IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2021) 12-2

Research article
erd

Effect of Farmers’ Attitude and Behavior on Farm
Succession in the Philippines
ELIZA C. AQUINO
Graduate School of Agriculture, Tokyo University of Agriculture, Tokyo, JapanHIROKI INAIZUMIFaculty of International Agriculture and Food Studies,Tokyo University of Agriculture, Tokyo, Japan

NINA N. SHIMOGUCHI*
Faculty of International Agriculture and Food Studies,Tokyo University of Agriculture, Tokyo, Japan
Email: n3nocon@nodai.ac.jp

SATOSHI SUZUKI
Division of Teacher, Curator, and Librarian Training Course
Tokyo University of Agriculture, Tokyo, Japan
Received 13 February 2020

Accepted 24 September 2021(*Corresponding Author)

Abstract Two of the major problems worldwide are the decreasing number of new farmers
and aging of existing ones. These problems correlate to the challenges of the increasing
demand on safe food and food production of the growing population. Decreased number of
new farmers can be associated with the perception of new generations towards agriculture as
most of them do not see farming as a lucrative profession. In addition, farming is also known
to be a back-breaking, underrated, and undervalued occupation which leads the current
farmers to think twice about handing-over their farm to their successors. In order to change
the discernment of the society towards farming and to boost the confidence of farmers tobequeath their farm to their children, this paper aimed to understand and interpret farmers’
attitude and behavior towards farm succession. Specifically, this clarified the farmers’ actual
situation on the ground, their attitude and behavior, and their family’s perception about
farming. Organic farmers in Laguna, Philippines, were interviewed and observed. Life
History Approach (focused on analyzing of the farmers’ lives to farm succession) and
Grounded Theory Approach (provided guidelines to identify categories and make links andestablish relationships between categories) were utilized. Results showed that farmers hadvaried perceptions in transferring knowledge and motivations to their successors. Upon being
acknowledged in the society, most of the farmers’ moral were uplifted. They displayed
positive attitude and outlook towards agriculture that were reflected through theirencouraging behavior to engage their children in farming. Their children were also proud of
their farmer-parents. In general, farm succession is one way to ensure agricultural
sustainability. In order to do so, situation of farmers on the real ground must be understood
through proper interpretation of their attitude and behavior that greatly affect farm
succession.
Keywords interpretation, attitude and behavior, farm succession, qualitative, GTA & LHA

INTRODUCTION
Increasing population is synonymous with the significant number of mouths to feed as the fooddemand also increases. This global problem demands agricultural sustainability to make sure that
there will be enough food for all. Agricultural sustainability will not be reached if there are fewer
new farmers and an increasing number of aging farmers.
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According to FAO (2019), the number of farmers decreased from 41.3% of the world’s
population in 1995 to 26.7% in 2016. In the Philippines, it decreased from 44.1% to 27.0% in 1995
and 2016, respectively. In addition, Saliot (2013) stated that the food security of the Philippines is at
risk, as millions of farmers and fishermen are also aging with an average age of 57 years old. In
Japan, one of the greatest factors limiting agricultural sustainability is the shortage of farmers due tothe lack of new farmers and the aging of existing farmers, with an average age of 67 years old(Muramoto et al., 2010).
Decreased number of new farmers may be associated with the low morale of farmers as new
generations do not see farming as a lucrative profession. In addition, farming is also known to be aback-breaking, underrated, and undervalued occupation, which leads the current farmers to think
twice about handing over their farm to their successors. As a parent who endured decades of hardshiptilling their land, living in poverty, and being degraded by society, they naturally want their children
to have better lives.
Understanding and interpreting farmers’ attitudes and behavior can be a possible way tocontinue farm succession. This study will give the researchers, private, and government institutions
the knowledge and understanding of what the farmers need and provide them with the needed
technology or innovation. Moreover, policymakers will also be able to make effective and efficient
policies and programs.
OBJECTIVE
To change the society's discernment towards farming and boost the confidence of farmers to bequeath
their farm to their children, this paper aimed to understand and interpret farmers' attitudes andbehavior towards farm succession. Specifically, this clarified the farmers' actual situation on the
ground, their attitude and behavior, and their family's perception about farming.
METHODOLOGYThis study is a qualitative research based on the interviews and observations of 17 farmers (doing
and did organic farming) and some of their family members in Laguna, Philippines, in August 2017,
March, July-September 2018, and July-September 2019. The farmers were selected using
Historically Structured Inviting (HSI) and purposive sampling, satisfying the appropriate sample andcase requirements. Consent from both parents and children regarding the interviews, observation andthe use of data concerning children below 18 years old were acquired. Furthermore, parents were
present during the interview.
Life History Approach (LHA), Grounded Theory Approach (GTA), and Trajectory Equifinality
Approach (TEA) were utilized. Following Sato et al (2016) TEA, Historically Structured Inviting(HSI) was used as a sampling method, and the Equifinality Points (EFP), and Obligatory Passage
Points (OPP) were set. LHA focused on the analysis of the lives of farmers in relation to farm
succession. Farmers were asked for their lives’ narratives, and these were contextualized, defined,
and explained how specific event affects farmers’ decisions over time (Hagemaster, 1992). As
adopted from Locke (2002) and Glaser (2001), GTA was used in data collection and categorization
as it provided guidelines to identify categories, make links, and establish relationships between
categories. Trajectory Equifinality Models (TEM) were generated to aid the discussion of LHA.
While GTA was used to uncover beliefs and meanings that underlie action and examines topics of
behavior from different angles to gain insight and deeper understanding of farm succession.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Farmers’ Perceptions in Transferring Knowledge and Motivations to their SuccessorsⒸ ISERD

