��������

MANILA: When Louie Gutierrez started learning how to farm in 2020, it became one of his ways to feed his family during the COVID-19 pandemic. Little did he know that a few years later, he would be developing a community farm in the heart of Manila, joining a growing number of Filipinos who are turning to urban farming to fight rising food prices.

Many Filipinos have struggled to afford basic food, as prices for essential food items, such as rice and vegetables, have been skyrocketing in recent years, fueled by high energy costs and increasingly extreme weather events.

In the Manila capital region, food inflation rose to 3.9 percent as of August 2025, almost double the 2 percent recorded in August last year. The rate was much higher for specific food items, such as vegetables and cooking bananas, which increased at a rate of 26.5 percent, according to data from the Philippine Statistics Authority.

“One of the big problems that we have here in the city is because of the high prices. Inflation has really gone up so high. Food prices, vegetables, especially during this rainy season, are so expensive,” he told Arab News.

“So a lot of people don’t have any funds left to buy vegetables. They eat probably instant noodles. Honestly, there’s not too much nutrition there.”

With such concerns being top of mind for many Filipinos, more than half said lowering food prices should be the priority of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., according to a survey published this month by independent Philippine polling group Social Weather Stations.

As food prices continue to soar across the Philippines, Manila residents are turning to urban farming to ensure their own food security, transforming their backyards, balconies and rooftops into green pockets of harvest.

The same was true for Gutierrez, whose open-air garden grows tomatoes, lettuce and herbs against the backdrop of high-rise buildings and concrete sidewalks of the Bonifacio Global City district. It is a project he hopes will inspire more Filipinos to take up urban farming.

“So what we offer here in the urban farm is fresh, no-pesticide vegetables so that people can augment it with their meals … There should be a farm in every city here in the Philippines. So, no one will go hungry,” he said.

Gutierrez, who holds the “farmer-in-chief” title at advocacy group Urban Farmers PH, started his own city farming journey also as a way to survive during the global coronavirus outbreak, which had forced the closure of his jewelry stores across the Philippines.

“I have 70 stores in the malls, and they all closed because of the pandemic … I have 400 employees and they didn’t have jobs, and this was one thing that I thought of, (that) maybe we all could learn how to farm,” he said.

With guidance from an agriculture expert he found online, Gutierrez, who previously never farmed a day in his life, began his farming journey, which has since turned into a movement.

When it caught the attention of Ayala, a major Philippine conglomerate, he was offered a space in Bonifacio to build a community farm, which has attracted thousands of visitors.

“We have actually around 40,000 people already visited here in the farm within the last few years. And we hear a lot of success stories of them planting in their communities, planting in their homes … We realized that a lot of people are really interested in eating healthy and growing their own food,” he said.

“There’s a lot of people who don’t have enough food. But there’s so much empty space here in the city. What if we convert them into temporary farms like this? No one will get hungry in Manila.”

Urban farming was also relatively affordable, he added, as it does not require big land or expensive equipment.

“Urban farming, you see, it’s not going to be expensive because even if you look at the farm that we have here, 80 percent of the materials that we use are recycled and upcycled. So it’s something that anybody can do. You don’t have space, you can use your own containers. Many also have started rooftop gardening. So there’s really no excuse not to plant,” Gutierrez said.

For Manila-based journalist and farmer Mer Layson, the practice has been a lifelong journey.

“I am the son of a farmer. I grew different kinds of vegetables in used bottles of mineral water … I started planting because I kind of foresaw that there might come a time of hunger. So when that happens, you won’t be too affected. And true enough, the pandemic came, so I was able to rely on the vegetables I planted in bottles,” he told Arab News.

“That’s why I also started giving free seminars for those who want to learn how to grow their own food through urban gardening … People always say there’s not enough space to plant in Metro Manila. But really, you can grow your own food even in small containers.”

For Layson, the benefits of urban farming are multifold. Not only do people get to save money, they also gain from better nutrition while helping preserve nature, he said.

“I encourage people — let’s keep planting. Prices of vegetables in the market are very high, but why buy when you can grow your own? I always say, food security starts at home. Even if market prices go up, you won’t be affected if you are growing your own.”