100 farmers from Barangay Maricaban in Santa Fe, Bantayan Island have received #PlantSmart Kits from Smart Communications, Inc.. Under this program, Smart aims to help create food-secure communities by forming community pantries.

The beneficiaries are mostly female farmers who were survivors of Super Typhoon Yolanda in 2013 and are now part of the collective under the livelihood program created by the Archdiocese of Cebu.

“This is an unexpected blessing. We are truly grateful that Smart came to us to help our farmers through the PlantSmart kits. We are excited for the partnership and the activities that we will soon be spearheading,” said Rev. Fr. Dave Villaceran, Parish Priest of The Santo Niño Roman Catholic Parish of Santa Fe.

The #PlantSmart kit contains easy-to-grow vegetable seedlings, loam soil and organic fertilizer. As a continuing support for the collective, Smart will be training the farmer-beneficiaries under the Digital Farmers Program. This program is a ladderized capacity-building track which seeks to empower farmers via basic digital tools.

The #PlantSmart program emphasizes Smart’s commitment to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) No. 2 on Zero Hunger, and SDG No. 3 on Good Health and Well-Being.