More and more young Filipinos shun farming in favor of stable jobs: gov’t study

Source: Xinhua| 2019-11-15

MANILA, Nov. 15 (Xinhua) — More and more young Filipinos are shunning farming in favor of working in the industry and services sectors where they see the pay to be not only better but also more stable, according to a government study released on Friday.

The study, conducted by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), confirmed a prevalent out-migration in agriculture, the transfer or movement of agricultural workers into the industry and services sectors, especially among the young and educated workers.

“Most agricultural workers permanently migrated to jobs in construction, information technology, business processing management, transportation retail and food establishments, manufacturing, tourism-related services, and domestic work,” the study said.

According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, net employment in the Philippine agriculture, hunting and forestry (AHF) sector has been on a downtrend since 2010, as more workers had moved out of the sector than workers staying in or moving into agriculture.

The agricultural employment loss was observed in 15 out of the 17 regions in the Philippines.

The study said that agricultural work was substituted for jobs that do not necessarily pay high wages but offer a relatively stable income stream, non-wage benefits, and better working conditions.

The study further said that the persistent employment loss was accompanied by an aging agricultural workforce with lower educational attainment.

Between 2010 and 2017, the study said the average age of agricultural workers increased to 40 years old from 38 years old while that of workers in the industry and services was steady at 36 years old and 38 years old, respectively.

In terms of educational attainment, the study said agricultural workers lagged behind industry and services, where the proportion of workers who have at least finished high school have increased.

“On average, agricultural workers have 6.8 years of schooling compared to 9 years and 10 years in industry and services, respectively,” the study added.

Due to chronically wide sectoral productivity gaps, the study said agricultural output growth has also lagged far behind that of the non-agriculture sector.

According to the study, internal push factors that drive workers out of agriculture include rising production input costs particularly labor, low farm gate prices, land conversion, limited access to credit and output markets, poor management of irrigation systems, and changing agro-climatic conditions.

The study noted that the increase in the availability of non-agricultural jobs figured as a major pull factor in the out-migration of farmworkers.

In addition, the study said public investments in education and training, together with cash transfers, have enabled younger family members to finish schooling and hence, acquire better-paying jobs outside of agriculture.

“A holistic and coherent policy design for agro-industrial development and more responsive institutional setup will be needed to address agricultural employment challenges,” said NEDA in the study.