PEASANT WOMEN EMPOWERMENT AND THE PROMOTION OF SUSTAINABLE ENVIRONMENT.

This study assessed the extent of empowerment of peasant women in terms of social, economic, and political dimensions and the promotion of sustainable environment with respect to solid waste management, clean and green activities, and climate change adaptation involving 330 peasant women from the eleven of sixteen municipalities in the 4 th Congressional District of Laguna whose primary source of income was agriculture conducted during calendar year 2017. The study employed descriptive-quantitative correlational research design. Peasant women were much empowered as regard the three dimensions of empowerment such as social, economic, and political, the extent of economic empowerment got the highest mean while political dimension was the lowest. While on the extent of involvement in the promotion of sustainable environment findings revealed that peasant women were much involved in solid waste management, clean and green activities, and climate change adaptation, but involvement in solid waste management garnered the highest mean whereas climate change adaptation got the lowest. Generally the extent of empowerment of peasant women in the three dimensions greatly affected peasant women’s involvement in the promotion of sustainable environment. The study used the researcher-made questionnaire-checklist in connection with the extent of empowerment of peasant women in the promotion of sustainable environment considering the social, economic, and political dimensions relative to the profile of the respondents such as age, educational attainment, marital status, number of children, other source of income, and monthly family income of the respondents; the extent of involvement in the promotion of sustainable environment with respect to solid waste management, clean and green activities, and climate change adaptation.


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The above-mentioned reality exists in the service area of the university wherein the researcher is a faculty. Kaingin system of cropping and charcoal making is one of the primary sources of livelihood of the locals which involvement of women and girl-children is lofty. For one and half decade that the researcher coordinated the tree planting activity in the Laguna State Polytechnic University Extension Land Grant along the Sierra Madre he had been witnessed to women and girl-children tending the family farms and transporting charcoals to low lands. This situation is replicated in other upland barangays, the locale of this study. This would surmise that lack of legitimate employment or underemployment and livelihood opportunities have adverse effect to the environment.

Objectives of the study:
Specifically, this study aims to: 1. Determine the extent of empowerment of peasant women as assessed by respondents with respect social, economic and political dimensions; 2. Determine the extent of the involvement of peasant women as assessed by respondents in the promotion of sustainable environment with respect to solid waste management, clean and green activities, and climate change adaptation; 3. Determine the significant difference on the extent of empowerment of peasant women with respect to different dimensions in terms of their profile; 4. Determine the significant difference on the extent of involvement of peasant women in the promotion of sustainable environment in terms of their profile; 5. Determine the significant relationship between the extent of empowerment of peasant women and their involvement in the promotion of sustainable environment.

Methodology:-
This study assessed the extent of empowerment of peasant women in terms of social, economic, and political dimensions and the promotion of sustainable environment conducted during calendar year 2017.
Involved in this study were the peasant women from the eleven of sixteen municipalities in the 4 th Congressional District of Laguna whose primary source of income was agriculture namely, Sta. Maria, Famy, Mabitac, Siniloan, Pangil, Pakil, Kalayaan, Magdalena, Majayjay, Cavinti and Luisiana. The aforementioned towns were purposivelly selected because they were the upland and lakeshore municipalities and majority of the barangays in each municipality were peculiarly agriculture. The remaining five municipalities were excluded in the study since they did not fall to agricultural category due to their sub-urban characteristics namely Sta. Cruz, Pila, Pagsanjan, Lumban, and Paete.
The subject of the study was empowerment of peasant women and the promotion sustainable environment. The respondents included 330 peasant women whose primary livelihood was agriculture in the agricultural barangays of eleven municipalities determined through purposive sampling combined with systematic sampling in gathering data by interval of three houses until a number of 30 peasant women engaged in agriculture was reached each in the eleven municipalities.
Descriptive-quantitative correlational design was employed to discuss the variables such as the profile of the respondents, the extent of empowerment with respect to the different dimensions such as social, economic, and political, the extent of involvement of peasant women in sustainable environment with respect to solid waste management, clean and green activities, and climate change adaptation, the significant difference on the extent of empowerment of peasant women with respect to different dimensions in terms of their profile, the significant difference on the extent of involvement of peasant women in the promotion of sustainable environment in terms of their profile, and the significant relationship between the extent of empowerment of peasant women and their involvement in the promotion of sustainable environment were analyzed using frequency and percentage distribution, mean, ANOVA, F-test and pearson-r. The study used the researcher-made questionnaire-checklist in connection with the extent of empowerment of peasant women in the promotion of sustainable environment considering the social, economic, and political dimensions relative to the profile of the respondents such as age, educational attainment, marital status, number of children, other source of income, and monthly family income of the respondents; the extent of involvement in the promotion of sustainable environment with respect to solid waste management, clean and green activities, and climate change adaptation.

