Empowering support staff one seed at a time

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Every week, armed with scissors and crates, around twenty-five maintenance and security staff at San Miguel Corporation’s (SMC) head office complex in Ortigas trudge muddy paths to comb neatly-arranged vegetable beds, eager to accomplish one of their most important tasks for the week: harvest their very own urban farms.

This group comprises the first batch of participants in the company’s “Backyard Bukid” urban farming project where each is given a plot to grow their own vegetables and use their harvest to either augment their own food supply, or earn extra income by selling them to other employees.

The SMC Backyard Bukid has already produced over 300 kilos of bokchoi, camote, eggplant, kangkong, green lettuce, romaine lettuce, mustard, okra, siling labuyo, pechay, cilantro, winged bean, and kale.

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“Our goal is to create an environment where our employees and support staff can learn new skills and gain new experiences to help them become more resilient and self-sufficient especially in these uncertain times. We have similar ongoing programs at some of our host communities in the provinces. This version at our head office is much smaller in scale, but every small effort goes a long way, especially when people are having a hard time,” SMC President and Chief Executive Officer Ramon S. Ang said.

When asked how the urban farm has helped him, “We learned how to grow vegetable the right way. More than that, we also learned to make our own fertilizers, to counter pests. We learned that you can plant and make money even on a small plot of land,” Nestor Reofier, a member of SMC’s maintenance staff, shared

Andy Detorres, one of SMC’s messengerial staff, highlights how teamwork is key to making this project successful: “Everybody helps out to make sure we maximize the project. We know all of us will benefit. What I like most about the Backyard Bukid project is that we’re able to harvest and sell the produce quickly to other employees. We get extra income.”

Participants of Backyard Bukid project were put through a one-month agri-entrepreneurship training and mentorship program with the School for Experiential and Entrepreneurial Development (SEED) Philippines. They learn about organic vegetable production, soil management, and pest and disease management.

Once the vegetables are ready for harvest, each participant contributes to the selling process, with tasks that include gathering and consolidating orders, purchasing commodities, repackaging and delivering orders, and maintaining records.

In recent months, participants have also tried their hand at trading, since demand for Backyard Bukid vegetables has been higher than supply. Every week, they compile a list of orders from employees and work with Silong Kabataan Community Farm Enterprise to augment their supply and sell these for a profit. From this, they learn about farm and supply chain management and agri-enterprise development.

“Apart from growing food, Backyard Bukid has built a sense of community among participants. It has become a place for them to connect and work together for a common purpose. My hope is they sustain the program, grow from it, and inspire others to engage in sustainable farming,” SEED mentor Renn Inopia said.

As one of the country’s largest and most diversified conglomerates, San Miguel Corporation has launched numerous initiatives to help farmers and agriculture workers throughout the pandemic.

When the country first went into lockdown in 2020, it enabled farmers to open Kadiwani Ani at Kita pop-up stores at its Petron gas stations throughout Metro Manila, allowing them to sell their produce directly to consumers, and prevent food waste.

It also increased its purchase of local crops to support farmers and cooperatives. It even purchased excess dairy production and donated these to poor communities, to avoid spoilage and financial losses for carabao growers.

It also partnered with social enterprise Rural Rising to put up Better World Diliman, a ready marketplace for excess produce from all over Luzon which likewise aims to avoid food waste and help keep farm incomes up. It is, however, the company’s Backyard Bukid initiative, that has had a direct impact on the very people providing everyday services to the company and its employees.

As SMC’s Backyard Bukid program continues to grow, SMC’s own hope is for more businesses and individuals to be encouraged to transform urban spaces into functional eco-spaces, and help agriculture flourish.

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