Food Security Practices, Perspectives, Issues, and Related Community Indigenous Governance Systems Among Ifugao Indigenous Swidden Farmers
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Abstract
It was the purpose of this study to describe and determine the practices, perspectives, issues, and related community indigenous governance systems in the gamut of food security determinants among Ifugao swidden farmers. A qualitative descriptive approach using a multiple case study method was used in this study. Ifugao swidden farmers are naturally adaptive to environmental demands such as geographical variations, modernity, and changing economic systems. They apply traditional knowledge in their means of achieving food security but their practice is being rapidly influenced by the use of synthetic materials to maintain subsistence to surpass it. Living in a current capitalist system, they are trading their sense of community to give way to present convenient living. The Ifugao swidden farmers did not totally lose their sense of community in achieving food security but they considered fusing familial and civic duty in the life world. They are open to government interventions and blend with government policies when achieving food security. On perspectives, the swidden farmers espouse an integral swidden system. They are developmental, enduring, and pragmatic but spiritual. They commit to communal, familial, and individual values. They put the highest premium on the future of their children which is their strongest motivation to achieve their well-being amidst their encounter with modernity. The swidden farmers face and are trapped with physical fatigue, climate change, pests and diseases, declining biological heritage, lack of technical and financial resources, and irresponsive government policies. Insights on strengthening community indigenous governance were drawn.
Keywords: Food Security, Swidden Farming, Indigenous Governance, Environmental Perspectives
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