm oil, and rice, this spirit is evident.
The harvest season in Laguilayan involves several activities such as cutting, stacking, handling, threshing, cleaning, and hauling. Men and women use a karit, a type of sickle, to cut the long grass during the harvest. The cut grass is arranged into bales and hauled to a thresher, a machine that separates the grain from the grass.
The issue of climate change and its impact on rice production has sparked curiosity in Sharif Hamza's six-year-old daughter, who has been asking questions about where food comes from and the impact of human interactions on the planet. This curiosity serves as a reminder of the importance of educating the next generation about the challenges facing our planet and the need for sustainable practices.
The Philippines, as the 9th largest rice producer in the world, accounting for 2.8% of global rice production, has a significant role to play in ensuring food security for its people and the world. Without effective mitigation and adaptation, the combined effects of extreme heat, water stress, typhoons, and flooding are likely to lead to reduced rice supplies, threatening the livelihood of farmers and national food security.
In conclusion, climate change undermines Philippine rice production by increasing weather extremes that damage crops and complicate farming practices, raising risks for farming communities and food stability nationwide. Adaptation efforts like low-carbon farming and drought-resistant varieties will be critical to safeguarding rice agriculture going forward.
The photographer Sharif Hamza, with roots in the Philippines, expresses concern about his family's farms due to the escalating climate change challenges in the country. His daughter, curious about the planet, asks questions about the impact of human actions on food production.
The Philippines, as a nation, faces a dire threat to its staple food source, rice, amidst climate change, affecting its farming community, culture, and overall food security. This small farming village, Laguilayan, in Mindanao, demonstrates resilience amidst these harsh conditions, while educating the next generation about the importance of sustainable practices.
The Philippines, with its rich agriculture history, plays a vital role in ensuring food security not only for its community but globally, too. The issue of sustainable rice production and adaptation to climate change is critical in the face of unpredictable weather extremes and the need for effective mitigation strategies.
Inspired by the spirit of resilience among Filipino farmers, the importance of science, technology, and education-and-self-development becomes paramount in addressing the challenges posed by climate change on the Philippines' rice production. Meanwhile, innovative practices such as low-carbon farming and drought-resistant varieties can contribute significantly to safeguarding rice agriculture in the future.
Through the convergence of culture, community, art, finance, lifestyle, and technology, efforts should be directed towards promoting climate-smart agriculture, thereby ensuring a stable rice supply, securing the livelihood of farmers, and maintaining food security in the Philippines.
