Hydroponics Project Manila

8/13/2019 Hydroponics Project Manila

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Published by City Farmer, Canada's Office of Urban Agriculture

Introducing Simplified Hydroponics inManila Philippines, Payatas, Quezon

City

Community response after tragedy

by Peggy Bradley

[email protected] DirectorInstitute for Simplified Hydroponicshttp://www.carbon.org

In March of 2000, Bert van Ommen ordered a few kits from the Institute for Simplified Hydroponics, andreceived a copy of the book "Home Hydroponic Gardens". The book, written by Peggy Bradley and CesarMarulanda introduces the methods of simplified hydroponics. It is intended to introduce this low costtechnology to people who wish to start their own gardens to supply food for their own use and foradditional family income.

Bert started his project in Payatas, Quezon City outside Manila. After starting the project in with the urban

poor living in the landfill, this site became internationally known. On July 10th, a landslide of urbangarbage fell and buried a part of the community and an estimated 150 people lost their lives. Most of thesewhere children, many who are living on their own at the site.

As Bert explained "You may also have heard or read about the disaster that struck Payatas, the dumpsitein Quezon City, Metro Manila, where tons of solid waste and thrash slid down and killed hundreds of

people. It is exactly in this area where I started our pilot project with the aim to provide the scavengers(waste-pickers) and other urban poor with an alternative livelihood activity and to improve on theirnutritional intake, especially for the children.

"This disaster delayed implementation. We were all too busy with disaster relief work and now slowly therehabilitation phase is starting. If you wish to have a bit more background information about Payatas,please visit my son's web site http://deevio.tripod.com/mixednuts/index.html.

The place that was struck by the disaster is ironically called "Lupang Pangako", translated as "PromisedLand". But we as a project claim this as the Promised Land for these people.

We will establish three Training-Demo Centers (TDC) in Payatas. At these centers, we will pilot the most

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appropriate techniques and also learn the basics of horticulture, since none of us are horticulturists.

The people will receive training in the hydroponics as well as training in institution building, strengtheningof capabilities and capacities, marketing, etc. In short, a holistic approach to community development.

We now have just enough resources for the establishment of the first TDC, a lot of effectively 60 squaremeters, a small, but appropriate size to start with and I have a Core Group of 12 people (of whom 8 arewomen), all citizens of Payatas) who are the pioneers of this project.

The project will be cosponsored by Operation Blessing Foundation, Philippines. This organization is wellestablished and has an outstanding track record. I have been working closely together with them inPayatas. The responsibility for the day-to-day implementation of this project is with the "Payatas Pastorsfor Christ Movement (PPCM)".

A group of pastors from the different evangelical, full gospel, born again, etc.. churches in Payatas whoorganised themselves to pull together their socio-economic resources.

It is now time to generate some funding from other sources and technical input. Until date we have beenable to sustain on a very low budget (approx. $500.00 only, incl. the kits I ordered from you) and lots of voluntary (unpaid) inputs, including mine.

Last week the Core Group established several seedbeds at their homes and meanwhile we are constructingthe first training center from bamboo and craters-wood (from used pallets, etc.) which we get from theharbor to construct the several types of grower-beds.

What we need now is:

(1) technical assistance and some inputs such as the appropriate set of nutrients. (Certified seeds I can getfrom the Department of Agriculture).

(2) Financial resources.

Agency Requesting Funding:

Operation Blessing Foundation, Philippines

4/F Sagittarius Condominium, H.V. dela Costa St., Salcedo Village, Makati City - 1227, Philippines. Tel.+63-2-8124747 ext/loc. "OB". Fax. +63-2-8181620. Contact Persons:

(1) Dra. Kim April Pascual, M.D., Executive vice-President & Chief Operation Officer, e-mail:HYPERLINK mailto:[email protected] [email protected] .

(2) Bert van Ommen, Consultant. Address: 6 Dansalan Rd., Philam Homes, West Ave., Quezon City 1104,M.M., Philippines. Tel. (+63-2) 927-0566. e-mail: [email protected]

Implementing Agency:

Payatas Pastors for Christ Movement (PPCM), c/o Payatas Disciple Church, Lupang Pangako, Urban,Payatas-B, Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines.

Type of Community/Beneficiaries:

Urban poor, in particular the scavengers community and informal settlers.

Scope:


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The project is local in scope, covering selected areas that are inhabited by scavengers and settlers locatednext and near to the city's dumpsite for solid waste in Barangay Payatas of Quezon City.

Age: The project intends to reach all ages. Implementation of the project activities will primarily focus onthe un-and under-employed adults and youth, while the products of this project will benefit all, especiallythe malnourished children.

Ratio of women to men: At the level of decision-making, overall management and immediateinvolvement of the activities at least 2/3 are women. At the level of implementation of the day to day

activities men and women are equally involved.

9. Project Duration: Three years - From 1 July 2000 to 30 June 2003

10. Funding for the total period of three years: Total amount is P.5,927,000.= (:44 = US $135,000.00)(100%) broken down as: P. 750,000.= (12.65%) own contribution P. 1,590,000.= (26.83%) from LocalFunders P. 3,587,000.= (60.52%) from Overseas

Summary of the Project:

The project aims to introduce, develop and promote community-based and at low-cost hydroponicallygrown food production, in particular vegetables, among poor Filipinos residing in the urban areas. It will

enable these sectors to produce hydroponically-grown crops all year round for themselves and theirneighboring communities, allowing them to meet their own nutritional requirements and complement totheir daily income. Ultimately, the project seeks to empower these disadvantaged sectors of society tobecome active participants in the country's drive toward agricultural modernization and attainment of foodsecurity. Hydroponics is a new technology for the Philippines. A handful of small to medium sizecommercial hydroponics farms exists only since a few years.