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Different factors affect farm successions, such as farm’s profile (e.g., land size, accessibility,commodities grown) and farmer’s profile (e.g., age, educational attainment, farming experiences).
Table 1 shows that most of the farmers are from a farm family, but two of them admitted that even
they are from a farm family, they had zero background in farming when they first engaged inagriculture. In contrast, the 11 farmers assisted and were involved in their family farms and later took
over the farm. The remaining four farmers were motivated to do farming after learning theimportance of farming and organic agriculture (OA). Four out of 11 farmers from a farm-family arestill using their farming knowledge obtained from their farmer-parents, while seven of them utilizes
the information gained through their attendance to trainings. Those farmers that are not from thefarmer-family stated that they got their knowledge on farming from different trainings they attended.
Most of the farmers were motivated to engage, convert, or continue organic agriculture after
attending different trainings provided by their municipalities. It was also noted that 12 out of 17
farmers encourage their children to engage in farming. All of the farmers were motivated and adopted
specific technology or innovation on OA once in their farming career as some of the interviewed
farmers stopped OA, went back to conventional, or stopped farming.
Table 1 Distribution of farmers by family background, source of farming knowledge andexperiences, and engaging children in farming
No. of farmers
n=17• belongs to farm family or non-farm family• that learned their knowledge from family• attended trainings• motivated adopt/modify/ innovations learned• that are engaging their children in farming

From a farmer’s family
without
with farming
farmingexperiences
experiences
11
2
4
7
2
11
2
8
2

From a nonfarmer’sfamily
4
4
4
2

Total
17
4
13
17
12

Source: Field study in July-September 2019

The results showed that farmers had varied perceptions in transferring knowledge andmotivations to their successors. The most common reason that was noted is the safeness of OA tofarmers, consumers, and the environment as the farmer-parents want to make sure that their children
will be safe in doing farming. Some farmers started farming for their family consumption and chose
OA to feed their families with safe food. In time, most of them realized the importance of OA not
just for the farmers and consumers but also for the environment. Some also saw the possible
opportunity that OA can give them in terms of market and income.
Factors Affecting Morale and Confidence of Farmers
Low morale in farming, as it is known to be the underrated and undervalued occupation, especiallyin the Philippines, was noted as one of the factors why the younger generation does not want toengage in farming. In order to boost the confidence of farmers and change how the young generation
perceives farming as a career, farmers’ importance must be acknowledged in the society. In the
research area, it was observed that farmer tends to be motivated by other farmers, they are also
confident if farmers, students, teachers, hobbyist, and other actors in the society asked for their help
in terms of advice and other farming-related activities. They feel that their opinion matters,
motivating them to continue farming and do experiments on their farm. Some of them do OA for
their consumers’ sake. Upon being acknowledged in the society, most of the farmers’ morals were
uplifted. They displayed a positive attitude and outlook towards agriculture that were reflected
through their encouraging behavior to engage their children in farming.
These results responded to the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals 2, 3, and 12.
Goal number 2 or zero hunger will be reached if yields will be increased and stabilized; goal number
3 or good health and well-being; and goal number 12 or responsible production and consumption
will be attained if current and future farmers will avoid the use of synthetic inputs and consumersⒸ ISERD

