CGTN published this video item, entitled “A Filipino businesswoman who spent 20 years empowering farmers” – below is their description.
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“I started my business as a woman in a male-dominated industry,” says Cherrie Atilano who has been working with farmers for 21 years. “I encourage everyone to go back to farming and let’s make farming sexy.”
Rich or poor, young or old – everyone needs to eat! Living in one of the poorest and the hunger islands in the Philippines, Cherrie Atilano aims to make Marinduque famous in the world as a farm tourism island destination, building the economy of the island based on agriculture to help eradicate poverty for farming families and to alleviate the effects of climate change.
Atilano believes the first thing to do is to make it profitable. She and her staff have developed a farm school where the teachers teach not only production technology but also agropreneurship, since Atilano believes that once farmers feel they are entrepreneurs, they will take ownership to make their farm productive. Cherrie Atilano thinks it’s necessary to bring more women into agriculture, so 50 percent of her enrollees are women. Moreover, the teachers also train women on financial literacy because they are usually the ones budgeting at home.
Cherrie Atilano doesn’t really feel that it’s difficult to start business in a male-dominated industry as long as a woman has the right values or the right attitude. She encourages female farmers to equip themselves with knowledge as it’s something that will really propel and progress people.
CGTN YouTube Channel
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