“We have to capacitate urban farmers as the demand for food from locals and tourists continue to grow, considering that Iloilo City is the region’s center of economic activities,” said DA-Region 6 Director Remelyn Recoter.
During the recent regional celebration of the DA 124th anniversary, Recoter said that the first step is for farmers in Iloilo City to cluster themselves to be able to get higher funding from the national government.
A survey backed by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) last year found out that there are still around 300 hectares of rain-fed urban farms here that can be utilized.
Recoter recalled that if the farms can be utilized, it can expand the rolling stores that started during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. At the height of strict lockdowns, farmers were still able to directly sell their products to residents.
DA-Region 6 is backing the Iloilo City government in promoting urban farming among local residents – that they are not merely food consumers but can also be food producers.