Project 'Kapit Bisig'

From Urban Agri to Food Trade, I Need You!

QC Food Security Scenarios 2025

about the project

Quezon City benefits from a steady food supply as it is located at the heart of an agricultural economy. Yet, poverty and inequality continue to drive malnutrition and hunger in this urban area. The city houses the largest number of urban poor in the Philippines and it faces challenges in terms of access to food that is affordable and sustainable.

That is where Project Kapit-bisig comes in. Project Kapit-bisig ultimately intends to serve as a vehicle to promote inexpensive yet eco-friendly food options in the city in an inclusive manner. The Project Kapit-bisig Team will work alongside Quezon City Food Security Task Force (QC FSTF) and aims to establish initiatives on food security and food self-sufficiency by Promoting Urban Agriculture, the Development of Agriculture Zones & Food Zones, and the overall improvement of food systems. We believe that developing a shared vision and narrative around food security and resilience will be another success factor amid Quezon City’s efforts to improve its food system.

With Project Kapit-bisig, alongside QC FSTF, we envision a city giving an avenue to its people to where they can work as a team and unite for their welfare.

We envision this framework by QC FSTF to have a full effect in Quezon City by 2050. Here, two overarching and interconnected pillars will inform a number of initiatives going forward. The first pillar, urban agriculture for food and input production, focuses on the city’s ability to produce its own food; the second pillar, food trade and processing, will create the enabling environment to review and improve the wider food system.

our vision for 2050

Quezon City is an emerging champion of the global food systems agenda (Eatforum.org, 2021). That is why we see it as having a window of opportunity to reshape pathways and shift consumption habits towards a great future in which healthy and sustainable foods are the primary available choice. Project Kapit-bisig has four main visions for Quezon City by 2050. These are aligned with the SDGs, Eatforum.org initiatives, and touch upon four dimensions of food and nutrition security:

Accessibility. By 2050, Quezon City will have a reliable and consistent source of quality food for citizens and will continue to ensure that its people have sufficient resources to purchase and/ or produce food. This includes programs that create and maintain livelihood opportunities for QC.

Utilization. By 2050, Quezon City still provides the knowledge for and creates the basic sanitary conditions to prepare, handle, and distribute nutritious food. This covers a stable and quality water supply around the city.

Stability. By 2050, Quezon City continues to guarantee that the above dimensions—accessibility and utilisation of food—remain stable and sustained over time.

Years from now, Quezon City’s urban agriculture will serve as an important entry point to build a diverse, resilient food system and to reconnect people with food. Idle lands will be repurposed and agricultural inputs to communities will be continuously provided to the people. As catalysts for food systems transformation, Project Kapit-bisig Team, together with QC FSTF, will help ensure that this project results in actionable insights that can be adopted and tailored by different stakeholders to their specific urban contexts.

about

Project Kapit-bisig started in September 2021 at the University of Philippines Diliman as a potential approach to bettering food security in Quezon City. Three students of UPD, from School of Economics and National College of Public Administration and Governance, spent the semester gathering insights from relevant stakeholders, brainstorming product ideas, and talking to stakeholders.