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will support them. If current and future organic farmers' morals continue to be boosted, thesesustainable goals will also be achieved.
Family Members’ Perception in Agriculture
Family perception plays a vital role in boosting the confidence of farmers. Their children were alsoproud of their farmer-parents. As per the in-depth interview, transcripts from the family members
were assessed and help in the understanding of the effects of engaging in OA on the farmer’s family.
Based on different transcripts, farmers gained positive change in terms of having a better family
relationship and gaining self-worth as the farmer can decide on his own and share his experiences
and knowledge with others, especially younger generations (Transcript 1 in table 2). Another noted
answer focused on the child’s personal feelings and preferences, as can be seen in Transcript 2 inTable 2. As a 4-year-old son, he requires the attention and affection of his parents, especially his
father that he rarely sees and remembers when his father was still working as a security guard.
Table 2 Transcripts from the farmers’ family members regarding the effect of farming totheir family
Farmers’ family members
Trans. 1- Wife of a farmer

Transcripts“Before, when he was working as a security guard, he usually arrived
very late when children were already sleeping. He was also leaving early
when his children were still sleeping. He does not even have time to talkand say hi to his children. However, now, it is better. He is his own boss,
he manages his own time, and he has time for us. Also, he is free to decide
on matters regarding his farm. He is always with us and can still provide
for the needs of the family. I also feel proud that students and other future
farmers are visiting our farms to learn and to experience farming.”

Trans. 2- Son of a farmer“I like it now. I can always see my Papa. He can play with me now. I
can also help him in his work (by weeding and watering plants)”

Trans. 3- Son of a farmer“I am proud of my mother. I also often do school gardening activities
similar to what she’s doing on our farm. I can confidently tell myclassmates that organic agriculture can be fun and easy if I do what mymom does.”Trans. 4- Daughter of a farmer“I am happy that my mother is doing better now. She also has more time
for us and can help us in school activities.”

Trans. 5- Son of a farmer“Mama is doing better for her customers; she loves farming; even if
her body tells her to stop, she will not.”Trans. 6- Grandson of a farmer“I want to help my Lola (grandmother) in doing activities on the farm,
it is fun, but I saw her getting sick because it is hard, so I keep telling my
Papa that we should help Lola”.

Source: Field study in July-September 2018

Table 2 also shows the interview conducted from a 12-year-old son of a farmer. The grade 6
student is a proud son. During interview, it was observed that the son was shy at first and when ask
about the effect of OA to his mother, he positively, and bravely answered that he is a proud son andkeeps applying what he learns from her mother to his school’s garden (Transcript 3). In addition, adaughter, 10 years old, grade 4 student eagerly answered the effect of OA to her mother (Transcript4), stating that she is happy for her mom. For these children, they value more the time allotted bytheir parents with them greatly matters as both parents are working. In addition to the family timethat leads to better family relationship, proud children also boost the morale and confidence of their
farmer parents.
A transcript from a son, 32 years old and a grandson, age 5 were also distinguished. The son
focused on how he sees his mother as a hardworking farmer to meet her goal to provide safe food forⒸ ISERD

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her consumer (transcript 5). The grandson's answer, on the other hand, was unique as he saw thehardship of farming (transcript 6) but his grandmother still enjoys it.
It can be concluded that based on the transcripts from the farmer’s family members there are
significant effects brought by farming aside from providing the needs for their family, farmers
particularly improved their family relationships. Moreover, farmers’ confidence and morale, wereboosted and these improvements were all connected to the positive outlook and support of theirfamily members.
Life History of Farmers Utilizing Trajectory Equifinality Method
To fully understand and interpret the attitude and behavior of farmers that greatly affect theirdecisions in farm activities, including farm succession, each of their life history was noted andanalyzed with the Trajectory Equifinality Model (TEM) as shown in Fig. 1. TEM is a methodology
for describing life within irreversible time which is composed of Bifurcation Point (BFP),
Equifinality point (EFP) and Trajectory or the life path (Sato, et al.,2013)

