San Miguel Corporation is broadening the geographical reach of its flagship urban agriculture program, Backyard Bukid, marking a major milestone in its ongoing commitment to food security and community empowerment. The diversified Filipino conglomerate has officially extended the sustainable farming project beyond Luzon, establishing its first site in the Visayas region alongside new community locations. This expansion underscores the company’s long-term vision of transforming idle corporate properties and school facilities into productive green spaces across the Philippine archipelago.
Originally launched in 2021 as a pilot response to supply chain disruptions during the pandemic, Backyard Bukid began by enabling company service personnel and local workers to grow fresh, organic produce inside facility compounds. Over time, the program evolved into a comprehensive community engagement platform supported by the San Miguel Foundation. By providing volunteer participants with seed capital, urban farming tools, and professional agronomy training, the initiative empowers ordinary citizens to cultivate fresh crops while generating supplementary income through local produce sales.
The project’s latest expansion push brings the total number of active Backyard Bukid farm sites to nine, featuring diverse operational models tailored to local needs. Among these is the milestone site in Mandaue City, Cebu—the company’s first footprint in the Visayas—which demonstrates how compact urban spaces can yield high-density nutritional crops. Meanwhile, in Isabela, the program established a unique site operated entirely by an all-women team at a local elementary school, demonstrating how urban farming can intersect with women’s empowerment and school-based nutrition programs.
Beyond direct food production, the initiative aligns closely with broader corporate sustainability goals by advocating eco-friendly practices such as composting, rainwater harvesting, and pesticide-free cultivation. Participants learn essential agricultural techniques that promote climate resilience and environmental stewardship within dense urban centers. By providing hands-on training alongside structured market access through company canteens and local community markets, San Miguel Corporation ensures that participating households achieve long-term economic self-reliance.
As San Miguel Corporation continues to scale Backyard Bukid toward a nationwide network, the project stands as a practical blueprint for public-private collaboration in urban food resilience. By converting underutilized land into thriving agrarian hubs outside the national capital region, the company reinforces the vital role that decentralized, community-led agriculture plays in building sustainable and food-secure Philippine cities.
with additional report: https://www.philstar.com/
