Sustainable farming: A narrative analysis of the values, beliefs, and attitudes of organic farmers

The Master of Science in Sustainability Management Program of the John Gokongwei School of Management invites all the members of the Loyola Schools community to the Thesis Defense of Mr. Alfredo R. San Agustin, Jr. (MS in Sustainability Management candidate) on April 22, 2022 at 1:00 in the afternoon (online).

Mr. San Agustin’s thesis entitled, "Sustainable farming: A narrative analysis of the values, beliefs, and attitudes of organic farmers" will be presented to Dr. Ma. Assunta C. Cuyegkeng, Dr. Anna A. Mendiola and Dr. Raul R. Rodriguez. His adviser is Dr. Enrico C. Osi.

Abstract

Although different factors contributed to the decline of the country's agricultural sector, alternative food systems are gaining traction on the other hand. One of them is sustainable farming that uses the organic methodology. Organic farming can generally be used interchangeably as sustainable farming since most organic farms also follow sustainable practices.  One glaring difference of sustainable farming is that it is more of a philosophy and way of life for the farmers that involves the farm produces and the triple bottom line of sustainability. In the Philippines, some of the sustainable farming activities that were gaining traction were integrated organic farming, agricultural training institutions (ATI), and agri-tourism, all of which used organic farming practices. Even though organic farming in the country was in slow transition to sustainability, many micro, small to medium enterprises (MSMEs) were now shifting to sustainable agriculture as part of their mission and goals (Paderna et al., 2016). 

This research work provided a narrative analysis on the stories of the farmers’ lived experiences to be able to gain a deeper understanding of the values, beliefs and attitudes of organic farmers who were into sustainable farming practices. The frameworks of Ratten (2017) Sustainable farming entrepreneurship in the Sunraysia region and Mpetile and Chinyamurindi’s (2021) Motivational factors into agriculture as a career path: Narratives of Black emerging farmers as entrepreneurs in South Africa, were used as a basis for the narrative framework of the study that explored the shared experiences of the eleven (11) purposively selected Filipino organic farmers located in Luzon Island of the Philippines. 

Upon analysis, sustainable farming experiences manifested in the interplay of their stories following six main narratives: Health-consciousness, Knowledge sharing, Entrepreneurial opportunity, Reconnecting with society, Transforming through personal growth, and Living in harmony with nature. Two categories of local farmers were found in the local setting, and they could be categorized either as sustainable farmers or pluriactive farmers. Sustainable farmers were motivated by their desire to help future generations wherein they utilized environment-friendly methods to cultivate their land and were sustainable on the ecological and social aspects. While pluriactive farmers were risk-takers that saw value-added opportunities in their organic farms and practiced their entrepreneurial skills to become financially stable as a business. 

The significance of the study could lead in encouraging more local farmers and would-be farmers to move towards sustainable farming practices. Such practices were highly encouraged recently by the government to promote health awareness, food security, and as a business opportunity.