#GarbageToGreens: Cultivating Urban Poor Children and Youth Participation in Addressing Food Security Through Community-led Gardens

Last October 21, ARCSEA wrapped up the #GarbageToGreens project with a short program in which participants shared their experiences with other members of the community and symbolically ‘graduated’ with the awarding of certificates and tokens.

In partnership with AstraZeneca’s Young Health Programme and Charities Aid Foundation, the #GarbageToGreens project was launched July 12 last year with a youth assembly in partnership with Laban Kabataan Padayon (LKP), a local youth organization and Pinagkaisang Lakas ng Mamamayan (PLM), a local people’s organization. It aimed to promote food security and healthy habits among youth in urban poor communities in Payatas, Quezon City by introducing agroecology principles and practices. 

…through capacity building workshops, the youth learned how to repurpose empty plastic containers into gardening containers and scrap fruits and vegetables into organic fertilizers.

Specifically, through capacity building workshops, the youth learned how to repurpose empty plastic containers into gardening containers and scrap fruits and vegetables into organic fertilizers. They were also provided with gardening kits (which contained gardening tools, soil, and seeds) so that they could establish gardens in their own homes. With this, they were also able to gain hands-on experience in growing their own vegetables. Through a food preparation workshop, they also learned how to use their produce as well as readily available ingredients to prepare delicious and healthy meals for themselves and their families.

They also gained valuable skills and experience in advocacy work. They also learned to create social media posts to promote urban gardening to a wider audience. The participants created photo essays about their experience of urban gardening which were posted on our Facebook page.

They also had the opportunity to engage with the local government and the Bureau of Plant Industry of the Department of Agriculture for additional support. Consequently, the Bureau of Plant Industry provided them with materials needed to establish three collective vertical gardens, which the community can manage and benefit from.

Through this project, we’ve gained valuable experience, enhancing our ability to replicate and scale our initiatives, laying the groundwork for broader, impactful partnerships, ensuring sustainable change in numerous communities.

Our immediate plans include expanding the project to similar urban poor communities, collaborating closely with local and national government entities for additional spaces and materials. We also intend to implement the concept through partnership with schools by incorporating the concept in the students’ curricular or extracurricular activities. We also aspire to strengthen our upcycling practices. Furthermore, we are actively seeking partnerships with other advocacy groups to bolster our efforts. 

We also plan to incorporate the urban gardening concept as part of a diversion program for children and youth to take them away from too much use of gadgets like mobile phones and tablets that would make them vulnerable to online sexual abuse and exploitation.

If you or your organization would like to support this initiative, please do not hesitate to reach out to us through our email contact.us@arcsea.org.