From the Field to the Global Stage: Filipino Farmer Wins International Award
MINDANAO, PHILIPPINES – What does it look like when the right knowledge reaches the right farmer? For Leah Salvaleon of Bukidnon, it looks like a PhilGAP-certified farmers association supplying fresh vegetables to institutional markets—and a seat at the table at the world’s largest seed industry congress.
Recognition as an Outstanding Farmer Leader
At the 2026 Agritechnica Asia trade fair in Bangkok, Leah was honored with the Future Farmer Award in the Outstanding Farmer Leader category, a recognition that reflects the trust and credibility she has built within her farming community over years of dedicated leadership.
Leah is the President of the first PhilGAP (Philippine Good Agricultural Practices) farmers association in northern Mindanao, an organization that East-West Seed Knowledge Transfer Foundation (EWS-KT) helped bring into existence. EWS-KT worked with Leah under the Developing Vegetable Value Chains to Meet Evolving Market Expectations project (2019–2024), which was co-funded by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR).
EWS-KT supported Leah and her fellow farmers from the very beginning: assisting them with organizing into a formal association, introducing Good Agricultural Practices, guiding them through PhilGAP certification, and helping them to build the association’s capacity, step by step, into a credible, market-ready farmer organization.
Much more than a project outcome, the farmers association is a self-sustaining community of farmers committed to food safety, market readiness, and collective growth—led by one of their own.
Today, the association produces PhilGAP-certified vegetables and supplies institutional buyers, formal markets, agri-industrial partners, and traditional markets—bringing consumer-safe, certified produce into the everyday spaces where most Filipinos shop. This consistent presence in local markets has done more than move vegetables off the farm; it has quietly raised consumer awareness of what safe-to-eat produce looks like and why it matters.
Leah’s recognition shows how the right knowledge and consistent support can transform not just a farmer’s journey but an entire community.
A Farmer’s Voice at the ISF World Seed Congress
The Future Farmer Award was only the beginning. Following this recognition, Leah was invited to join the 102nd International Seed Federation (ISF) World Seed Congress in Lisbon, Portugal, as a panel member. She was the only farmer among senior representatives from AGRA, East-West Seed, Gates Agricultural Innovations, and the World Bank in a session moderated by Julie Borlaug of Borlaug Consulting.
Though Leah joined the panel virtually—a visa barrier unfortunately prevented her from attending in person—her presence and message were strongly felt. If anything, the circumstance quietly underscored what she came to say: that the structures meant to include farmers must go beyond the invitation.
She made the most of this opportunity.
Speaking from lived experience, Leah delivered a message that resonated across the room: farmers need more than access to seeds. They need reliable seeds, practical extension training, guidance on crop and pest management, and stronger market linkages so that what they grow can be sold profitably. She shared that farmers are willing to invest in quality seeds when they can see how those seeds perform in the field, understand how to grow them well, and trust there is a market for what they harvest.
She also spoke to the kind of presence that makes a real difference—organizations like EWS-KT that organize farmers, establish demonstration plots, provide hands-on training, and stay with communities through the learning curve until they can lead themselves.
Fellow panelist Maaike Groot, Global Head of Communications and Public Affairs at East-West Seed, affirmed this perspective, noting that quality seeds reach their potential only when farmers are backed by knowledge, market connections, and practical solutions that build resilience. Watch the full ISF panel discussion now.
Leah’s presence at the ISF World Seed Congress is a reminder that inclusive seed systems must be shaped by the people closest to the soil. And for that to happen, farmers like Leah must have a genuinely accessible seat at the table where those systems are designed.
Operating in the Philippines and nine other countries, EWS-KT is a nonprofit knowledge transfer organization that supports smallholder farmers from the ground up—organizing farming communities, building capacity through practical training and demonstration, and integrating farmers into markets where their harvests can earn what they are worth.
