PENTECOSTALS, CIVIC EDUCATION, AND ECOINTEGRATED FARMING: THE CASE OF FOUR ECOFARMING INSTITUTIONS IN NORTHERN LUZON, PHILIPPINES

Abstract

Farmers are now the "dying breed" in the Philippine populace due to the negative impact of the ecological crisis that aggravated the life and livelihood of farmers. Philippine farmers are discouraged from continuing farming due to inflations and price hikes of farm inputs caused by the war between Ukraine and Russia. But what do Pentecostals do as a religion to base their attitudes and behaviors toward responsible ecological farming? How do Pentecostal believers respond to issues of environmental degradation and ecological disasters, and species extinctions? How are Pentecostals empowering local farmers to integrate and increase crops, livestock, fisheries, and fruit-bearing trees using civic education to respond to the critical issues of the farming industry? How do they create sustainable on/off-farm and agricultural entrepreneurship job opportunities that generate income for small local farmers? Using biblical data, this study investigates the theological themes of eco-farming as a basis of Spirit-empowered religion. It provides models of Pentecostal proeco-farming institutions in Northern Luzon to look at their approaches and best practices of eco-farming. While this study predicts that fewer farmers engaging in agriculture in the future will aggravate food insecurity, leading to a food crisis, the task of religious and civic education in refueling integrative farming in the Philippines is worth pursuing and a civic call to the global agricultural industry.