In a country whose population exists mostly on rice, hardly anyone wants to be a rice farmer anymore.

Grain of Life zooms into the lives of Filipino rice farmers who are father and son, Gabby and Johnny Estrabela. Of Gabby’s 11 children, only Johnny followed in his father’s footsteps. The great irony is this: despite rice being a diet staple for Filipinos, rice farming is now a dying profession. Grim working conditions, landlessness, low product prices, measly portions during product distribution, and abusive middlemen are burdens that have plagued the land tillers for generations. Unless these obstacles are addressed, rice farmers will continue to diminish in number, and could slowly disappear.