Awareness, Perception, and Preparedness of Farmers in Itogon, Benguet towards the ASEAN Free Trade Agreement (AFTA) 2015

Abstract

The study focused on the Awareness, Perception and Preparedness on Farmers in Itogon, Benguet towards the ASEAN Free Trade Agreement (AFTA) 2015. The study was conducted to determine the socio-demographic profile of the respondents, the farmer-respondents awareness, perception and preparedness towards the AFTA integration, the communication activities used by the Local Government Unit of Itogon and other concerned agencies towards the integration and finally to produce a communication material which is leaflet. The study was conducted from February to March 2016. There are two sets of respondents: the first set was the 45 farmer-respondents which are from the top three agricultural barangays namely: Loacan, Tinongdan and Dalupirip. The second set of respondents is the LGU of Itogon, Benguet and other concerned agencies. The second sets of respondents are distinguished by their direct participation in the integration. The office of the regional Department of Agriculture (DA) is represented by Mr. Robert Domoguen, the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist (OPAG) is represented by Ms. Delinia Juan, the Benguet Agricultural Pinoy Trading Center (BAPTC) is represented by Mr. Frederico Edeco and the office of the Municipal Agriculturist (OMAG) of Itogon, Benguet is represented by Dr. Prudencio B. Pedro. Further, the data were gathered through interview schedules and were analyzed through descriptive statistics such as frequency counts and percentages. The study reveals that the farmer-respondents of Itogon, Benguet are moderately aware of the integration. According to the respondents result it implies that the respondents’ awareness are affected by the information they receive from the LGU and other offices/agencies in the integration. Furthermore, most of the farmers associate the integration to organic farming thus it becomes their tool or preparatory measure on the said integration. As for the farmer-respondents perception, the respondents perceive AFTA to be a challenge to their livelihood. Participating early in the integration will become a challenge for the farmer-respondents however the respondents said that on the long run it will be beneficial to their parts. Moreover, as for the preparedness of the farmer-respondents to the integration, most of the respondents said that they are not yet ready or is unsure to participate in the integration. Basing from the study the respondents’ knowledge, their field, technology used and equipment are not enough. As for the communication activities done by the LGU of Itogon and other concerned agencies in the integration, the regional office of the Department of Agriculture had done orientations on ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) to selected farmer leaders and municipal representatives. While the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist had also conducted orientations about AEC and seminars on Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) in the province. Furthermore, the BAPTC had also conducted seminars on GAP. The study recommends that the LGU may conduct more information dissemination campaigns solely to the AFTA integration in the locality. Also, the LGU of Itogon may consider producing an IEC material to support the seminars and orientations that are being done. The communication material that was produced in the study may also be adopted to be used in the campaigns.