ALMOST two years ago, following a proposal by Bangladesh and supported by the Philippines, India, Nepal, Peru and Thailand, the United Nations General Assembly officially declared every July 6 as World Rural Development Day.
On that September day in 2024, the representatives of all the countries of the world welcomed the initiative of those six nations. They chose July 6 with two aims in mind: to highlight the importance of sustainable development in rural areas and to accelerate global action toward poverty alleviation and food security.
The invitation to this kind of mindfulness on July 6 emphasizes the critical role of people, particularly rural folk, in their courageous engagement of government to achieve sustainable development. People are able to do so through their grassroots organizations, intermediate associations and national federations and confederation.
So, the focus of this UN day is on addressing rural poverty, hunger and exclusion, particularly among women, Indigenous Peoples and youth, who are often the backbone of agricultural production and ecological stewardship but are, as often, excluded from the benefits of development and prosperity.
In the Philippines rural poverty and hunger are concentrated in agricultural and coastal sectors, with a very high percentage of residents living below the poverty line.
Subsistence farmers, fisherfolk, and Indigenous communities suffer the highest rates of involuntary hunger, worsened by climate disruptions and limited access to off-farm employment.
We can only say “very high percentage” because of debates surrounding poverty metrics regarding official food poverty thresholds, ranging from 27.0 percent to 32.4 percent.
Where there seems to be no more debate, however, is this UN-decreed reminder: to push for the development of peoples by acquiring access to land, education, decent work, participation in decision-making, promoting gender equity, digital inclusion, and the use of both traditional knowledge and artificial intelligence in rural development strategies.
So, firstly, the UN is saying that rural development isn’t just about geography; it's about poverty, equity, food security and sustainability. And here’s the global context:
Poverty and inequality. It’s in rural areas where 80 percent of the world’s poorest people live, earning less than $2.15 a day.
Over 1 billion people face acute multidimensional poverty, and over half are children (UN Development Program, 2024).
Half of the rural populations lack health coverage vs. 22 percent lack in urban areas (UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, 2021).
Agriculture and food security. And yet, 80 percent of the world’s food are produced by family farms in the rural areas (Food and Agriculture Organization).
Women make up 43 percent of the agricultural workforce yet face barriers to land, credit and technology.
Climate and connectivity. Then, as to being affected by climatic conditions, rural areas sit on the climate front line, enduring droughts, floods and extreme heat.
And as to connectivity with the rest of society, while 83 percent of urban residents use the internet, less than 50 percent are able to do so in rural areas (International Telecommunication Union, 2024).
There can be no doubt then that these challenges demand investment and special development finance so that no one is left behind.
But talking about money always leads to multiple controversies, as in the case of the coco levy fund, which up to now has not been really used to finance coconut-based industrialization and rural development.
The bigger source of private rural development funding
There is an even much bigger source of funds looming on the horizon, and it is the area of coconuts, climate action and carbon credits.
The Philippine coconut industry is more than just a source of food, fiber and livelihood; it plays a critical role in climate mitigation. With 347 million coconut trees spread across 3.6 million hectares, these palms are quietly absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and helping the country meet its climate goals.
Additionally, coconuts are powering clean energy and sustainable materials, such as biofuels and sustainable aviation and maritime fuels (SAF and SMF), biomass energy from shells, husks and other residues, sustainable construction materials from husks and coir, biochar and soil enhancers.
By integrating government-harvested data (mandated by Republic Act 11995, or the Philippine Ecosystem and Natural Capital Accounting System Act), which accounts for ecosystem services at the national level — with automated payment systems — we can ensure that when a farmer sequesters carbon, the financial incentives and rewards are delivered immediately rather than at the end of a multiyear cycle.
For the 3.6 million coconut hectares under the Carbon Optimization of Coconut-based Agroforestry Landscapes (Cocal) project entered into by the farmers’ confederation and the government, digital measurement, reporting and verification (dMRV) is the engine that automates compliance and provenance.
The farmers agree that digital aggregation is a must for organizational efficiency: dMRV acts as a coordination hub for smallholders acting locally.
It can identify real-time opportunities for farmers to align their activities, transforming fragmented plots into a single, high-integrity "carbon-optimized" landscape that meets the scale requirements of institutional investors.
By creating a transparent, auditable lifecycle from activity to settlement, dMRV provides farmers with the income certainty they need to move beyond subsistence. This infrastructure for rural development ensures that rewards and incentives are triggered by verified data, providing immediate financial stability for the 3 million farmers integrated into our national carbon strategy.
Is this all just another one of those impossible dreams? In any case, it is rural development taken seriously, using the most modern know-how without fear or favor.
Rural development and urban livability
Ironically, and fortunately, however, in underscoring rural development, the UN is also ensuring urban livability by improving food security, reducing migration pressures, supporting economic linkages, and mitigating environmental stress in cities.
This should be obvious to all: by increasing agricultural productivity and diversifying rural industries, rural development strengthens urban economies.
Going back to the Cocal, the program is essentially the responsible utilization through intercrops and multi-crops of the almost 80-percent vacant space between coconut trees.
Just observe how improved rural infrastructure (not the ghost type), such as roads, electricity and broadband, can facilitate the flow of Cocal produce and other goods and services to urban markets, ensuring a stable supply of food and raw materials for bigger towns and cities.
More significantly, rural development can mitigate environmental pressures on urban areas. Sustainable agricultural practices, conservation of rural ecosystems, and improved land management reduce pollution, soil degradation, and deforestation, which then, of course, lowers the environmental burden on cities.
By maintaining productive rural landscapes, cities benefit from ecosystem services such as clean water, carbon sequestration and biodiversity, enhancing urban environmental quality and livability.
We are told that in five years’ time from now, more than half of the Philippine population of 120 million will be living in cities — including only a few big cities. If these cities continue tending to be unlivable, the reason, for sure, is the utter neglect of rural development.
Charles R. Avila is the chairman of the National Sectoral Committee on Coconut in the Philippine Council on Agriculture and Fisheries, and chairman and chief executive officer of the Confederation of Coconut Farmers’ Organizations of the Philippines.
