The primary time I touched soil, I didn’t perceive what it carried. I solely knew the odor of it after rain, the way it clung to my sneakers, the way it softened when pressed by naked arms. Later, I realized that soil isn’t just dust — it’s historical past, reminiscence, and risk all layered collectively.
Within the Philippines at present, that soil is weakening. Generations of overuse and neglect have left it drained, fragile, much less capable of feed us. However that very same earth, that very same dust, gives the solutions to our issues.
My staff realized this firsthand in our work with biochar, watching how lifeless earth may very well be coaxed into fertility once more with care and persistence. Among the best outputs for biochar is coconut husks, an answer that we merely aren’t tapping into correctly.
In seeing that, our staff understood one thing deeper: The issue isn’t just within the floor, however in ourselves. We’ve got to do one thing about it.
READ: We Were Meant to Grow Things
The straightforward truth is that our farmers are ageing. The typical farmer within the Philippines is now over 57 years outdated. Their youngsters take a look at the land and see exhaustion as a substitute of alternative, so that they depart. They transfer to Manila, Cebu, Davao — chasing name heart jobs, BPO contracts, an opportunity at a “higher life.”
However this “higher life” shouldn’t be without end. A.I. is altering the way forward for work quicker than anybody can monitor. What seems secure at present could also be gone tomorrow. And in that financial uncertainty, farming — the oldest career, the one rooted in solar and soil — might grow to be some of the resilient paths we’ve left.
We import a lot of what we eat now. Rice, greens, even fruit that after grew freely in our backyards is shipped in from overseas. This pointless dependence makes us susceptible — to local weather shocks, to international commerce wars, to the whims of worldwide markets we don’t management.
However meals safety shouldn’t be the one motive to plant once more. Farming retains households collectively. Too typically, mother and father present their love by crossing oceans to offer for youngsters they solely see by means of video calls.
After we farm, we create livelihoods proper right here, at dwelling. We give individuals a motive to remain. We rebuild dignity within the very act of rising.
After we put one thing within the soil — a seed, a sapling, a coconut or a stalk of rice — we’re not simply rising crops. We’re rising roots towards the drift of our individuals. We’re saying that the Philippines can feed itself, and that caring for the land shouldn’t be a burden however an inheritance.
We had been meant to develop issues. And if we neglect that, we threat dropping not simply our soil, however our story.
This is the reason we plant. — GMA Built-in Information
