Former Philippine Senator, Atty. Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan, is the guest speaker of the SEARCA Agriculture and Development Seminar Series (ADSS) to be held at the SEARCA Umali Auditorium, Los Baños, Laguna on 25 April 2023.
Atty. Pangilinan will speak on Leveraging the Role of Family Farming towards More Productive and Resilient Food Systems in the Philippines. He was a three-term senator of the Republic of the Philippines who has chaired senate committees on agriculture and food, social justice and rural development, and agrarian reform, among others.
The ADSS topic is aligned with SEARCA’s five-year strategic plan (2020–25) with an umbrella theme of Accelerating Transformation Through Agricultural Innovation. The Center’s mission is to elevate the quality of life of agricultural families through sustainable and resilient livelihoods and access to modern networks and innovative markets.
In 2021, SEARCA organized a Regional Policy Forum on Developing Public Policies for Family Farming highlighting the need for engaging stakeholders and implementing participatory processes in policymaking to support and strengthen family farming in the Southeast Asian region.
In this ADSS, SEARCA hopes to draw insights from Atty. Pangilinan’s years of experience as a lawyer, legislator, and farm owner, particularly in enabling policies and programs to pave the way for farming families as key actors in the Philippine food system.
The SEARCA ADSS encourages the presentation and discussion of development and research issues, as well as their implications for agricultural and rural development. Through these seminars, SEARCA proactively contributes to vibrant scientific exchange within the Los Baños Science Community and beyond.
This face-to-face learning event is open to the public. Interested participants are encouraged to pre-register for onsite attendance through this link: bit.ly/ADSS25April.
