The 2018 Global Farmer Roundtable is scheduled for Oct 16-17 in Des Moines, Iowa – coinciding with the week of the World Food Prize Borlaug Dialogue and International Symposium.
As the Roundtable approaches GFN is introducing this year’s participants. It started with Bill Crabtree from Australia and Edgard Ramirez from Argentina – so now we’re checking in with A.D. Alvarez who farms in the Phillipines…
Farmer: Ariel Dave Alvarez
Country: Phillipines
Where is your farm located?
Our farm is located in a group of small islands called Camotes Islands in Cebu, Philippines in the town called San Francisco.
What does your farm look like? What is the size of your farm? What do you grow or raise?
My main farm is 8 ha [just under 20 acres] farm land and serves as our base. For our corn production, we rent an additional 25 to 35 hectares [about 62 to 86 acres] of fields. Our farming work is also about Community Development using farming as a tool to help other farmers improve their farming techniques and get them out of poverty.
What are you looking forward to most as you prepare to participate in the 2018 Global Farmer Roundtable?
I’m looking forward most to participating in the 2018 Global Farmer Roundtable and sit among amazing fellow farmers from different parts of the globe mainly to share their experiences, perspectives and challenges to develop a global outlook on how we can further enhance our farming in view of the urgency of increasing population, dwindling numbers of farmlands and climate challenges. I am also looking forward to participating in discussions of how we can further integrate and network ourselves so we can have an impact in our own local farming communities that will represent our participation as a GFN representative to our communities.
