March 20, 2021
In line with its efforts to harness urban farming and home gardening as a critical strategy for enhancing food security in the country, the Quezon City Cubao Lions Club, Inc., with support of The Climate Reality Project (TCRP) Philippines, have virtually launched its Urban Farming Webinar Series and Adopt A Barangay Program earlier today.
The program, which aims to support the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) “Plant, Plant, Plant Program” by providing urban communities with the necessary knowledge, tools, and equipment on home gardening and farming, will be initially implemented in the communities of Brgy. San Roque and Brgy. Socorro in Quezon City.
To kick off the program, a webinar about the benefits of urban farming at the household level and basic tips on composting was conducted today by Climate Reality Leaders Arjay Hosmillo and Rina Papio for the residents of pilot communities.
Arjay Castillo, an environment and product compliance consultant, and a volunteer data analyst for the Committee for Information and Research of the ClimatEducate Project the flagship project of Alpha Team Organization Philippines, discussed the necessary steps to start urban gardening, which includes identifying gardening space, picking a planting modality, and picking seeds and seedlings.
Papio, founder of Green Space Pilipinas which advocates for waste diversion and resource transformation, underscored the need to turn the country’s food wastes into nutrient-rich compost that will help keep our soils healthy. “The National Capital Region alone produces 2,175 tons of food waste daily. These wastes end up in landfills and produce methane, a greenhouse gas contributing to climate change,” she noted.
The webinar held today will be followed by a series of virtual workshops for the pilot barangays on nutritional planning, garden-to-table meal planning, and other topics related to urban farming. Speakers and resource persons for these workshops will be coming from the TCRP Philippines’ roster of Climate Reality Leaders who are experts in the agriculture and food security sectors.
Ramon Encarnacion, President, QCLC President, said they have already sent starter seeds to the communities, which will be augmented in the coming months with the help of the DA and Easte-West Seeds. He added that they will also distribute gardening soils with the assistance of the Department of Public Works and Highway.
To learn more about the program and to receive useful tips from our experts, urban farming enthusiasts may watch the full webinar at https://fb.watch/4llMyjvHfx/.
