The Uproot Urban Farm eyes to boost urban farming in Metro Manila in 2020 in order to address the growing population.
The social enterprise take into account the possibility that the agriculture sector may not provide enough supply food to the ongoing population growth of the country.
Moreover, Uproot Founder and Chief Executive Officer Robi F. Del Rosario told BusinessWorld in an interview that the social enterprise will establish 10 more urban farms across Metro Manila.
“I really believe our present agriculture system is not enough to feed our population, and they say that by 2030, majority of the people will be living in cities, so it us makes sense that we grow the food where it is consumed,” he said.
“For a country still struggling to attain food security, this is unacceptable. Our goal is to have every barangay to have a grow hub to lessen food waste and to provide our consumers, not just high-quality, but also high-nutrient produce,’ Mr. Del Rosario added.
He also mentioned that people tend to choose eating unhealthy food because it is more accessible than the healthy ones.
Based on the data obtained from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), the total population of the National Capital Region in 2015 is 12.877 million up 8% from the last census.
“The national hunger rate in the third quarter was 9.1%, or about 2.3 million families experiencing involuntary hunger at least once during the period. Of this total, 7.4% or about 1.8 million families experienced “moderate hunger”, down from 8.7% in the second quarter, and 1.7% or 426,000 families experienced “severe hunger,” up from 1.3%,” Social Weather Stations (SWS) reported.
Furhter, Pasig, Taguig, Makati, and Pasay are one of the targeted cities for urban farming.
Del Rosario explained on how urban farming works. With the limited space in the city, households can cultivate more food through aquaponics.
” Aquaponics is a combination of aquaculture, or growing fish and other aquatic animals, and hydroponics, or growing plants without soil,” Business World report stated.
” Prior to building 30-square meter (sq.m.) hubs, the company establishes facilities which could contain 100 tilapia and grow 36 varieties of plants. Capital needed to build such a facility is P30,000; for a 30-sq.m. grow hub, the required investment is P200,000-P250,000″, Del Rosario explained.
At present, the company has three urban farms in Rizal. Another hub will be established in Intramuros.
Source: https://www.bworldonline.com/social-enterprise-to-set-up-urban-farms-on-subscription-model/