Fig. 1 Life history of the farmers using the Trajectory Equifinality Method (TEM) of
selected organic farmers in Laguna, Philippines
For this paper, the bifurcation points are the points in farmers’ lives that can leads to different
path. The equifinality points on the other hand, are the end point or the end-goal of the farmers’ farm
career such as sharing OA to the next generation and engaging them, going back to conventional, or
stopping farming. In addition, the decision points are the turning points on the farmers’ lives (learned
the importance of OA and faced problems) which affects their decision in meeting their equifinality
points. The obligatory passage point (learned OA) is a point which every farmer experienced.
The 17 farmers were grouped based on five categories based on their starting and equifinality
points. The first category has three (3) farmers who were from a family of farmers, two of them withno experience in farming and graduated college with a degree of BS Computer Engineering and a
Bachelor of Arts in English, both worked in private companies and retire early to engage in farming.
The three (3) farmers attended agricultural training at different point of their lives with different
reasons and motivations, learned the importance of OA, engaged in OA, and share OA information
to the next generation and persuading and encouraging younger generations in OA. They havedifferent life paths and choices that lead to different bifurcation points but started and ended with thesame starting and equifinality point.

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On the other hand, the second category comprises seven (7) farmers from the family of farmers,
with experiences in tending crops and livestock, assisting their parent family on their farm sincechildhood. Faced different problems and challenges during their farming life that lead to different
life paths, but at certain point of their lives, each of them learned the importance of OA and decided
to engage in OA and share it with the next generation.
One farmer belonging in this category chose to change his career from being an employee to be
his own boss as he also wants to spend more quality time with his children, as per the interview withhis wife, she stated that “he was preparing and leaving early for work, our children were all still
sleeping, he will be back late at night from work, and our children were already sleeping.” During
his childhood, even when he attended an agricultural high school, his father neglected his ideas to be
implemented on their farm. After attending OA training, he quit his job and started his own organic
farm and executed what he learned from the training and his past experiences. His learnings wereshared to his wife and children and later even to students, and other farmers. He also involves hischildren in farming by allowing them to do simple tasks like watering and weeding. In addition,
being unheard and disregarded during his childhood while helping in his father’s farm, he is now
making sure that his children can try and voice-out their thoughts while assisting him in their farm.
Farmers on the third category are the two farmers who are from a family of farmers, withexperiences in farming, they were doing farming, attended some trainings and learned the importanceof OA. Unfortunately, even though they know the importance of OA, they just decided to stop
farming when they faced problems while doing organic farming. According to the interview, bothhave problems managing their time as they were hired in a full-time job. For them, OA is very
laborious and time consuming, even they are aware of the health benefits of growing and consumingorganic produced, they chose to stop doing it and stated that if there will still be chance for them to
do it after their retirement, if their body can still do the farm activities, they might go back to farming.
Likewise, the fourth category involves a farmer who is also from a family of farmers. The
farmer’s spouse is also a farmer. Both experienced farming during childhood and later in life engagedin farming, they also attended training related to agriculture and learned the importance of OA, they
did OA and conventional, but after trying and experiencing the increased input in terms of labor, theygave up OA and go went to conventional farming. They stated that they tried their best in doing andmanaging OA, but regrettably, OA is not for them as it is too labor-intensive and requires too muchtime on the field.
Four farmers constituted the fifth category. They are the farmers who are from the families of
non-farmer, learned the importance of farming and/ or attended agriculture training, engaged infarming, learned the importance of OA, engaged in OA, and shared OA information to family
members and other actors in the community including the next generation.
These categories gave us a clear picture of the life history of farmers with the aid of TEM. It
also gave us background on how each point of farmer’s life affects their decision making in farm
activities and farm succession in terms of their attitude towards information sharing and engaging
younger generations in farming.
CONCLUSION
Farm succession is one way to ensure agricultural sustainability. Thus, the situation of farmers on
the real ground must be understood through proper interpretation of their attitude and behavior that
greatly affect farm succession. Common factors such as farm’s profile, farmers’ perceptions intransferring knowledge, and motivations related to farm successors are essential. Different farmers
can also be understood through the utilization of TEM. TEM assisted the researchers see eachfarmer's life history and how each point of life affects their decision to continue and hand over theirfarms to their successors.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSⒸ ISERD

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The researchers would like to acknowledge the warm and sincere cooperation of the organic farmers
and their families in Laguna, Philippines, and Tokyo University of Agriculture, particularly the
NODAI Research Institute and the NODAI Education Support Association for partial financial
support.
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