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An Urban Farm Serves as a Vital Source of Produce in Taguig, Philippines

on  February 22, 2024

As many as 783 million people face food insecurity across the globe. At Rise Against Hunger, we provide immediate assistance and implement sustainable long-term solutions — furthering our mission of a world without hunger. We support programs that nourish the hopes and dreams of people facing hunger, including in the Philippines. Nestled in Taguig, Philippines, what first began as an empty lot flourished into a 300-square-meter sustainable urban community farm in 2020 as a part of Rise Against Hunger Philippines’ Good Food Farm project, a nearby agri-tourism resort. As 45% of the population faces moderate or severe food insecurity and 29% of children are affected by stunted growth, this urban farm became a vital source of fresh produce for the community during the COVID-19 pandemic. Crops harvested at this farm are sold and donated to the community, including a variety of herbs, fruits, vegetables, and protein-rich food like tilapia. As a result of the produce provided by the urban farm, children and their families have immediate access to the nutrition they need to thrive, improving their overall health and well-being. With a focus on empowering women farmers, the urban farm is entirely led by women from the community who generously volunteer their time, including Marilou, head of the urban farm, who has a passion for farming and serving others. “This is a plant, kangkong [water spinach]. So, all who pass by here are benefited from it because I just give them away, especially the senior citizens who [walk by] every morning.”Money generated from the farm supports funding for the farm’s regeneration, maintenance, improvements, buying of seeds and sustainable agriculture training for farm members. As a result, not only does the urban farm improve access to notorious meals for thousands of people in Taguig, but it also creates self-sufficiency by empowering local farmers and their community. Watch the video below to learn more about the urban farm and the impact YOU — our community of Hunger Champions — have made possible in the lives of so many.  With your support, we can continue to provide immediate access to nourishing meals and lasting, long-term impact for people facing hunger across the globe and pave the way toward brighter futures by empowering communities, which leads to resilience and self-sufficiency. Ending hunger starts with a meal, and it starts with you. Donate today!

About the Author

Maggie is Rise Against Hunger's Director of Marketing and Communications and has been a team member since 2016. Maggie works to spread the word about the mission to end hunger and to engage people globally to take action.

More Posts by Maggie Luckadoo

Strength, Stability And Hope

The gift that filled Nelly’s table.

“We were yielding very little, and the crops could not sustain us the whole year,” Nelly remembers. As a mother of seven and a farmer with two decades of experience, the stress of inconsistent yields was all-consuming. A poor harvest not only strained her family financially, but also limited their own meals to just two a day. Their story reflects that of many in their fishing and farming village near a lake in the Karonga district of northern Malawi. Here, heavy rainfall makes conventional farming methods nearly impossible. The entire village is, quite literally, saturated in food insecurity — a reality that leaves families struggling to survive season after season without a dependable source of nourishment.

In 2019, Nelly began participating in Harvesting Prosperity and Resilience, a sustainable agriculture project implemented by Rise Against Hunger in partnership with the Foundation for Community Support Services (FOCUS). The project works with 3,100 smallholder farmers in Malawi’s Karonga and Mzimba districts to strengthen food and nutrition security by improving production methods, nutrition practices and household income.

Just one year later, Nelly was ready to expand the variety of crops on her farm. What land once only produced maize began to flourish with sesame, cowpeas, rice and groundnuts during the rainy season (summer), as well as maize and vegetables during the dry season (winter). Through climate-smart agriculture training, she learned new techniques like manure making, pit planting and mulching, crop rotation and intercropping. Equipped with these tools, Nelly’s farm began to thrive.

After the 2023–2024 growing season, she sold enough produce to purchase an ox cart. Her harvests in 2024-2025 season yielded over 500 pounds of crops, including 22 bags of groundnuts, seven bags of maize, 12 tins of sesame and three bags of rice. With this surplus, she was able to invest in a motorbike, which she now uses to transport African doughnuts (mandasi) that she cooks and sells — creating yet another source of income for her family.

The transformation reaches far beyond her finances. Nelly now has the stability to provide for her husband and children. “I am able to eat different food types, pay school fees for my children and fulfill the visions that I have made with my family,” she beams. “I am now sleeping peacefully without any fears of food or paying school fees for the children.”

Her leadership has also grown. Today, Nelly serves as a leader in the Harvesting Prosperity and Resilience project, teaching other farmers in her district to adopt climate-resilient, labor-saving practices. By sharing her knowledge, she is multiplying her impact — empowering her neighbors to experience the same transformation she has achieved.

Across Nelly’s community, food and economic security are on the rise. Lombani, a government extension officer for the region, explains, “I can see the community is being transformed in the sense that in the area, there is food, income and nutrition security. Development is also happening at the household level.”

Nelly reflects on what it means to invest in holistic programs that address the root causes of hunger: “We are now healthy people. Children are going to school after eating their breakfast, having high yields and different types of crops due to conservation agriculture practices. With the support from the project, we have food, and we can access other food items from the market after selling our produce.”

This is the gift that fills: a future full of stability, strength and hope. It fills tables with food, families with security and communities with the resources to thrive. It’s an investment in futures rooted in resilience and hope.