Bayer Kubo

Located in different sites across the country, the Bayer Kubo is a venue built with NGO partners for communities to grow vegetable crops and train residents on how to adopt sustainable agricultural practices. Inspired by the lines of the traditional folk song Bahay Kubo, it’s a space where residents and community members can grow a variety of vegetables to meet the needs of their community.

Aside from the agriculture component, the Bayer Kubo will also serve as a hub for conducting health and wellness programs – contributing to Bayer’s vision of “Health for all, Hunger for none.”

Bayer Kubo – Ususan, Taguig
Partners: Rise Against Hunger, Urban Agriculture PH, Conrad Manila, Barangay Ususan, and the Homeowners Association of Block IV Pamayanang Diego Silang in BCDA Housing.

With decreasing agricultural land to feed a growing population, people in highly urbanized areas might not have to venture too far to source their vegetables in the near future. This is one of the objectives of the Bayer Kubo project in Barangay Ususan, Taguig City.

Launched last January 2020, the project became a blessing for the residents when the enhanced community quarantine was imposed mid-March, becoming a sustainable source of food when people became worried about the lockdown.

“Our farmer volunteers are very happy because they are harvesting fresh and healthy vegetables everyday,” said Jerimy Soronel of Rise Against Hunger (RAH)

In the farm plots, there were different varieties of vegetables, including tomatoes, okra, eggplant, sitaw, mustard, pechay, bitter gourd, lettuce, and bell pepper. Aside from the usual vegetables, they also harvested herbs and spices like basil, tarragon, oregano, roselle, taheebo, gotu kola, serpentine, and lemongrass. 

The community is eager to learn more about increasing their output from vegetable farming so that they can turn the farm into a business venture. However, some of these learning activities were delayed. “Because of the quarantine, some of the scheduled trainings were postponed, but we still managed to maintain the existing crops and apply what we already know,” added Furio.

The 30-member volunteer farmer residents of the Good Food Farm in Barangay Ususan, Taguig are more grateful than ever for partnering with Bayer Philippines and being trained on how to grow vegetables and herbs under its Bayer Kubo project. This includes supplying the seeds to be planted, regular monitoring, and technical assistance provided by Rise Against Hunger and Urban Agriculture Philippines. The 300-square meter Bayer Kubo farm is literally just a few steps away from their residences at Pamayanang Diego Silang in medium-rise BCDA Housing.

Bayer Kubo – Calauan, Laguna
Partners: Rise Against Hunger, Don Bosco Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET)

Situated beside Southville 7 in Barangay Dayap, the 2,200-square meter farm is intended to support the regular feeding program in the community and contribute to providing an income source for community residents turned farmers.

The crops initially grown in the Calauan vegetable farm include sweet corn, squash, tomatoes, and bottle gourd. The site also has a seedling nursery and a kubo that serves as a venue for training activities related to recommended farming practices. 

“The community residents here in Barangay Dayap are eager to take care of the farm as they know it would bring them a source of income while supporting the regular feeding program of Rise Against Hunger,” said Jomar Fleras, executive director of Rise Against Hunger Philippines. “In our agreement, part of the produce will go to the feeding program, the farmer volunteers, and managed by Don Bosco Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET) Center in Calauan.”

Rise Against Hunger is an international hunger relief organization that distributes food and life-changing aid to the world’s most vulnerable, mobilizing the necessary resources to end hunger by 2030.

Father Jeffrey L. Mangubat, administrator and technical director of Don Bosco TVET Center in Calauan, was grateful for having the project established within their training facility. “We see this as a gateway to encourage the community to look for ways to become self-sustaining by getting involved in farming, whether big or small. We believe that this is not the last initiative of Bayer and Rise Against Hunger as we uplift the lives of families through the Bayer Kubo project and future engagement activities.”