INTERNATIONAL URBAN FARMING CONFERENCE

September 11 and 12, 2017

Berlin, Germany

Assessing the Potential Contribution of Utilizing Vacant Lands for Urban Vegetable
Production in Barangay Mintal, Tugbok District, Davao City, Philippines

Jessi Anne Nakol V. Aligato

BS Agribusiness Economics Student
School of Management
University of the Philippines Mindanao
Davao City, Philippines
Email: janaaligato3@gmail.com
(Corresponding author)

Luis Antonio T. Hualda

School of Management
University of the Philippines Mindanao
Davao City, Philippines
Email: lthualda@up.edu.ph
Abstract

The world population is rapidly increasing and about 50 percent of it lives in an urban

area (World Bank Group, 2016). This leads to the process of urbanization where towns and cities

are formed as more people begin living in central areas (Lanegran, 2011). Development of

residential and commercial buildings decreases the availability of agricultural land in urban areas

which may result to a problem on food self-sufficiency and farming activities at the community

level (Boudjenouia, 2008). Erickson et al. (2013) emphasized that these large residential lots has

a vacant land portion managed as lawn or another habitat. These vacant lands may be used for

urban agriculture (McClintock, 2013). The main objective of this study is to assess the potential

economic contribution of utilizing vacant and idle lands for urban agriculture in Barangay

Mintal, Davao City, Philippines using an affordable and accessible system. In identifying if an

area is vacant, Geographic Information System (GIS) software and Google Maps were used.

Cost-benefit analysis was conducted for vegetable production and valuation of underutilized land

to know which one is more profitable. Backyard Gardening, Container Gardening and Rooftop

Gardening were the suitable urban gardening methods for the identified vacant lands in the area

as based on the GIS results supported by ocular inspection and ground-truthing. Using the Cost

Benefit Analysis, farmers and land owners will be guided by the production data of the optimum

combination of what method of urban agriculture will be used and what vegetable to plant on the

specific land area. Different methods of urban gardening were assessed for every piece of vacant

land where the determined possible potential volume of vegetables is planted on the identified

vacant land. Using inexpensive way of assessing the vacant lands and using secondary data for

making decisions what to plant, direct supply of their demands can make production easier with

assistance from the local government units in the city.

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