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Office Hours
Monday to Friday            
8:00 AM – 5:00 PM

ABOUT US

Description

The Quezon City Food Security Task Force (QC FSTF) focuses on making food available, accessible, safe, nutritious, and consistent. As part of the city’s economic recovery plan responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, QC FSTF aims to mitigate the impact of the disease through initiatives on food security and food self-sufficiency by enhancing further The Joy of Urban Farming (JOUF) in the City, improving of food systems or better Food Trade, and the establishment of agriculture zones and food zones. Quezon City’s food security program is more commonly known as “GrowQC Kasama ka sa Pag-Unlad sa Pagkain, Kabuhayan, at Kalusugan” or “GrowQC”.

Mission

To ensure availability, access, proper utilization, and stability of food.

To augment and/or complement livelihood and economic recovery of supply chains.

To promote the consumption of nutritious food and better mental health for Quezon City citizens.

To create inroads for Climate Change Adaptation/ New Normal practices for QC food production and processing.

Vision

A food-secure and food-resilient Quezon City.

Legal Basis

Executive Order No. 32, Series-2020 Creating A Task Force On Food Security To Promote Urban Agriculture And Develop Agriculture Zones And Food Zones

Service Pledge

We aim to achieve food security in the City as defined by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations: “Food Security exists when all people at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life.”

Services

• Facilitation of Capacity Building Programs related to Urban Agriculture, Urban Aquaculture, and Food Systems

The Food Security Task Force partners with various National Government Agencies and organizations to provide capacity-building programs related to urban agriculture,  food security, and other topics related to food systems to increase the knowledge and skills of the city.

• Certification for the Availment of Idle Land Tax Exception (ILTE) in Real Property Tax Payments through: An Ordinance Amending Section 11, Article Vi Of Ordinance No. Sp-91, S-93, As Amended, Otherwise Known As The Quezon City Revenue Code Of 1993, Promoting Urban Agriculture By Granting Additional Exception From Idle Land Tax.  Sp. 2972, S. 2020

QCitizens may avail of an exception in paying their idle land tax in their annual real property tax (RPT) payments if they engage their said idle lands in urban agriculture and food security-related initiatives.

Programs 

The QC Food Security Task Force is anchored in the City’s “GrowQC: Kasama ka sa Pag-unlad sa Pagkain, Kabuhayan, Kalusugan Food Security Program.”

The GrowQC 7-Point Action Plan concretizes programs divided into two main pillars. First, Urban Agriculture, which is the Food and Input Production Component; and second, Food Systems, which covers the environment that enables the effective trade and flow of food.

Department Directory

Hon. Josefina G. Belmonte
City Mayor
Task Force Chairperson

Mr. Emmanuel Hugh F. Velasco
Co-chairperson and Action Officer
8988 4242 loc. 1207
[email protected]

Divisions/Sections

Spotlight 

Awards Given

2021 Galing Pook Awards

“GrowQC Kasama ka sa Pag-unlad sa Pagkain, Kabuhayan, at Kalusugan and Food Security Program” is hailed as one of the Top 10 Galing Pook Awardees in 2021!

As part of the City Mayor’s presentation, she cites that “The solutions are not new. However, implementation strategies allowed the city to make more land productive and connected people, processes, and programs, to show that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.”

This is a testament to the local government’s efforts to make the city self-sufficient and sustainable through the improvement of food systems.

2022 DOH Healthy Pilipinas Healthy Communities Awards

Quezon City wins big at the first Healthy Pilipinas Healthy Communities Awards of the Department of Health.

Quezon City is among the local government units recognized for promoting health and wellness while responding to COVID-19.

The winning programs include:

1) GrowQC: Kasama ka sa Pag-unlad sa Pagkain, Kabuhayan, at Kalusugan and Food Security and Healthy Food Public Procurement Program under Priority Area 1: Nutrition and Physical Activity.

2) Camp Coordination and Camp Management Program of QCDRRMO under Priority Area 2: Environmental Health.

