Pinoys in Taiwan start organic farming training

THE Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO) has rolled out a free training program in organic farming for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), immigrants and students in Taiwan.

MECO Chairman Silvestre Bello 3rd said on Sunday that the program, a first for Filipinos in Taiwan, is in line with the thrust of the Marcos administration to boost local agricultural production in the country.

“We have introduced a program to equip our OFWs, as well as our Filipino immigrants and students in Taiwan, with skills in modern organic farming so that they may use them when they return to the Philippines,” Bello said.

Filipino migrant workers are the third largest group in Taiwan — more than 150,000, excluding students and immigrants.

Filipino students, meanwhile, are mostly under a work-study program for Taiwan’s Academe-Industry Collaboration Program of the New Southbound Policy.

Selected universities arrange for internships with industrial/ semiconductor companies where the students are also provided with the opportunity for immediate employment after graduation.

“In this manner, perhaps slowly, we hope to contribute to increasing our domestic food production and improve the lives of OFWs, immigrants, and students once they are back in the country,” Bello said. “The learning they will obtain will provide them the opportunity for an alternative livelihood that has the potential for agri-business, especially for those who are going home for good.”

The first batch of trainees, which included 15 OFWs and nine Filipino immigrants and students, had undergone a two-day experiential training on a farm in Kaohsiung City.

The training provided immersive, hands-on experience in agriculture education, entrepreneurship and technologies.