Community-Based Hydroponics is a new concept in the Philippines. Simplified Hydroponics wasintroduced over a decade ago in several Latin American and few African countries with good results.

Consumption of vegetables is regarded as a luxury for the urban poor, due to its high costs, since vegetableare imported from the mountainous regions some 150 Km north of Manila. Due to this fact the incidenceof malnutrition, especially among infants and young children is even higher among the urban poor then thenational average indicates.

The great challenge in this project is to contribute to an ongoing Community Transformation processthrough a community-based and empowering process approach. Community Transformation is therefore

the prevailing guiding principle for implementation of this project.

The project will establish three Training-Demo Centers and will provide technical assistance to communaland individual hydroponic gardens. The implementation will follow a Project Cycle Management (PCM)approach which starts with an inception/preparation phase followed by three major implementation stagesover a total period of three years, i.e. the Piloting stage (Phase I), Replication stage (Phase II) and theAdaptation, Consolidation and Phase-out stage (Phase III). A participatory monitoring and evaluationsystem will be put in place to closely follow the progress during and after each phase. The outcome andconclusions of each assessment will be used as input for the next phase.

Overall Goal:

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Attain food-security and food-sufficiency for the poor and disadvantaged sector of society, through aprocess of community transformation and empowerment.

Payatas grown vegetables are widely accepted; "Payatas" does not connote to the word "Dumpsite"anymore.

Impact Evaluation 3 years after project completion.

Project Purpose: A fully operational and sustainable production and marketing systems of Hydroponicallygrown crops independently managed by the urban poor of Payatas, through a community-based process ,allowing them to meet their own nutritional requirements and earn additional cash.

Return on Investment, of min. 15% is sufficient to motivate people to continue and expand the projectactivities on their own;

Three Training-Demo Centers are established and in full operation at strategically selected sites in Payatasand managed under supervision of the funders; The results and lessons learned from the research andpiloting activities are well documented and made available to the public;

A core group from the local community, of whom at least 2/3rd are women, have been trained and arequalified to operate and manage the 3 training centers and to train others in the low-cost Hydroponics

technology;

The beneficiaries, of whom at last 2/3rd are women, are organized into an association or cooperative forthe sole purpose of establishing hydroponics gardens and marketing of its products;

Members of the association/cooperative are trained and equipped to establish and manage their ownhydroponic gardens and related activities, such as, among others the implementation of savings & loanschemes and marketing strategies;

Support services, such, among others, potable water systems, mechanisms for the supply of the requiredagricultural inputs and building up a network are in place.

The 3 training centers are established and fully operational by December 2000. No, or at least minimalpolitical interference that may stop the project; Favorable developments regarding land ownership; Nodemolition orders

Activities & Inputs: In following the Project Cycle Management concept for implementation the majorproject phases identified, are: Inception Period: Prepare the necessary project documents, raise funds,establish the basic management and administrative facilities, work out the required procedures andguidelines and collect the necessary baseline data. Negotiate and agree with the participating CBOs andcommunities on the three (3) sites for the establishment of the TDCs.

Phase I - Piloting: Establish the training centers. Research and test for the most appropriate steps of action and techniques to be studied and tried during this phase, through a Participatory Action Research

(PAR). Design and conduct trainings, information and demonstration modules. Development of theappropriate monitoring and appraisal systems. This will be done in close collaboration with assistance fromthe academe and the corporate establishments. An intensive participatory assessment will be conducted atthe end of Phase I to determine the lessons learned, which will contribute to the design for the next phase.

Phase II - Replication: Phase II will introduce and replicate the successful pilot activities at a larger scaleamong the other members. This include the development of a profitable model for production andmarketing, and the introduction and training of the appropriate technical and management skills, skills onbasic trade and marketing, and promotion and awareness campaigns on the nutritional values of vegetablesfor the participants within an association/cooperative set-up.

This also includes the introduction of a micro-finance (savings & credit) mechanism. At the end of this


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phase again an intensive participatory assessment will be conducted and the output of this assessment andthe lessons learned will be used as input for the third phase.

Phase III - Adaptation, Consolidation and Phase-out: The successes of Phase II will be transferred tothe beneficiaries and transformed towards ownership and full responsibility by the association/ cooperative, following the natural growth pattern and development processes in the community. Externalinputs will be limited to technical advice and consultations only, while financial and other resources willcome from the participants themselves or through their own efforts of networking and negotiations fromother, third party resources. A lobby and network mechanism will be put in place for this purpose. The

lessons learned throughout the project cycle will be consolidated and the external inputs will phase-out.Means: Project Management Unit; Technical Assistance Adequate (voluntary) staff; Equipment;Transportation (vehicle, motorcycle); Technical expertise;

Costs: Production Costs Technical Assistance Support Services Contingencies Estimated costs 6.0 millionPesos over 3 years. Assumptions: Continued support from the Local government in obtaining the requiredlicenses and certificates (ECC, etc); No negative strings attached by donors; Fulfillment of thecommitments made by external agencies & donors; Required agricultural inputs remain locally available atan affordable price; Preconditions: To be able to begin we need sites for the three training centers. Thesesites must have sufficient funds to start, adequate water supply and adequate security measures for theProject facilities;

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Hydroponics Project Manila