Objective-led Impact Assessment on Organic Urban Gardening in Malaybalay City

Abstract

Food security is affected by climate change since it is a climate-sensitive sector, especially in the Philippines, which is considered highly vulnerable country to climate change. Efforts to secure food in the country have been implemented by various sectors and organizations. Hence, the project on modeling organic production and enhancing climate resiliency in Malaybalay City. The study was undertaken to assess the adaptability and sustainability of organic urban gardening in enhancing climate resiliency among small-holder farmers and highlights lessons generated by the project collaborators. Data were collected through a pre and post evaluation scheme using a semi-structured questionnaire to determine community characteristics and needs before project implementation and the short-term impacts two years after the project implementation. SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis, frequencies, percentages, and means were used to analyze the data. The study was able to determine positive socio-economic characteristics and attitudes for the successful adoption of the project. The study revealed that the receiving community has a highly favorable attitude and willingness to adopt organic urban gardening for climate resiliency. Comparing the results of the pre-evaluation and the short-term impact assessment, it can be concluded that the community gained positive impacts due to the implementation of organic urban gardening or square-foot gardening for food security and climate resiliency by the project proponent. Social, economic, and environmental impacts were identified to have improved after project implementation. Thus, project scaling-up can be recommended.  
Keywords: Organic Urban Gardening, Climate Resiliency, Impact Assessment, Scaling-up

References

Berhanu, A. (2005). Determinants of formal source of credit loan repayment performance of smallholder farmers: The case of north western Ethiopia, North Gondar.

Burtscher, S. (2010). Management and leadership in community gardens: Two initiatives in Greater Christchurch. New Zealand Univ.

Crook, T. R., Todd, S. Y., Combs, J. G., Woehr, D. J., & Ketchen Jr, D. J. (2011). Does human capital matter? A meta- analysis of the relationship between human capital and firm performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 96(3), 443.

Galhena, D. H., Freed, R., & Maredia, K. M. (2013). Home gardens: A promising approach to enhance household food security and wellbeing. Agriculture & Food Security, 2(1), 8.

Herath, C., & Wijekoon, R. (2013). Study on attitudes and perceptions of organic and non-organic coconut towards organic coconut farming. IDESIA, 31(2), 5-14.

Heywood, A.M., Chandler, M.A., Valdes, P.J., Salzmann, U., Lunt, D.J., & Dowset,

H.J. (2009). Comparison of mid- pliocene climate predictions produced by the HADAM3 and GCMAM3 general circulation models. Global and Planetary Change, 66 (3-4). Elsevier.

Landicho, L. D., Wulandari, C., Huy, B., Visco, R. G., Carandang, W. M., & Cabahug, R.E. D. (2019). Enhancing local adaptive capacities of selected upland farming communities in Southeast Asia: Lessons and experiences. Asian Journal of Agriculture and Development, 16 (1362-2019-2697), 117-132.

Langellotto, G. A., & Gupta, A. (2012). Gardening increases vegetabl consumption in school- aged children: A meta-analytical synthesis. HortTechnology, 22(4), 430- 445.

Milburn, L. A. S., & Vail, B. A. (2010). Sowing the seeds of success cultivating a future for community gardens. Landscape Journal, 29(1), 71-89.

Pope, J., Morrison-Saunders, A., & Annandale, D. (2005). Applying sustainabilityassessment models. Impact Assessment and Project Appraisal, 23 (4),293-302.

Rogers, E. (2003). Diffusion of innovations (5th ed.). New York: Free Press.

Sahin, I. (2006). A detailed review of Rogers' diffusion of innovations theory and educational technology- related studies based on Rogers' theory. Turkish Online Journal of Educational Technology-TOJET, 5(2),v14-23.
Published
2022-12-13