Last August 30 and 31, I conducted a lecture named “Social Media for Rural Development Training-Workshop” at We Are In Hotel. It was organized by the Philippine Rural Development Projects (PRDP) for the benefit of the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) Information Officers in the different regions of Mindanao.

As a Climate Reality Leader and a social media expert, I talked about generating awareness through the power of social media. We did various activities from creating social media calendars to sample posting on pages.

It was a learning experience from both our ends as the training challenged me to have a discussion with a crowd that has a diverse age bracket. Some found it easy to understand social media, and some needed more assistance. Nevertheless, I lauded them for their dedication to learn.

They have access to the internet and most of them already had social media accounts but did not know the right strategies in using social media to the advantage of their cause. The goal of the training was to enable the agricultural sector to share their experiences on the internet for them to get more exposure. How can this be achieved? The best way to do this is to let the people in the agricultural sector represent themselves.

Let us take for example Manny Piñol, the current secretary of the Department of Agriculture. He posts about various events and aspects going on in different agricultural areas in the Philippines:

• Negros Occidental Tow Celebrates First Visit By Agri Secretary
• Health Benefits of Paragis
• The Long and Winding Road to Atok’s Cherry Blossoms
• Italy’s Iconic Zucchini Grows Well in Cotabato
• Philippine Agriculture Needs Modern Equipment, Machineries

Imagine if we could hear more of these stories on social media. There wouldn’t be a homogenous perspective of agriculture as an industry. The younger generation will begin to appreciate our farmers better.

Stories about them shouldn’t be merely about revenue increase and natural calamities. There are also opportunities for investment and sponsorship. More importantly, their struggles can be brought to light. It won’t just be Manny Piñol as the secretary who will speak for them. All regions will be able to speak for themselves. Collectively, their voice would be louder, and it would be easier to get help and support where it is needed.

For them, it’s a step further away from the margins.

This article was originally posted on LinkedIn.