ILOILO City — The Department of Education (DepEd) is urging families, learners, teachers, and school personnel across Western Visayas to transform available spaces in their homes into productive gardens as part of a regionwide drive to strengthen food security, improve nutrition, and promote sustainable living.
The initiative, implemented through Regional Memorandum No. 342, Series of 2021, seeks to make home gardening a practical solution to food insecurity while encouraging healthier lifestyles, environmental stewardship, and stronger community participation. DepEd Region 6 said the program empowers households to become more self-reliant by producing their own nutritious food and reducing dependence on commercially purchased produce.
The Home Gardening Program encourages the active participation of learners, parents, teachers, and all DepEd personnel, integrating gardening concepts taught in Edukasyong Pantahanan at Pangkabuhayan (EPP), Technology and Livelihood Education (TLE), and Technical Vocational and Livelihood (TVL) subjects into everyday family life.
DepEd-6 said the initiative aims to ensure sustainable food security by providing families with reliable access to nutritious food while creating opportunities for supplemental income through the sale of excess harvests.
The program also promotes physical and mental well-being, encourages environmentally sustainable food production, reduces household expenses for food, maximizes the use of available land, and integrates Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Practices into gardening activities.
Recognizing that households have varying resources and available spaces, DepEd-6 promotes several gardening methods, including container gardening, vertical gardening, tire gardening, raised garden beds, and traditional backyard gardening. These approaches allow both urban and rural families to participate regardless of space limitations.
According to DepEd-6, home gardening offers benefits beyond food production by strengthening family relationships, encouraging collaboration, and cultivating environmental awareness through responsible use of natural resources.
The agency called on households and school communities throughout Western Visayas to convert idle spaces into productive gardens, emphasizing that every garden contributes to a healthier family, a greener environment, and a more food-secure future.
“Through collective participation in the Home Gardening Program, learners, parents, teachers, and personnel can help promote environmental stewardship, conserve natural resources, and nurture a culture of resilience and self-reliance within their communities,” DepEd-6 stated./PN
