Farmers and people’s organizations: Insights from Panaon Island, Southern Leyte

The purpose of this study is to explore the attitudes and perceptions of farmers on their membership in people’s organizations (PO) in selected barangays on Panaon Island, Southern Leyte. A total of 80 farmers from barangays of Lilo-an and San Francisco were randomly recruited to participate. A self-developed survey questionnaire was used to collect data. Since agricultural production has not yet been fully developed in these barangays, farmers were encouraged to join other POs because the aim of POs is to stimulate agricultural productivity through enhanced income generation, access to resources and emerging technologies, and to strengthen their economic situation. The overall mean score of 4. 22 was very positive in terms of farmers’ perception of POs. Farmers are definitely hopeful in the fact that POs are good organizations since they offer access to resources, training and empowerment, as well as a voice to the community. Additionally, no significant relationship was found with the farmers’ demographic characteristics, such as age, sex, civil status, education, income, farm size and years of farming experience.