FARMING has become an aging trade in the Philippines, with most farmers now in their 50s and beyond.Yet, as fields face an uncertain future, a few young hands are stepping forward to revitalize the land and redefine the future of agriculture.Among these emerging young farmers is 22-year-old Dan Sotelo from Barangay San Miguel, Talakag, Bukidnon, who has found his way back to agriculture with renewed purpose.Through SM Foundation's farmer training program, Sotelo has rekindled his passion for farming, stepping up as part of a new generation determined to bring life and resilience back to the field.After finishing senior high school, financial challenges stood in the way of his dream to attend college. He still remained focused on his goal of one day pursuing a degree in agriculture. He decided to start building his skills and earn enough to eventually make that dream a reality.'I love farming,' he said, despite the many struggles that come with it. His family, like many farmers, has faced the uncertainty of seasonal harvests and inconsistent income.The Sotelo family is one of the beneficiaries of the Department of Social Welfare and Development's (DSWD) Sustainable Livelihood Program, which introduced them to SM Foundation's Kabalikat Sa Kabuhayan (KSK) Farmer's Training Program.KSK also introduced Sotelo to the basics of entrepreneurship, helping him understand the importance of planning and market forecasting.This new mindset paid off in early October when he and his fellow KSK farmers began supplying SM Markets' In-Season Specials section in SM City CDO Uptown and SM CDO Downtown, bringing in over P18,000.Through programs like this, SM intends to improve the livelihoods of local farmers and encourage sustainable agricultural practices across communities.