Findings:-
The age bracket of 41 to 50 years old dominate the number of respondents consisting of 90 out of 330 while 29 respondents belong to below 20 years of age. High school graduates are the majority of the respondents having 142 counts. More than half of the respondents are married while thirteen are separated and another 13 are widows. Majority of the women respondents have three to four children in the family while 5 have 9 children. Forty-four of the respondents derive their other source of income from handicraft, whereas 38 respondents from being store owners, and 31 respondents from vending, but however, 123 respondents have no answer or definite other source of income. Lastly, in terms of monthly family income, 114 respondents have an income of Php4,000.00 -Php8,000.00 while a meagre 18 respondents have an income of Php12,000.00 and above. As regards peasant women empowerment with respect to social dimension, the result of the study reveals that women are much empowered with the mean of 3.76.

Extent of Empowerment of Peasant Women as Assessed by theRespondents with Respect to Social Dimension
In particular, respondents said that they can relate to others regardless of their age, socio-economic status, religion or gender preference. They can likewise have access to information related to family planning, the use of contraceptives and health services. They can also be an active member of organization that helps enhance the socioeconomic status of the community members.
This finding of the study provided an implication that in terms of social aspect, women are already empowered based on their ability to relate well to others without discrimination and obtained reliable information relative to family planning and reproductive health services. 3.72 MEE 9. The membership to community organization with active partnership and linkage to government agencies or private sectors who support economic empowerment program.

MEE
10. Being active in the job but enjoying also the reproductive roles such as taking care of children and performing household responsibilities.

MEE
11. The act of making decision with the occupation without disregarding the opinions and guidance of the husband or family members.

MEE
protection against discrimination and gender-based violence.
7. The freedom from sexual, domestic and other forms of violence.
3.80 MEE 8. The membership in organizations that helps enhance the socio-economic status of the community members.

9.
The promotion of women's welfare by our local governments by providing support services like day care center and other health facilities.

MEE
10. The provision of assistance and support to the disabled women and men, senior citizens, persons with disabilities and other indigent groups.

MEE
11. The awareness on women's human rights and women empowerment by attending seminars and other programs initiated by our local government officials.

MEE
12. The participation on gender-related advocacy program like women's day/ month celebration spearheaded by our local government officials.

MEE
13. The access to information, basic services, productive resources and growth opportunities in our place/ barangay.

MEE
14. The presence of local government officials and other agencies that provide appropriate intervention and referral services for women victim of violence.

MEE
12. The provision of the local government of development programs to uplift the socioeconomic condition of women in our place.

Average 3.80 MEE Legend: Much Expanding Empowerment (MEE)
As to economic dimension, women respondents perceive the initiatives of the local government unit in providing development program in uplifting the socio-economic conditions of women in their community with the mean of 3.96.
In terms of decision making process, they can make decisions with their jobs without disregarding the opinions and guidance of their husband or family members with the mean of 3.98. The findings also reveal that women become empowered through the help of the local government unit as it provides training related to business and entrepreneurship as part of their economic development program. Through the programs of the local government unit, women respondents feel that they have part in the development process of their respective community, hence; they become active members of the community organization linking to the different agencies government or private with the mean of 3.54.
This implied that there is stronger and transparent relationship between the peasant women and their husbands and among family members. On the community level, peasant women appreciate government initiatives that render them part in the development agenda.

Extent of Empowerment of Peasant Women as Assessed by theRespondents with Respect to Political Dimension
Political Mean VI 1. The opportunity to participate in political activities.
3.58 MEE 2. The chance to participate in policy formulation and strategic planning in the locality.

MEE
3. The ability to share opinions during meetings and decision making process. 3.54 MEE 4. The capability to analyze, organize and contribute to social and political change.
3.51 MEE 5. The recognition of women's rights to politics.
3.73 MEE 6. The participation to seminar on political empowerment of women initiated by the government agency or non-governmental organization.

MEE
6. The recognition of equal representation of men and women in politics. 3.72 MEE 7. The principle that men and women must work equally for the development and progress of the community.

