Hidden behind the tall skyscrapers and busy highways in the Philippines' most populous city of Quezon is a sprawling 38ha of lush vegetables that helped urban farmers like Miles Lilio survive the Covid-19 pandemic.
The 46-year-old mother of four was a housewife when the pandemic struck in 2020. She used to grow some vegetables in her small garden in Bagong Silangan, a village in the city outskirts where shanties line the unpaved streets. But when her husband lost his job as a construction worker due to the lockdown, Lilio knew she had to do more.
She signed up for the city's "GrowQC" food security program in January 2021. Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte teamed up with the Department of Agrarian Reform to convert an empty lot located near Ms. Lilio's home into the New Greenland Farm.
A year later, Lilio is among the over 4,000 urban farmers working across 337 gardens and ten farms in Quezon City. She earns about 1,000 pesos a month (S$24) selling vegetables. She admits it is not much but says being able to grow food for her family makes a difference.
They were trained to till the land and harvest vegetables free of charge. The city government linked them with markets to sell their produce, a portion of which the farmers would take home.
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