Philippines: Modified urban agriculture for the community: A solution to feed every Filipino
Covid cost countless Filipinos their source of livelihood and limited their mobility, which also obstructed food from reaching the various points in the country.
By Patricia Bianca Taculao
Manilla Bulletin
May 14, 2021
Excerpt:
Should a community decide to follow Belen’s system of urban agriculture, there are three components required to secure its success.
The first step is to assess the needs of the community to provide solutions to the identified gaps. For instance, if urban farmers see the demand for particular vegetables and crops in their community, they can grow these specific varieties to meet the needs of the people. They can also decide what type of gardening should be done, like container or raised bed gardening, that best fits the community’s available resources and space.
Aside from growing vegetables, community urban farmers can also engage in other activities such as aquaponics, livestock raising, and more.
Once the community has been assessed, the next step is to provide interested individuals with training on urban vegetable production.
Lastly, awareness of proper waste segregation and disposal should be raised among the members of the community to make sure that the waste that goes to urban farms is useful and safe.
Urban gardening has a lot of benefits. It provides a solution against the threat of food insecurity in cities since it makes fresh, healthy food available to the Filipinos. Growing food in the city, especially if done by a community, can also help mitigate the harmful effects of climate change since people can play a part in promoting sustainable agriculture in their respective areas.