MEE
8. The ability to exchange ideas with men with regards to public administration, providing basic services and ensure social welfare.

9.
The presence of organizations that provide skills building and leadership training for women public officials, civic society member and groups.

MEE
10. The existence and improvement of justice and women representation in the justice sector.

MEE
11. The local agencies that support advocacies for the legal rights of women to participate fully in political and economic life of the community.

Average 3.67 MEE Legend: Much Expanding Empowerment (MEE)
In connection to women empowerment in terms of political aspect, women respondents are much empowered given the overall mean of 3.67. In specific manner, women respondents believe that men and women have equal opportunity and responsibility for the development and progress of their community with the mean of 3.82.
In addition, they appreciate organizations that provide skills building and leadership training for women public officials, civic society members and groups with the mean of 3.85. Women respondents agree likewise that they have capability to analyze, organize and contribute to social and political change with the mean of 3.51 and they continue joining seminars on political empowerment of women initiated by the government agency or nongovernment organization.

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It can be seen from the findings that the high extent of empowerment of the women respondents is attributed to the joint force of them as individuals and the support of the government and other non-government organizations present in the environment. Thus, it can be said that women empowerment is influenced by the government programs relevant to women. The result of the findings reveal that women respondents follow ordinances about solid waste segregation as they sort out plastics, glass and paper recyclables before disposing them with the mean of 4.15, they likewise comply with the local ordinance on waste disposal with the mean of 4.07. Women respondents are also much involved in backyard composting. Overall, women respondents are much involved in the promotion of sustainable environment with respect to solid waste management.

Composite
The result presented signifies that women respondents know their responsibility as individual catalysts of sustainable environment though backyard composting has their least attention maybe due to lack of knowledge with it.

Extent of the Involvement of Peasant Women in the Promotion of Sustainable Environment with respect to Clean and Green Activities Clean and Green Activities
Mean VI 1. I participate in the community organization that is environment-friendly and promote clean and green project. All indicators measuring the extent of involvement of peasant women in the promotion of sustainable environment with respect to clean and green activities obtain a verbal interpretation of much involved. Women respondents are much involved in conservation of energy and water through turning off lights when leaving the room, unplugging unused chargers and appliances, and collecting rain water and using it for laundry, watering plants and other related activities. Women respondents are also much involved in planting herbs and vegetables and participate in the community organization that is environment-friendly to promote clean and green project.
The above results show that women respondents are also advocates of green community and reasonable enough to participate in environmental management practices. Likewise, women respondents are practical when it comes to making decisions for climate change adaptation. They are in favor for the use of alternative energy source. Though it obtains the lowest mean, women respondents are still much involved in attending seminars on climate change and assess the negative impact of it and they also apply their learning in reducing the risk of climate change.

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It can be said based on the findings that women are in favor of using alternative energy source and they are also movers on disseminating information about climate change adaptation. It can be implied that peasant women are most effective promoters of sustainable environment when their household cleanliness is at stake. When it comes to age difference, the result of the ANOVA revealed that the extent of empowerment of peasant women in all identified dimensions vary significantly when grouped according to age. At 5% level of significance, it was found that in terms of social aspect, women aged 51 and above have the highest extent of empowerment across ages. On the other hand, women within the age bracket 20-below have the lowest extent of empowerment among ages.

Significant Difference on the Extent of Empowerment of Peasant Women in the Promotion of Sustainable Environment with Respect to Different Dimensions in Terms of their Profile Significant difference on the Extent of Empowerment of Peasant Women with Respect to different Dimensions in terms of Age
The result implied that as age of peasant women increase, they become more empowered than their previous age. Thus, age affects the level of empowerment of women in terms of social aspect particularly the 'experienced ones'. Hence, the older the woman is, the higher the extent of her empowerment. Therefore, the null hypothesis in this scenario was rejected which means that there was a significant difference on the extent of peasant women empowerment when grouped according to age. The probability values reflected in the table shows that there exist significant differences among the extents of empowerment of peasant women with respect to the different dimensions when grouped according to marital status. The p-value of 0.003 for social dimension told that the differences among mean comparison are significantly different particularly on the extent of empowerment between respondents who are widows and single. Based on the mean comparison, it is noted that widow respondents have the highest level of empowerment compared to other status while the empowerment of respondents who are single is least among the group.

