Under 4Ps, poorest families taught bio-intensive gardening

MANILA, Philippines -  The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) is encouraging the country’s poorest families currently enrolled in its Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) to go into bio-intensive gardening.

A gardening technique that uses indigenous seeds and organic fertilizer to grow vegetables, bio-intensive gardening or BIG will allow poor families to grow their own food while sustaining the fertility of the soil in their respective areas.

Bio-intensive gardening is an organic agricultural system that focuses on achieving maximum yields from a minimum area of land, while simultaneously increasing biodiversity and keeping the soil fertile. The goal is long-term sustainability on a closed system basis.

The DSWD launched the BIG promotion campaign to 4Ps family-beneficiaries in Region 9 or Zamboanga peninsula.

In Zamboanga City’s Barangay Ayala, 4Ps beneficiaries showcased their communal and container gardens using the gardening method to their fellow beneficiaries and other villagers.

The regional office tapped the help of the Office of the City Agriculturist of the Zamboanga City government, headed by Mayor Beng Climaco, which provided regular training to DSWD beneficiaries on the basics of composting and techniques in planting vegetables.

The project involves the establishment of organic vegetable gardens within the community so the beneficiaries can grow their own food, helping them cut their daily expenses. Instead of spending money on groceries, families who benefit from the project can focus on other expenses, such as utilities and house rent. 

The project will also help address malnutrition among poor families, as it enables them to serve and eat healthy meals using their homegrown organic vegetables. 

In 2015, it was found out that more than 100 children in Barangay Ayala were undernourished or did not have enough healthy food.  

Social Welfare Secretary Judy Taguiwalo expressed full support for the project and said that all beneficiaries of 4Ps and other DSWD programs should be encouraged to grow vegetables in their backyards. 

She said that even in urban areas, people can plant vegetables in small plots of lands and in pots. She said more DSWD beneficiaries are becoming empowered to provide for themselves and their families through their own efforts. 

“With a little help from the DSWD, more of our kababayans are learning to fight poverty and becoming conscious of good eating and nutrition habits. We want Project BIG to be replicated in all parts of the country, and not just among 4Ps beneficiaries but even among the beneficiaries of other programs, as well as partner civil society organizations,” she said.

The Pantawid program covers 41,605 barangays in all 144 cities and 1,483 municipalities in 80 provinces and 18 regions with a total of 4,385,344 households. Some 1,780,444 or 39.07 percent are from Luzon; 891,537 or 20.33 percent from the Visayas; and 1,713,363 or 39.07 percent from Mindanao.

“Bio-intensive gardening may seem like a simple project, but it goes a long way toward eliminating hunger and food insecurity among our beneficiaries,” the DSWD chief said, commending the effort to reduce the impact of poverty on families.