CARET was founded in 1988 taking advantage of the democratic space that was restored after the fall of the dictatorship. It started asa NGO focusing on the tenurial rights of farmers. CARET organized farmers groups in Central and Southern Luzon to support their struggles in acquiring the lands they’ve been tilling for decades using the newly minted Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law which was also a result of a long struggle from the time of Marcos. As years progressed CARET trained its attention to sustainable rural development and expanded its programs to include fisherfolk, rural women, and most recently, young farmers.

CARET works in localities where its partners are based. While itdoes not maintain satellite offices, its operation and activities areconducted in Southern Luzon (Laguna, Batangas, Quezon, andCamarines Norte), in Central/Northern Luzon (Tarlace, Nueva Ecija,and Pangasinan), Mindanao (Maguindanao and Bukidnon), andVisayas (Leyte and Cebu).

Sibol: Economic Empowerment for Young and Women Agriculturists

Sibol aims primarily to promote the economic empowerment of young and women farmers through (1) access to enabling technologies, support networks, and information channels, (2) skills development on technology, agriculture, and entrepreneurship, and(3) support provision in developing successful business plans. It is well-acknowledged development economics literature that development begins with the economic empowerment of the agricultural sector. This holds true, particularly in the Philippines, where agriculture employs almost a quarter of Filipinos despite comprising only 10.2% of the country’s GDP (ASEAN, 2020). The rise of vegetable prices vis-a-vis the wastage of vegetable supplies amid the pandemic lockdowns in 2020 has shown how the disconnect between agricultural communities and economic centers threatens to worsen the conditions not only in rural areas but also raise food prices, affecting the poor and marginalized the most. But the emergence of efforts, particularly by young people, to reconnect agricultural communities with buyers in urban centers have shown promise. Through patchwork efforts, vegetable produce that could have been wasted was sold through innovative means using digital technologies, social networking and marketing, and social entrepreneurship. Thus, an opportunity presents itself not only to adapt the agricultural sector to the realities of the New Normal but also to reinvigorate the interest of young people to take up agriculture – a looming issue for rural communities as the average age of farmers rises every year. Agricultural communities are some of the most disconnected in political discourse due to their economic vulnerability. The first step in raising their voice is to organize and collectively act to find solutions toward their economic empowerment. Young people, with their technological savvy and vigor, and women, with their vital skills in productive work and community management in agricultural communities, can herein be the linchpins to ensure that agricultural communities can become resilient5 in the New Normal. Furthermore, supporting the economic empowerment of the young farmers can allow them to hurdle the barriers of their lack of access to land ownership, equipment, and capital. Economically empowering women farmers can also provide them with sufficient footing to break free from the shackles of financial dependency in the household. With this, the Center forAgrarian Reform, Empowerment and Transformation (CARET, Inc.), together with Reboot Philippines and Roots Collective, hopes to implement the project Sibol where young and women farmers can promote the economic empowerment of their communities through:- Organizing Economic Service Programs (ESPs)within their organizations based on their community’s resources and capacities- Establishing baseline digital access technologies and skills to allow their community better access amid the digital economy -Collectively determining their development trajectory through facilitated business planning – Strengthening their capacity to fulfill their development trajectory through skills development, linkage programs, access to economic resources, organization growth and resilience and values formation. – Implementing their organizational growth and economic services plans (with technical and network support provided by the project)