Urban gardening promoted in schools

CEBU, Philippines —   To help address the city’s food security challenges, the Cebu City Agriculture Department (CAD) has mobilized schools and communities in a renewed push for urban gardening, positioning education as a frontline partner in sustainable food production.

Inayawan Elementary School serves as a model site, with Principal Amorganda Raganas Rago encouraging parents to cultivate vegetables alongside teachers and students.

CAD personnel conducted an orientation for 41 participants, equipping families with practical techniques for growing food even in limited spaces.

The initiative is part of the city’s “Gulayan sa Paaralan” program, which has been implemented in Cebu schools in previous years to encourage vegetable gardens and link harvests directly to school kitchens.

Mayor Nestor Archival has pledged infrastructure support for campuses without kitchens, ensuring that the produce can be used for student meals.

Meanwhile, at the Eco Station in the South Road Properties (SRP), the city’s agriculture team recently harvested 15 kilos of lettuce—Romaine, Batavia, and Red lettuce—marking the first yield from its pilot urban agriculture project.

The station, which processes biodegradable waste into compost and animal feed, doubles as a training ground for communities to learn sustainable farming practices. The city has also considered expanding the initiative to barangays to strengthen Cebu’s food supply chain.

Urban gardening is not new to Cebu City, with past administrations also promoting similar programs, including backyard gardening drives and barangay-level initiatives, often tied to national campaigns such as the Department of Education’s “Gulayan sa Paaralan” and the Department of Agriculture’s urban farming projects.

These earlier efforts laid the groundwork for today’s renewed push, showing that schools and communities can serve as effective partners in food production.

The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) has consistently reported that food and non-alcoholic beverages are the leading contributors to inflation in Cebu, with subsistence poverty affecting thousands of families who struggle to meet basic food needs.

In Cebu City alone, tens of thousands of individuals are classified as food poor, underscoring the need for sustained local interventions. (BANAT NEWS)