A FARM FOR THE PEOPLE Cebu City Councilor Pastor Alcover Jr. shows the vegetables planted at the “People’s Farm” at the city-owned lot in South Road Properties on July 7. PHOTO COURTESY OF CHITO ARAGON
CEBU CITY — A councilor in this city has drafted a proposed ordinance that seeks to transform vacant lots in the city into vegetable gardens.
According to Cebu City Councilor Pastor Alcover Jr., the barangays will cultivate the land in coordination with the lot owners.
These idle lands, he said, will help the local government realize its goal of strengthening food security, particularly among its marginalized residents.
“At least we can do something to help address hunger in the city,” he said in a forum last week.
Alcover, who chairs the city council’s committee on agriculture, said his proposal would benefit residents of the city, dubbed as the “Queen City of the South.”
“There are only a few mountains in Cebu City. Our agricultural area is also not that vast. Idle lands in the barangays can surely help,” he said.
Cebu City, the center of commerce in the Visayas, is a highly urbanized metropolis with a population of 964,169 (2020 census).
At present, the city government has started cultivating parts of the 3-hectare city-owned lot at South Road Properties by planting vegetables in the area, with volunteer city employees as cultivators.
‘People’s Farm’
The project, dubbed as the “People’s Farm,” was launched last month.
The around 8,000 employees in City Hall were now undergoing basic orientation on urban gardening.
Those who participate in the People’s Farm project have also been receiving free fertilizers and seedlings from the city government.
In the People’s Farm, consumers could get their desired vegetables at a cheaper price than those sold in the local markets.
Alcover, however, assured farmers in the mountain villages of the city that they would not be neglected.
“The city government has not forgotten farmers in the upland barangays. In fact, we have organized a cooperative to help all farmers,” he said.