SM Foundation launches urban gardening program

MANILA, Philippines - SM Foundation recently unveiled its Edible Urban Gardening program in Tondo, Manila, benefiting 56 barangays.

This forms part of SM Foundation’s 98th Kabalikat sa Kabuhayan Farmers’ Training Program, which is aimed at providing marginal farmers knowledge on the proper vegetable and fruit cultivation using modern technology and organic fertilizer sans the use of pesticides.

The end objective is to bring nutritious food to every table of the participants.

Among the 238 participants were residents of the BASECO compound and nearby barangays in Tondo, Sta. Cruz and Sta. Ana districts of Manila.

The concept of a farmers’ training program was introduced despite the lack of land to be planted with vegetables and other crops.

Because of the limited space that a usual vegetable farm requires, this training utilizes any open area available for the demo-garden and plastic containers as plots.

The training aims to reach out to the  marginalized sector of the city and to help promote food security by teaching Manila households the rudiments of planting healthy and safe crops even with the limited spaces in front of their houses.

Another edible urban gardening program was also launched at the Villar Urban Farm in San Nicolas I, Bacoor, Cavite with 200 participants.  The 99th KSK program has 33 barangay beneficiaries from Las Pinas and Cavite. 

For the edible urban gardening, crops to be planted include lowland & upland vegetables like eggplant, okra, squash, tomato, bitter gourd, camote, stringbeans, raddish, kangkong, and  lettuce; and fruits such as watermelons, honeydew,  and melon.