Building Urban Resiliency, One Garden at a Time: The Story of Sitio Asprer s Community-Based Urban Gardens

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1 Building Urban Resiliency, One Garden at a Time: The Story of Sitio Asprer s Community-Based Urban Gardens Ranell Martin Dedicatoria, Pamela Cabacungan, and Chris Ann Mel Bugnot ICLEI Southeast Asia Secretariat

2 About the Project Informal Sector and Urban Resilience Funded by: Implemented by: Status: Completed (February to October 2016) Case Study: Sitio Asprer in Quezon City, Philippines

3 Philippines and Informal Settlements Based on 2011 survey, there is an estimated 1.5 million informal settlers in PH. (Habitat III Country Report). Of the 1.5M, almost 40% live in Metro Manila. Majority of informal settlers fall within the income poverty thresholds estimated at Php92,172 (US$2,183) per family per annum in (Habitat III Country Report) In 2014, a National Informal Settlements Upgrading Strategy for the Philippines was developed. Vision Statement: Informal settlement families (ISFs) are transformed into formal urban residents in resilient, vibrant, and connected communities.

4 Project Site: Sitio Asprer Located in Quezon City (part of Metro Manila) TOTAL AREA: 3 hectares POPULATION: 491 informal settlement families OTHER REMARKS: Land is owned by City Government MOA with the City Government was signed and a City Resolution was passed allowing the awarding of the land to actual occupants through direct selling Situated near the Payatas Sanitary Landfill (SLF) that caters to all solid waste disposals of the City.

5 How did the project start? Local Partner: Quezon City s Housing Community Development and Resettlement Department (HCDRD) Identification of pilot community Conduct of immersion and group discussions with local leaders and residents high dependence on NGO support to provide and sustain basic services (e.g., sanitation, health, and livelihood) economic insecurity lack of awareness on climate change resulting to lack of regard to sustain a safe and healthy environment

6 Why an Urban Garden? Urban gardening was selected as a priority intervention to address issues on economic insecurity and improve food security. Co-benefit: Aesthetic value Urban gardening can tap social capital and relationships within communities.

7 How did we do it? Technical Partner: Department of Community and Environmental Resource Planning (DCERP), College of Human Ecology (CHE) from the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) Activities Conducted: Site Visit Orientation Urban Garden Set-up Market Survey Project Planning and Management Turn-over Enhanced Potting Preparation (EPP) as urban gardening technology, which uses plastic container (softdrink bottles) as pots, and compost soil mixture as potting medium supplemented by Compost Soil Extract (CSE) as organic fertilizer.

8 Turnover of three Urban Gardens Turnover ceremony in October 2016 Spot map of the three urban gardens (Google Maps)

9 On-site monitoring (March 2017) Ang lapit ko lang. Araw-araw sinisilip ko yan. Matanda na ako e, pero kailangan mag-exercise. Tapos bibili ako ng gulay. (I live near [the gardens]. Everyday, I go there. I am old but I need exercise. I also buy vegetables [from the garden]. - Benjamin Teves also known as Lolo Ben Looking Ahead: Eh sana lumaki pa. Kasi lahat makikinabang diyan. Mas maraming tanim, mas malawak na lupa. Para maganda. (I hope the garden could be expanded. Everyone benefits from it. More plants, wider land. It is better that way.)"

10 On-site monitoring (March 2017) Eh simula nung nagkasakit ako, nandito na lang ako sa bahay. Hindi na ako pwede magtrabaho. Nung nagkaroon ng garden, kahit papano, may napaglilibangan na ako. Nakakatuwa tingan yung mga tanim doon. Na-e-exercise ako, nakakakain pa kami madalas ng sariwang gulay. (Since I got sick, I just stayed at home. I am not allowed to work anymore. But when we had the garden, I found something to do with my time. It is amusing to look at the plants there. I am able to exercise, I am able to eat fresh vegetables more frequently.)" - Nonong Arcinas, 48, Sitio Asprer resident Possible Area for Improvement: Yung iba, hindi nagdidilig kapag toka nila. Dapat ginagawa nila yun. Dapat tulong-tulong. (Some do not water the plants even if they are scheduled to do so. They should do their task. We should help each other.)"

11 Lessons Learned and Key Points Resilience should be approach from a human development perspective especially when dealing with informal settlements. There is no local translation in the Philippines of the word resilience but development is something universal. Community buy-in and involvement is crucial in all project stages. The inclusion of city government can help strengthen the project s sustainability. A resilience project can deliver co-benefits which unravel in the course of project implementation. Social cohesion and increased involvement of senior citizens in the pilot community.

12 Thank you for listening