Concern over the aging population of farmers has prompted the Let It Be organization to introduce a “helper” system that was prevalent in farming villages of old, hoping to solve the shortage of labor.
The organization is best-known for its promotion of natural agricultural techniques in Tainan’s Houbi District (後壁), and its helper system involves farmers working in neighbors’ fields.
The method helps to relieve the burden on farmers who usually work alone, Let It Be said, adding that the method is also more productive.
Three of the eight members of the organization’s management team under the Khao-Kwan Foundation’s Tainan branch have been working fields larger than 1 hectare, it said, adding that starting next year, its members hope to average 1 hectare per person.
While the figure might seem insignificant to farmers employing modern farming methods, it is a significant amount of land to be farmed by groups that use natural or organic farming methods, Let It Be said.
The helper system does more than solve a shortage of labor in farming villages, farmer Huang Yi-chen (黃以振) said, adding that it brings members of small communities closer together.
The increased interactions allow members of communities to become more familiar with one another, in turn introducing the opportunity to gather after work, or during the idle season, to chat or have a cup of tea.
Due to their decision to stay in the area, the group was also able to befriend locals, Huang said, adding that the organization was given the opportunity to promote its ideals to local elementary-school teachers and to offer aid at events that overlap with farming.
The helper system has helped mold individual farmers into a farming group that not only helps itself, but also promotes individual products, Huang said, adding that Let It Be is looking to introduce the method to other farming communities.
“We hope that such acts will help to revitalize farming and agriculture throughout the nation,” Chen said.
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