MPIF Marks One Year Since Seeds Of Bayan Tanim Planted

Metro Pacific Investments Foundation (MPIF) has seen its Bayan Tanim program help 32 communities comprising 3,100 disadvantaged families with a backyard gardening project that championed sustainable living and self-sufficient food security amid the food scarcity resulting from the COVID-19 outbreak.

Photo Insert: Teach people to plant and they will feed themselves for a lifetime. The intention of Bayan Tanim! is "to go beyond giving relief packs and focus on a more sustainable program for its beneficiaries."

MPIF unveiled its Bayan Tanim! project last year due to the adverse effects of the lockdown to help many Filipinos who have lost their sources of income. It was meant to allow them to raise vegetables and other agricultural products to help them tide over their economic difficulties due to the quarantine guidelines.

The Foundation wanted to develop a program that not only addresses the current need for immediate food sources but also provides a long-term solution that may help them in the coming months or even years.

MPIF President Melody del Rosario said the foundation “intended to go beyond giving relief packs and focus on a more sustainable program for its beneficiaries. Through Bayan Tanim!, communities and individuals are provided with planting kits that contain the basic items needed to start their own backyard garden.”

“The program was intended to not only promote food security during the pandemic but also offer the recipients possible alternative livelihood opportunities by growing their own produce,” she added.

In its “seed” stages, Bayan Tanim! was a pay-it-forward chain initiative, encouraging donors to purchase crates that they can donate to their chosen beneficiary, who will also purchase crates for another recipient. Company donors were given the option to donate crates to their stakeholder and fenceline communities.

Partnerships were key in ensuring Bayan Tanim’s success. The program generated interest primarily from MPIF’s kapatid companies under the MVP Group of Companies, the conglomerate chaired by Mr. Manuel V. Pangilinan.

Through the initial donation from First Pacific Co. Ltd. and Light Rail Manila Corporation, MPIF was able to distribute 400 planting kits to four beneficiary communities, including Brgy.128 Smokey Mountain in Tondo, Manila, and Epiphany of the Lord Parish in Caloocan.

Following its strong start, MPIF signed a tri-partite agreement with the Department of Agriculture (DA) and Agrea Agricultural System International Inc., to further strengthen their shared advocacy for food sustainability in the Philippines. The MOU was signed respectively by DA Sec. William Dar, MPIF President Melody del Rosario, and Agrea President and Founding Farmer Cherrie Atilano.

The DA, through the Agricultural Training Institute (ATI), provided 1,000 agricultural starter kits containing seedlings of common vegetables and other needed materials. They also committed to spearheading capability-building activities including online courses, leading the advocacy campaign for Integrated Urban Agriculture, and providing information, education, and communication materials on Urban Agriculture techniques.

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