QUEZON CITY, Philippines — Quezon City is taking another step toward strengthening urban food production, this time putting women at the forefront of a new farming initiative at Quezon City University (QCU).
The city government has partnered with Agrigaia Tech Co. to establish an urban-farming demonstration site at QCU, with women expected to take leadership roles in the project.
The partnership was formalized through a memorandum of agreement signed Monday, with Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte and Agrigaia Tech Co. founder and CEO Vanessa Ying Lin leading the ceremonial signing.
Under the initiative, women will lead urban-farming activities while participating in training sessions and seminars designed to strengthen their farming knowledge and skills.
City officials said the project is intended not only to expand food production but also to promote women’s empowerment, community participation and food security.
A NEW PROJECT BUILT ON QC’S EXISTING FARMING NETWORK
The QCU project is not starting from scratch.
Quezon City has been running its Joy of Urban Farming (JOUF) program, which provides urban farmers with training, orientations, seminars and farming inputs, including seeds, seedlings, gardening tools and starter kits.
The program also promotes farming technologies suited to areas where traditional agricultural land is limited, including hydroponics, aquaponics and vertical farming.
And the scale is already substantial.
According to the Quezon City Government, the city had 44,880 urban farmers and 1,496 urban farms as of May 2026.
That means the QCU demonstration site is being added to an urban-agriculture system that already reaches tens of thousands of people across the city.
WHY QCU MATTERS
QCU already has an established institutional base for urban agriculture.
Its Center for Urban Agriculture and Innovation (CUAI) describes itself as a research and extension hub focused on sustainable urban agriculture, combining education, training, research, community partnerships and business development.
The university says its work includes research into vertical farming, aquaponics and waste-management systems, while also supporting the commercialization of farm products and connecting community farms with markets.
QCU’s urban-agriculture work also predates the latest partnership.
In 2022, the university launched its Center for Urban Agriculture and Innovation with support from the Department of Agriculture–Agricultural Training Institute and the Quezon City Government. The city said the center was intended to develop different urban-farming models and integrate urban agriculture into QCU’s programs.
FROM FOOD PRODUCTION TO LIVELIHOOD
The significance of the latest project therefore extends beyond simply putting crops inside a university campus.
Quezon City’s existing urban-farming strategy is explicitly linked to both food and livelihood opportunities. The city says JOUF was launched to help address hunger while encouraging residents to grow nutritious vegetables for household consumption and potential livelihood.
QCU’s CUAI similarly identifies production and business development as one of its core functions, including helping community farms reach markets and encouraging entrepreneurship among urban farmers.
That creates a potentially important pathway for the women involved: farming can serve not only as a source of food but also as a vehicle for skills development, community participation and income-generating activities.
THE CLIMATE-RESILIENCE ANGLE
Urban farming is also becoming increasingly relevant as cities deal with limited land, flooding, climate pressures and food-supply concerns.
QCU’s CUAI says its “Joy is a Farm” initiative, launched in 2023, transforms idle and flood-prone land into community farms while incorporating climate-smart infrastructure such as greenhouses, vertical farms and Black Soldier Fly systems.
The city’s existing JOUF program likewise promotes farming approaches that can work in confined urban spaces. Vertical farming, for example, allows crops to be grown in stacked arrangements where conventional farmland is unavailable.
This makes the new QCU site more than a demonstration garden. It can function as a place where residents and communities learn how food can be produced despite the physical limitations of a densely populated city.
QC’S BIGGER BET ON URBAN AGRICULTURE
The latest partnership reflects a broader shift in how Quezon City approaches food security.
Rather than relying exclusively on traditional farming outside the metropolis, the city has been building a network of small-scale urban farms, training residents and introducing technologies designed specifically for city environments.
QCU’s CUAI says its “Joy is a Farm” program has already trained more than 1,000 individuals and developed partnerships with more than 100 community farms across Quezon City.
With women now positioned to take a leading role in the new QCU demonstration site, the project adds another layer to that strategy: using urban agriculture as a platform for both food security and women’s empowerment.
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
The immediate challenge will be turning the partnership into a working model that can be replicated beyond the university.
The success of the initiative will ultimately depend on whether training translates into productive farms, sustainable livelihoods and stronger community food systems.
For Quezon City, however, the direction is already clear: urban farming is no longer being treated simply as a hobby or temporary response to food shortages. It is becoming part of the city’s longer-term strategy for food security, sustainability, livelihood creation and community resilience.
And with women being placed at the center of the latest QCU initiative, the next question is no longer whether Quezon City can grow food inside the city — but how far this model can grow.
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