MANILA, Philippines – Only 21.8 percent of the total agricultural population obtained ownership or rights over their agricultural land in 2022, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
In its 2022 Census of Agriculture and Fisheries, the statistics agency said in a report that only 4.3 million of the total agricultural population of 19.68 million owned or had secured rights during the reference period.
Agricultural population refers to individuals aged 18 and above who were members of households with at least one agricultural operator between January and December 2022, as defined by the statistics agency.
Of these, 10.13 million or 51.5 percent are males while 9.55 million or 48.5 percent are females.
Among individuals with ownership or rights, approximately 3.01 million or 70.1 percent are males and the remaining 1.28 million or 29.9 percent are female.
The PSA noted that approximately 29.8 percent (3.01 million) held rights among males belonging to the agricultural population. In the case of females, only 13.4 percent (1.28 million) have ownership or rights.
“This highlights a significant gender disparity, with women being 16.4 percentage points less likely than men to own or have secure rights to agricultural land,” the report said.
On a regional basis, the Cordillera Administrative Region recorded the highest number of agricultural population with a share of 28.6 percent.
“This reflects the region’s strong emphasis on land ownership, which aligns with its cultural and historical practices,” it said.
On the other hand, Bicol posted the lowest proportion of the agricultural population with secure land rights at 16.8 percent.
The PSA also said males significantly outnumber females across all regions. Among females, Cordillera had the highest proportion of agricultural landowners and right bearers with 18.9 percent.
Central Visayas and the National Capital Region followed with 18.2 percent and 17.1 percent, respectively.
“These regions exhibit comparatively stronger representation of women in agricultural land ownership than other regions of the country,” it added.
Regions that are at the bottom of the list are Eastern Visayas (10.8 percent), Bicol (11.1 percent) and Ilocos (11.5 percent).
At the provincial level, Bohol topped the list of agricultural population with ownership or secure rights with 191,867 individuals, followed by Isabela (153,409) and Pangasinan (149,863).
The PSA reported that approximately 1.97 million members of the agricultural population held a formal title of ownership while 1.52 million had owner-like possession over agricultural land.