Vigan City’s community garden program ensures food security for residents

VIGAN CITY, Ilocos Sur (PIA) – – To ensure food security for its residents, particularly preschool children who are vulnerable during emergencies, the city government of Vigan once again hosted its annual “Best Barangay Garden” competition from Jan. 9 to 10.

The competition is held as part of the Vigan City Fiesta and Longganisa Festival celebration, which runs from Jan. 17 until Jan. 25, to encourage all barangays to establish their own vegetable gardens, which could help with supplemental feeding programs in the barangays.

The competition is one of the highlights of the Vigan City Fiesta and Longganisa Festival, encouraging barangays to establish vegetable gardens that support their supplemental feeding programs.

City Nutrition Action Officer Rizaldy Abero emphasized the value of barangay gardens in addressing budget constraints and promoting food security.

“Backyard gardening is also encouraged because during the pandemic, people with backyard gardens had easy access to healthy food, and growing your own food is cheaper than buying it from the market,” Abero said.

He added that the effective collaboration and efforts of the Barangay officials, farmers, women’s organizations, and beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) have been instrumental in maintaining the barangay gardens by cleaning them daily, watering the plants, and eliminating pests, among others.

Since the program’s inception in 2020, Vigan’s city health office has observed a decline in the percentage of underweight and stunted children.

In 2023, 0.73 percent of the city’s 3,467 children aged 0 to 59 months were classified as underweight, dropping to 0.72 percent in 2024. Stunting rates similarly decreased from 1.19 percent in 2023 to 1.17 percent in 2024.

This year, 15 barangays participated, and each barangay partnered with residents who allocated backyard space for gardens under a signed memorandum of agreement.

Punong Barangay Mario Camello of Pantay Fatima meanwhile highlighted the program’s positive impact on their community, noting that it allows them to grow vegetables, sell the produce, and use the profits to support feeding programs.

“At first, we focused on helping underweight children, but since that is no longer an issue in our barangay, we now assist senior citizens, especially those in need,” Camello added.

Barangay Beddeng Laud stands out with six gardens, each representing a different zone.

Punong Barangay Janna Frances Pajaro highlighted how this tradition integrates with their annual Nutrition Month celebrations, awarding prizes such as rice and grocery packages to top gardens.

“We aim to eliminate underweight and overweight children in our barangay. Last year, we launched the 100 Days Feeding Program in July,” Pajaro said.

Pajaro explained that they sought assistance from the provincial nutrition office and conducted counseling sessions with parents of underweight children and barangay health workers to identify the factors contributing to the four recorded cases of underweight children in their community.

“It was identified that the children lacked protein in their diets. Therefore, during our feeding program, which runs from Monday to Friday, we designed a menu that was rich in protein. To date, we are pleased to report that these children are no longer on the borderline,” she added.

Additionally, barangay gardens use organic fertilizers and upcycled materials like old tires and water bottles. Indigenous and herbal plants are also cultivated, further promoting sustainability.

Winners will be announced on Jan. 25 during the Vigan City Fiesta and Longganisa Festival celebration’s Barangay and City Awards Ceremony. (CCMT/JMCQ, PIA Ilocos Sur)

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