MANILA: When Louie Gutierrez started learning how to farm in 2020, it became one of his ways to feed his family during the COVID-19 pandemic. Little did he know that a few years later, he would be developing a community farm in the heart of Manila, joining a growing number of Filipinos who are turning to urban farming to fight rising food prices.
Many Filipinos have struggled to afford basic food, as prices for essential food items, such as rice and vegetables, have been skyrocketing in recent years, fueled by high energy costs and increasingly extreme weather events.
In the Manila capital region, food inflation rose to 3.9 percent as of August 2025, almost double the 2 percent recorded in August last year. The rate was much higher for specific food items, such as vegetables and cooking bananas, which increased at a rate of 26.5 percent, according to data from the Philippine Statistics Authority.
“One of the big problems that we have here in the city is because of the high prices. Inflation has really gone up so high. Food prices, vegetables, especially during this rainy season, are so expensive,” he told Arab News.
“So a lot of people don’t have any funds left to buy vegetables. They eat probably instant noodles. Honestly, there’s not too much nutrition there.”
