In the Philippines, women farmers like Francisca “Nanay Fran” Somejo Rimalos are unsung heroes of food security and resilience. A 65-year-old corn farmer from Cagayan and the President of the Tapel Corn Growers Association, Inc., Nanay Fran has dedicated her life to cultivating not just her land but also her community, hoping for a brighter future where both harvests and opportunities for women are plentiful.
Nanay Fran recently participated in the GrowHer Training of Trainers implemented by the Philippines Partnership for Sustainable Agriculture (PPSA) under the ASEAN Green Recovery through Equity and Empowerment (AGREE) Project. Through the training, Nanay Fran learned how to make her farm more resilient to climate change and explored new ways to elevate her farm business.
In this article, we sat down with Nanay Fran and talked about her journey. She shared about her challenges and the hope she carries for the next generation of women farmers in her community. Her story highlights the importance of empowering women in agriculture and the critical role of knowledge sharing in building a sustainable future for Philippine agriculture.
Please introduce yourself. How long have you been farming and why did you choose to pursue a career in agriculture?
I am Francisca Somejo Rimalos, 65 year old farmer, from Tapel, Gonzaga, Cagayan. I was 15 years old when I started farming. My father was a farmer and I saw how farming provided for our family and sent me and my siblings to school. This motivated me to pursue a degree in agriculture so I would learn more about farming and supplement the skills I learned from working in the farm. After I graduated, I didn’t go back to farming. Instead, I became a teacher where I was able to teach my students about farming. But my heart was always drawn to the fields so I retired early and decided to focus on our farm instead.
Tell us more about your journey as a woman farmer. Can you share with us the highs and lows of farming?
After retiring from teaching, I started farming corn in 2007. But it’s not easy being a woman farmer—it takes up all your time and energy. Aside from managing household chores, I also had to oversee farm work as well.
When my husband and I first started, we didn’t have enough money to start our own farm while also supporting our family. We worked for other farmers in harvesting their crops until we were able to save some money to invest in our own farm. It was just the two of us handling everything, from land preparation to harvesting. It was tough but once we saw our harvest and we were able to sell our crops, we felt that all the hard work was worth it.
I really focused on planting and making sure we had something to harvest at the end of the planting season. I didn’t realize that there were people in our community observing me and my work. One day, I was approached by the Department of Agriculture for an interview about women farmers that led to my nomination as the Cagayan Region’s representative in the Philippines’ search for the Most Outstanding Rural Women in 2018. That became my inspiration to work harder not just for myself but also for other women farmers. I know that there are many women farmers who also deserve recognition for their hard work and perseverance.
You have been farming for five decades. What motivates you to keep going?
For many years, we have been farming corn in our community but no one took the initiative to organize the farmers. I recognized that it’s important to bring together local corn farmers. I talked to the others about forming an association. However, we weren’t able to move forward with organizing right away because of lack of support, and then the pandemic happened.
After the pandemic, we resumed our efforts to formalize the Tapel Corn Growers Association. We started with only seven farmers and registered with the Department of Agriculture. Our members’ husbands, who are also farmers, became interested in joining, especially when they learned that farmers associations and cooperatives will be prioritized for government assistance.
I hope that we can organize a farmers' forum to understand why some farmers are still hesitant to become members of associations. There are many challenges that farmers continue to experience and we hope we can address these together.
Are there any learnings from your experience as a farmer that you would like to share?
Even early on, we kept records of all our farm expenses and income. We monitored the cost of farm inputs and whether we were making a profit. This helped us balance our expenses to ensure that we still had earnings at the end of each harvest.
For me, farming also goes beyond planting and harvesting. If I cannot sell my harvests, I need to look for solutions to make them more marketable and that’s when I had the idea to make chichacorn. I took inspiration from the chichacorn of Ilocos but it also took me a lot of trial and error to achieve the quality that I want.
Now, aside from the farm, I also have Fredelina's Food Products. The raw materials I use to make chichacorn come from the glutinous corn that I grow on the farm. In addition, I also planned the production cycle. It starts from selecting the seeds, planting, harvesting, all the way to marketing.
How was your experience during the GrowHer Training of Trainers?
I was already practicing some of the methods on my farm, but during the training, I realized there were still things that I didn't know. We gained new ideas that can help us in farming. We learned not just one, two, three, or five new skills but received holistic training that can really help us.
Out of all the topics discussed during the training, learning about digital marketing was the most important for me. As senior citizens, it’s difficult for us to keep up with younger generations when it comes to technology and digitalization. We didn’t have these before, so it’s quite hard for us to adapt. That’s why I’m really grateful for the GrowHer Training of Trainers because farming isn’t just about growing crops, it’s also about finding ways to sell them. The training helped me find ways to market my products like chichacorn and banana chips, and gave me the exposure I needed to reach more customers.
The training also emphasized the importance of soil analysis and how it can help farmers identify the right nutrients for their crops. We also learned about water management, which is essential now that our weather has become very unpredictable. Additionally, it also helped us understand climate change and taught us to be more strategic in choosing the right crops to plant based on the season, ensuring that our efforts don’t go to waste.
How has this training experience influenced your journey as a farmer, and how do you hope to share what you've learned with others?
I am very grateful to PPSA and their partners for conducting this training. It’s like my basket of knowledge, which started with just a few corn kernels, continues to fill up with each training. Because of the GrowHer Training of Trainers, I gained new knowledge and insights that I didn’t have before, and for that, I am very thankful.
I hope that PPSA and their partners will continue to support farmers through training programs like this. These training sessions provide us with new ideas that can help us improve our livelihood.
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‘GrowHer: Voices from the Field’ is an article series by the Philippines Partnership for Sustainable Agriculture highlighting the personal journeys of women farmers trained through the GrowHer Training of Trainers under the ASEAN Green Recovery through Equity and Empowerment (AGREE) Project. Discover the inspiring stories behind their farms, their challenges, and their successes. Follow our series to gain insights and celebrate the remarkable contributions of women in agriculture, climate resilience, and innovation.
The farmer’s quotes in this article have been translated. While efforts were made to preserve their original meaning, some nuances may vary in translation.
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