Significant difference on the Extent of Empowerment of Peasant Women with respect to the Different Dimensions in Terms of Educational Attainment
In terms of economic, and political dimensions widow respondents ranked significantly higher among others while single respondents are significantly least in rank. The results provided implications that among the identified levels of civil status widows are the most empowered category due to the fact that they are of age and contented with their achievements. Results reveal that in terms of social and political aspects, no significant difference among the extents of empowerment of peasant women is found when grouped according to monthly family income. This result shows that regardless of income status, peasant women are still active participants in meetings, seminars and trainings for socio-economic development, still join gathering and social activities, participate in decision making process in the meeting for planning activity in their barangay and other activities relevant to social dimension.

Significant Difference on the Extent of Empowerment of Peasant Women with Respect to the Different Dimensions in Terms of Number of Children
On the other hand, the extent of empowerment of peasant women with respect to economic dimension is significantly influenced by the monthly family income. In particular, monthly family income of Php4,000-below and Php12,001 and above are found significantly different from other levels of monthly family income while not significantly different with each other. In particular, results show that with respect to solid waste management, women who belong to age bracket of 51 and above is found significantly above the others. On the other hand, women who belong to age bracket below 20 place at the bottom. As to clean and green activities, ages 41 and above mark with the highest extent of involvement while age bracket of below 20 is found significantly below among others. In terms of climate change adaptation the significantly different results provided inference that women of ages 51 and above are more involved in the promotion of sustainable environment while women at youngest age bracket 20 below are also involved but lower when compared to others.

Significant Difference on the Extent of Involvement of Peasant Women in the Promotion of Sustainable Environment with Respect to Different Dimensions in Terms of their
The result of the findings presented in the table implied that 'more experienced' women (ages 51-above) are more engaged in the promotion of sustainable environment in terms of the identified dimensions while 'younger generation' women (20 below) are less involved. Finally, findings presented in the table reveal that there exists significant difference on the extent of involvement of peasant women in the promotion of sustainable environment with respect to different dimensions when classified according to respondents' age. As to significant difference on the extent of involvement of peasant women in the promotion of sustainable environment with respect to different dimensions in terms of marital status, all indicators have shown significant results. Relative to extent of involvement in solid waste management, it was found out that widowed women were highly involved compared to other women having other marital status. On the contrary, women, whose status is single, have significantly lower involvement among others. In terms of clean and green activities, widowed women have shown remarkable involvement as compared to others while single respondents have the lowest extent of involvement. The results of the comparison using Scheffe's appeared that similar to solid waste management and clean and green activities, widowed women tend to have the highest extent of involvement than married and single respondents.

Significant Difference on the Extent of Involvement of Peasant Women in the Promotion of Sustainable
Results offered implication that in terms of promoting sustainable environment, women, particularly widowed, are at the top level perhaps due to the fact that they have more free time compared to married women. Hence, the null hypothesis in this case was rejected resulting to significant result. It was found out that there is no significant difference between and among the extents of involvement of peasant women in the promotion of sustainable environment with respect to different dimensions after grouping in terms of their monthly family income. The result is in conformity with the p-values of greater than 0.05 indicating that the difference is not significant. Thus, the involvement in terms of solid waste management, clean and green activities and climate change adaptation are the same at all levels of monthly family income of peasant women respondents.
This implied that monthly family income is not an indicator affecting high extent of involvement of peasant women in the promotion of sustainable environment. It can be gleaned from the table that empowerment in terms of economic dimension shows highly significant positive relationship among all other dimensions. Specifically, in terms of climate change adaptation, high extent of economic empowerment provides large influence as explained by the r-value of 0.823. Also, social empowerment has direct positive high relationship to the involvement with respect to solid waste management, clean and green activities, and climate change adaptation.. The result in terms of social aspect signified that as the extent of empowerment of women increase their involvement on the identified indicators also increase. Having an average rvalue of 0.753, it can be seen that social empowerment is strongly related to the positive involvement of peasant women in promoting sustainable environment. While all of the indicators show significantly related, it can be noticed that social empowerment was highly related to involvement of peasant women in climate change adaptation. Parallel to this, the results for the extent of peasant women empowerment in terms of economic and political dimensions reveal positive significant relationships among identified extents of involvement in the promotion of sustainable environment.
In general, there is a significant positive relationship between the level of empowerment of peasant women and their involvement in the promotion of sustainable environment. Hence, the result rejected the null hypothesis indicating the absence of null hypothesis between the variables.