• Your Mental Health Matters: The Quezon City Community-Based Mental Health Program of the City Health Department under Priority Area 5: Mental Health.

Partnerships and Collaboration

Department of Agriculture

Our City Government has partnered with the Department of Agriculture, the Agricultural Training Institute (ATI), and the Bureau of Plant Industry to strengthen our urban agriculture program amid the enhanced community quarantine.

Grow kit bags are provided to our barangay captains. These contain seeds, garden soil, pots, seedlings, and other essential items that our QCitizens can use to start their own garden

Urban farming in Quezon City was initiated by Mayor Joy Belmonte back in 2010 as a means to achieve food sustainability.

DA-Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources

The Quezon City Government and the Department of Agriculture – Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (DA-BFAR) distributed basic materials for the construction of aquaculture pens to 60 beneficiaries in Barangay Payatas. They are the residents whose livelihoods have been severely affected by the African Swine Fever (ASF).

Beneficiaries of the aquaculture support system were provided with a pump, 600 fingerlings of tilapia and catfish, a fabricated filtration system, and feeds sufficient for the growing period of the fish.

In addition, they were previously provided 50 e-trikes to be used in their livelihood. The City is also ready to support and provide an additional investment with the help of the QC Small Business Cooperatives Development and Promotions Office (SBCDPO).

DA-Agribusiness and Marketing Services

The Quezon City Food Security Task Force launched the Sunnyville Model Community Farm in Barangay Pasong Tamo and Barangay Tandang Sora for the Adopt-a-Community Program in collaboration with Concentrix Philippines.

Sunnyville Community Farm will help 40 farmer-partner beneficiaries and their families who are part of the Adopt-a-Community Program, 20 Homeless Federation, and farmers from the Food Share Program of the Department of Social Welfare and Development Kabisig ng Kalahi Program.

Concentrix Philippines beneficiaries were also provided with farming equipment and were able to build a greenhouse with the help of the Department of Agriculture.

The QC government started the GrowQC program to have enough food and use idle lands in the city to promote urban agriculture and help residents earn a living during the pandemic.

Planting for Productivity (P4P)

The P4P Program is being piloted in Barangay Bagong Silangan where the city has an active urban agriculture landscape. The program has two phases: Agri-Kaya, which makes agriculture doable through household food production, and; Agri-Kita, which enhances knowledge and skills on agri-preneurship and financial literacy to gain or increase income.

Ayala Foundation, Inc.

In 2022, the Quezon City Government through the QC Food Security Task Force represented by Mayor Joy Belmonte inked a partnership with Ayala Foundation, Inc., BASE Bahay Foundation, and Vincentian Foundation for the Planting for Productivity (P4P) Program which aims to build a more food-secure future for households and communities through urban farming.

Feeding Program

As part of its efforts to reach more of its citizens, the City launched it’s Grow QC Mobile Kitchen visiting various communities in the city.

Last May 2021, the Quezon City government distributed nutritious meals to 1,600 residents in Barangay Bagong Silangan, specifically at the Yakap Day Care Centers in Rolling Hills, Asprer, Area 1, Area 5, Philside, Bakas, Covenant, and barangay hall. Meals served include ginisang mongo, kalabasa, dilis and spinach.

The Grow QC Mobile Kitchen Feeding Program is a project of the QC Food Security Task Force that aims to provide adequate nutrition to QCitizens in need.

Under the #GrowQC program, also aims to further promote urban agriculture, create more jobs, and give QC residents access to eco-friendly and alternative, and innovative forms of urban farming.

Downloadable Forms

• Letter of Intent to join Programs on Food Security 

For those interested in contacting and/ or being part of the activities of the QC Food Security Task Force under the GrowQC Program, kindly send a letter of intent addressed to the City Mayor. A sample form may be downloaded below:

DOWNLOAD HERE: Letter of Intent Template

• Guidelines, List of Required Documents, and FORM 1 (with sample request letter)  for Application of Idle Land Tax Exception (ILTE)

DOWNLOAD HERE: FORM 1 (with sample request letter) and Guidelines w/ List of Documents for Application

Resources