The COVID-19 pandemic has caused many families to experience hunger. The latest survey by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) revealed that the number of Filipino families that went hungry increased from 8.8%, or around 2.1 million families, in December 2019 to 16.7%, or an estimated of 4.2 million families, in May 2020.
The increase in hunger incidence can be attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic and to the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) implemented in the country which left many people with no source of income and money to buy food.
In response to hunger and food insecurity, Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte formed the QC-Food Security Task Force (QC-FSTF) to ensure household food security amid the COVID-19 pandemic. One of the QC-FSTF’s initial program is the Urban Agriculture Program in partnership with the Department of Agriculture which promotes urban vegetable gardening among the city’s residents.
The Quezon City local government through its Joy of Urban Farming Program distributed 6,000 #GrowLokal: Libreng Binhi starter kits to its residents containing various kinds of seeds (talong, okra, kamatis, pechay, mustasa, ampalaya, kangkong), 2 kilos of organic fertilizer, 3 potting bags, and a guide on proper planting.
“We want to make sure that our people will have access to a healthy and safe source of food even during this pandemic. Through this #GrowLokal program, they can now grow their own vegetables,” Mayor Joy Belmonte said.
In addition, the Department of Agriculture recently partnered with five additional barangays from the second district of Quezon City in an effort to strengthen food security in their communities and households. Barangays Holy Spirit, Batasan Hills, Bagong Silangan, Commonwealth, and Payatas signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the DA, through the Agricultural Training Institute (ATI) and the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI), for the establishment of integrated urban gardens.
Aside from urban farming, the QC-FSTF also aims to create partnerships with agricultural provinces and develop agriculture zones and food zones for more direct trade and value-added processing of food. They will also work with legislative committees, sectoral representatives from agri-business, farmer’s organizations, and civil society organizations to ensure long-term food security.
“We’ve seen our people struggle to put food on their table these past two months. Our idea is to strengthen our capability of producing our own food as a city and meet the needs of every family as we move forward,” Mayor Belmonte said.
Due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, local government units are encouraged by the United Nation Agencies (FAO, UNICEF, WFP, WHO) to ensure the availability of nutrition foods for their constituents to protect the nutritional status of the most vulnerable families and individuals in their area.
Let’s grow our own food to prevent hunger and malnutrition.
(PIA-NCR/TAR/MEVF/NNC-NCR)
