Metsa Foundation

17/04/2026

𝙋𝙖𝙠𝙞𝙜𝙡𝙖𝙢𝙗𝙞𝙜𝙞𝙩 𝙨𝙖 𝙆𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙤𝙥𝙖𝙣 🌿

Join us as we celebrate 𝗘𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗵 𝗗𝗮𝘆 𝗼𝗻 𝗔𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗹 𝟮𝟱, 𝟮𝟬𝟮6 (𝗦𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗱𝗮𝘆) at the 𝗠𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗔𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗙𝗮𝗿𝗺 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗥𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝗧𝗮𝗰𝘂𝗻𝗮𝗻, 𝗗𝗮𝘃𝗮𝗼 𝗖𝗶𝘁𝘆. This gathering invites us to reconnect with nature and rediscover our innate partnership with the environment or 𝘱𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘨𝘭𝘢𝘮𝘣𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘢 𝘬𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘰𝘱𝘢𝘯.

Throughout the day, participants will engage in meaningful activities, including breakaway sessions on human connection with the environment and the utilization of neglected flora species, cultural presentations, gallery viewing, crafts and herbal demonstrations, and an open market featuring local products and resources.

Together, we will highlight and promote neglected and underutilized species (NUS)—plants traditionally used not only for healing but also for food, crafts, and everyday cultural practices, especially within indigenous communities and often nurtured by women.

By bringing these species back into focus, we aim to promote biodiversity, support ecological balance, and integrate traditional knowledge into farming systems.

NUS contributes to more resilient agricultural landscapes by improving soil health, supporting genetic diversity, and strengthening adaptive capacity in the face of climate variability. Their inclusion reduces reliance on synthetic inputs and reinforces sustainable practices rooted in local ecosystems.

Recognizing the value of NUS also means recognizing indigenous women as vital knowledge holders and stewards of biodiversity, playing a central role in sustaining both culture and agriculture.

Let us come together to rediscover, relearn, and restore our bond with the natural world.

15/04/2026

🌱💚

10/04/2026

07/04/2026

01/04/2026

Metsa Foundation took part in “Utanon: V40 Culinary Workshop on Plant-Based Heritage Food of Davao,” alongside fellow food advocates and networks, in a celebration highlighting Davao City’s rich culinary heritage.

Read full news below:

DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 31 March) — A culinary workshop on plant-based heritage food brought together farmers, indigenous groups, religious communities, and

31/03/2026

Maraming salamat sa oneveg team at Gulay Na sa oportunidad na makasali at magbukas ng usapin patungkol sa safe food accessibility at iba pang mga isyung kaugnay ito. Padayon!

30/03/2026

We’ve seen a surprising reach of our algorithm lately, and we’re excited to introduce Metsa Foundation to new audiences once again.

For 34 years, we have stood alongside women from rural communities, championing their rights and empowering them to thrive. Together, we move toward a future that is just, equal, and full of opportunity for all women!

29/03/2026

Today, March 29, we at Metsa Foundation commemorate the Day of the Landless.

While, admittedly, the majority of our women partners—particularly Indigenous women and those in the peasant sector in the 3rd District—have access to land, a significant number, especially in the lowlands, remain tenant farmers or farm workers. Today, we recognize their struggle for land alongside other women across the Global South who are fighting for a piece of land to till.

Landlessness does not happen by mere accident—it is generational and systemic, an enduring legacy of colonization and the continued environmental plunder by wealthier nations across the Global South.

Despite the current situation of our partner women farmers, the system is not designed to protect their right to own land. Repressive and regressive neoliberal policies—such as the Rice Tariffication Law, the lack of state subsidies in the agricultural industry, privatization, state bias toward landlords engaged in land conversion, the expansion of plantations owned by transnational corporations, and the high cost of farm inputs—eventually result in land dispossession.

When land is taken away, everything else is taken with it. This leads to compounding challenges for women in Indigenous and peasant sectors.

Local livelihoods that depend on ecosystems disappear. Women who once fed their communities are pushed into precarious and underpaid labor—on plantations, in factories, or as migrant workers in cities and abroad. Hunger deepens, even among those who produce food. The burden of survival grows heavier, with unpaid care work pushing women’s bodies to exhaustion. Localized food systems collapse, becoming heavily dependent on imported goods for sustenance.

When land is controlled by a few landlords and transnational agri-corporations, it reflects deep economic injustice toward the broader peasant sector. Those who control the land also control people’s lives and bodies.

When vast hectares of land are concentrated in the hands of a few, exploitation and violence intensify—and women are the most affected. In many communities, domestic violence and abuse, including those perpetrated by state forces, are inseparable from displacement and poverty.

Yet despite all this, women remain at the forefront of the struggle—reclaiming community food security through collective farming, sustainable agriculture and seed-saving practices, protecting land, preserving traditional livelihoods that reconnect them to their ecology, and pushing for local policies that challenge both domestic abuse and cultural patriarchal systems.

Here at Metsa Foundation, together with our partner women communities, this is what we strive to highlight.

Land rights are inseparable from women’s rights and justice. To fight landlessness is to resist dispossession that profits from the exploitation of bodies and unpaid labor. When women are genuinely emancipated, the land is liberated as well.

(Photo taken from our End VAW post, which can also be read here: bit.ly/4lZlAU2)

25/03/2026

Metsa Foundation, in partnership with Permafund, conducted a mini-seminar for women members of LAWFO on the Black Soldier Fly (BSF) project—covering both wild collection and proper maintenance.

This initiative equips participants with practical knowledge on transforming organic household waste into valuable resources. Through BSF farming, food scraps are converted into nutrient-rich compost and sustainable, high-protein feed for livestock, demonstrating a simple yet effective circular system.

As a next step, a small BSF larvae cage will be established, providing a hands-on learning space where participants can apply their knowledge, observe the BSF life cycle, and deepen their understanding through practice.

By initiating small and slow solutions, we aim to create lasting impact in waste reduction while restoring soil health and improving livestock nutrition. Through these simple and nature-based approaches, we move closer to building restorative cultural practices, ecologically sustainable and resilient communities.

25/03/2026