Today’s youth leaders are not just organizing sports tournaments, they are cultivating vegetables and building food-secure communities.

The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) reports that 19,317 Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) and youth leaders are now actively supporting their local government units (LGUs) through the HAPAG sa Barangay project, a nationwide campaign that promotes urban gardening and community-based agriculture.

In 2024, SK Chairs and youth volunteers played key roles in the establishment, operation, and maintenance of around 24k community gardens across the country.

HAPAG sa Barangay empowers youth to lead grassroots action in food production. SK councils and youth organizations coordinate seed distributions, conduct workshops on urban agriculture, and organize information drives on nutrition and sustainability. Many SKs also help maintain communal gardens and mobilize young people to take part in household planting initiatives.

The program is a priority investment area of SK councils under DBM-DILG-NYC Joint Memorandum Circular No. 1, s. 2019, which allows the SK Fund to be used for programs that contribute to nation-building through environmental protection, livelihood, capacity-building, health initiatives, and youth advocacy.

In Tacloban City, SK leaders of Barangay 110 Utap regularly maintain their assigned section of the communal garden. In Barangay Bolodbolod, St. Bernard, Southern Leyte, the SK Council joins the barangay and community organizations in the Monthly Tagbo, helping strengthen food security and environmental responsibility.

DILG Memorandum Circular No. 2023-001 mandates barangays to identify and utilize available public spaces, preferably vacant lots owned by the barangay or LGU, for food gardening. The initiative aims to mitigate food insecurity while promoting environmental stewardship and self-reliance, especially among the youth.

To date, over 7.2 million square meters of land nationwide have been dedicated for community gardens. These areas are planted with a wide variety of produce, including leafy greens like broccoli, pechay, and mustasa; crops such as kamote, sayote, and labanos; fruit vegetables like ampalaya, eggplant, and kamatis; and even long-term fruit trees like mango, lanzones, and rambutan.

The top three regions with the most land allocated for community gardens are Central Luzon (1.068 million sq.m), Eastern Visayas (811,259.19 sq.m), and the Bicol Region (747,882.73 sq.m).

The Department affirms that young leaders are proving themselves not only as voices of their generation, but as hands-on partners in building food-resilient and sustainable communities.

Original Article At: https://www.dilg.gov.ph/news/Planting-the-Future-Over-19k-SK-Leaders-Assist-Thousands-of-Community-Gardens-for-Food-Security/NC-2025-1093