Auckland Council’s Community Innovation team works with communities to help create a resilient, low-carbon food system.
By Guia Rebollido
Rappler
Aug 11, 2025
Excerpt:
GENERAL SANTOS, Philippines – What started as a humble greenhouse experiment in the Soccsksargen region in 2017 has grown into a thriving community movement aimed at transforming urban farming and boosting climate resilience in Mindanao.
Organikian Agriventures Corporation, founded by Christian Castañeda, began with a simple yet powerful idea: healthy, fresh, and chemical-free food should be accessible even in the heart of Koronadal City in South Cotabato.
From a modest lot growing lettuce, Organikian has since expanded into a lush urban farm, complete with a farm-to-table café and training center, promoting sustainable agriculture and healthier lifestyles.
“Our personal experiment in growing lettuce soon attracted curious neighbors and friends who wanted to learn how to grow their own food,” Castañeda said.
Curiosity, he said, sparked a deeper mission: to make urban farming not just a personal hobby, but a “community movement for health, sustainability, and livelihood.”
That mission was tested during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, when disrupted supply chains left many families struggling to find fresh vegetables.
Vegetable prices rose by about 15% that year due to supply chain disruptions, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
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