MATI CITY, Davao Oriental -- Championing agriculture and environment conservation can happen within anyone’s backyard.
Adhering to this, the Mati City Government strengthens its Green Communities (GreenCon) Program, a campaign promoting backyard gardening, achieving in the process, food sufficiency and entrepreneurship.
The vision, to establish a productive green community.
Implemented initially in three barangays in the city (Central, Dahican, Makambol), the program is planned to be replicated in other 26 barangays in Mati within this year.
Vice Mayor and Barangay Integration for the Development and Action (Bida) Program director Glenda Rabat-Gayta said in an interview that this is to cater the growing demand of the program in each community.
“We piloted three organized Homeowners association (HOAs) for green community of three barangays,” she said adding that the engagement is home farming, container gardening, a sustainable program seen to help the community earn additional income.
Gayta said the program’s implementation will put emphasis on the community’s social preparation, and monitoring and evaluation.
The replication is to create a more cohesive name and not only exclusive for urban areas.
The program’s Cycle 2 will be Home Farming Container Gardening wherein entrepreneurship and leadership will be introduced to the 26 top performers of Cycle 1 and replication to new identified areas in 26 Barangays.
This will also introduce new community extension arm of the program like the 23 barangays integrators, they are the community leaders, who were trained in container gardening in 2014 and now they will be helping the GreenCom in expanding advocacy in their area.
The programs started last 2014.
Gayta shared that one of the participant has been gaining P350 per day out of the home farming.
Among the benefits seen to be gained out of the program are: food security where food can be found in the backyard, extra savings, potential earning, nurturing family relationship, improving solid waste through recycling, achieving organic healthy living, Climate change adaptation and disaster resiliency, and community garden showcase.
“Ultimately, it is agri-tourism, this is the focus of Mati aside from beach tourism. Some 80 percent of our constituents are farmers,” she said.
She added that though gardening seems a small, simple activity, but looking beyond, it is an advocacy for a way of life.
“The gardening is our point of entry to engage families for intervention and later on it will grow to a bigger cause and we believe that through the program we can come up and build an empowered citizenry,” she said.