Despite the pandemic being a challenge as it is, Puerto Princesa was able to achieve another level of agricultural development. Now, it is not only a well-known tourist destination in Palawan, it is also a city that is able to ensure food security amidst the pandemic. And behind all of these is an empowered woman.

Serving as the resource speaker for Aggie Ps Talk Season7 Episode 6 titled, “Achieving Agriculture and Food Security in Puerto Princesa” was Ms. Melissa Theodora U. Macasaet, city agriculturist. The episode was aired through Zoom, Facebook Live, and YouTube last October 12. 

Ms. Macasaet shared that when the pandemic started, everything stopped in terms of the tourism industry and many workers were displaced. However, people still have to eat. This led to the challenge of achieving agricultural security in Puerto Princesa. 

The challenge started as a tall order from the local chief executive for the City Agriculturist Office to make a vegetable garden out of a piece of land that was highly compacted, dry, and untilled into a productive Survival Garden. This was a way to show that it is possible to transform an untilled area into a productive vegetable garden. From a 1,000 square meter-area, a total of one metric ton of various vegetables and fruits was harvested from the area and seeds from the open pollinated vegetables were distributed to household farmers in 51 barangays in Puerto Princesa. 

Ms. Macasaet believes that the success of the Survival Garden served as the rallying point for some households to realize that they too can produce their own vegetables in a limited space. Moreover, community gardens were put up and were maintained by barangay council officials, barangay health workers, and purok leaders. A Harvest Festival was also commenced to celebrate and showcase the bountiful harvest from the various household gardens. 

Ms. Macaset also shared their COVID-19 recovery food production support program where community-based production of lowland vegetables were done through barangay clustering. To battle the oversupply of produce, causing the prices to lower, they resorted to barangay marketing through Kadiwa Producers market, online selling, and marketing of their produce to other municipalities in the Northen and Southern part of Puerto Princesa. Moreover, to make the farmers associations’ and cooperatives’ online presence reach a wider audience, digital platforms were developed with the help of the LGU IT expert.

The City Agriculturist Office also initiated a campaign promoting the slogan, “Grow local, buy local, and eat local” to encourage the locals to patronize their own produce. Moreover, production planning was encouraged to ensure that farmers do not plant the same kind of vegetable in one cropping season to ensure continuous production with stable prices. To ensure that vegetables go to where they are needed, a consolidation area was put up where a provincial truck and vehicle was dedicated for produce transportation. 

Other marketing strategy initiatives of the City Agriculturist Office include market on wheels, weekend market, selling through mall activity center, and through institutional buyers. There was also a Kadiwa support from government agencies and NGOs in terms of capacity building. 

Recognizing the importance of partnership with other organizations in Puerto Princesa, the City Agriculturist Office collaborated with Go Palengke, a Kadiwa partner in marketing farm produce online; I Agro, a Kadiwa partner in marketing through online and mall activities; and Project ZACCHAEUS, a social enterprise helping in values formation and marketing of agricultural products. These are the strategies employed by the LGU-Office of the City Agriculturist in coping up with the pandemic aside from the already existing programs of the said office.

Wrapping up her presentation , Ms. Macasaet emphasized that it would take a lot of determination and diligence in everything we do. Moreover, we need to always learn and be updated in the things that we do. She enjoined everyone to always keep the flame of service for others burn brightly inside each person’s passion.

Watch the video thru this link: youtube.com/watch?=ZCCDUJGco4Y&t-426s

(IMGesmundo)