SMC EXPANDS ‘BACKYARD BUKID’ FARMING TO 9 SITES NATIONWIDE; MARKS FIRST ROLLOUT IN VISAYAS

SAN Miguel Corporation’s “Backyard Bukid” farming has expanded to nine sites nationwide,  marking its first rollout in the Visayas, as the concept grows beyond its original urban farming model to support food security and supplemental livelihoods in local communities.

SMC launched the program in 2020 at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic to provide food for utility and security personnel stranded by lockdowns at San Miguel’s headquarters in Mandaluyong City.

“Bakyard Bukid” has since evolved into a community-based organic farming program implemented in several areas through San Miguel Foundation Inc. (SMFI).

Its newest site was launched earlier this year by San Miguel Foods (SMF) at the Antipolo Elementary School in Albuera, Leyte, where a Magnolia Poultry Processing Plant is located, setting the record as SMC’s first-ever Backyard Bukid in the Visayas.

It now operates as a support program for health, nutrition and livelihood, with 25 community farmers composed of parents, barangay officials and school staff.

“I am proud of our teamwork here in ‘Backyard Bukid’ and what we’ve learned in making our own organic inputs. We really developed a strong sense of community, which is why our farm has been very productive,” Jonathan Dimailig, a community farmer, said at the harvesting ceremony that launched the new farm recently.

In March, another “Backyard Bukid” by San Miguel Foods was launched at the Soyung Elementary School in Echague, Isabela, together with SEED Philippines — an institutional partner that has been training SMC’s volunteers in organic farming.

Uniquely, this expansion in Northern Luzon enlisted an all-women farming group, thereby strengthening SMC’s support for women empowerment on the occasion of Women’s Month.

“We’re excited to see how this farm will continue to grow in Isabela under its all-female team. More than managing a source of food for their families, their taking charge of this livelihood project is a strong statement for the role of women not just in the family but in the community,” said SMC chairman and CEO Ramon S. Ang.

These two new farming sites add up to the seven active SMC “Backyard Bukid” farms located at the SMC Head Office Complex in Mandaluyong City; the San Miguel Yamamura Packaging Corp. facility in Gen. Trias, Cavite; the Better World Smokey Mountain Community Center in Tondo, Manila; and the SMF-led project sites in Bgy. Sagurong in Pili, Camarines Sur; Bgy. Guihing in Hagonoy, Davao del Sur; Bgy. Impalutao, Impasug-ong, Bukidnon; and at Darong Marcos P. Saez Elementary School in Santa Cruz, Davao del Sur.

To date, the nine SMC “Backyard Bukid” farms have produced more than 4,300 kilos in assorted crops and generated additional income for 155 active employee and community farmers.

Among the leafy vegetables and salad herbs produced in these farms are lettuce, bok choy, kangkong, eggplant, lady finger, tomato, moringa, kalamansi, basil, arugula, and oregano, alongside fruit-bearing crops including banana and papaya.

In the coming months, San Miguel Foods is set to develop more SMC “Backyard Bukid” sites located in public elementary schools in Bulacan, Iloilo, and Misamis Oriental. At the same time, SMC’s San Miguel Properties is also setting up its own community-managed farm in Barangay Tagabuli, Santa Cruz, Davao del Sur to be a fully fledged SMC “Backyard Bukid” before the end of the year.