Close to 3.9 million Filipino families continue to experience involuntary hunger and around 40% of all Filipinos are considered food poor. Epson has partnered with World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Philippines to address the lack of affordable and nutritious food in the Philippines.
Epson volunteers together with WWF Philippines representatives, local government officials, and representatives from the City Agriculturist Office participated in the construction of the food shed in San Jose de Urquico, Tarlac. The food shed will directly provide livelihood to caretakers, who will manage the production of vegetables and poultry products as well as facilitate linkage to local community buyers.
The second food shed is located in Sapang Tagalog, Tarlac. With these two locations, they aim to train community members in food production, value chain, and business development. This can allow for improved access to food for the households in San Jose de Urquico and Sapang Tagalog.
“In line with our commitment to enriching communities and enabling them to achieve sustainability, we are excited to begin this journey of sustainability and resiliency with WWF Philippines and our community in Tarlac,” said Masako Kusama, president and director of Epson Philippines. “We believe this climate-adaptive food shed farming technology is key to building resilience among communities who do not have direct access to food sources like farmland or municipal fishing grounds and can ultimately protect them against hunger and disruptions in food supply.”
The project also includes technology transfer sessions for partner communities in Tarlac to help manage their food sheds. Members of the community will learn on sustainable food production, value chain development plan formulation, and financial literacy, and savings mobilization. Continuous learning activities will be done to enhance the skill sets of the community members in growing crops and producing livestock products.
To promote bayanihan or community work, the community-managed food shed showcases the multiple benefits of compact and protective farming and urban agricultural production. The establishment of the food shed will also provide an avenue for the community to work together towards a common goal of addressing food security and livelihood.
