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By Amanda L. Andrei
There’s no denying that the city of Tacloban is a busy, noisy hub. The constant sounds of sawing, drilling, and hammering mingle with traffic and the occasional thunderclap as the city rebuilds its infrastructure.
With more than 200,000 residents, this city on the island of Leyte in the Philippines became the focus of the international community a year ago when the region was struck by Typhoon Haiyan (known locally as Yolanda). The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Center in the Philippines reports that Haiyan took the lives of over 6,000 people, affected more than 16 million people, and cost upwards of 888 million USD in damages to roads, health facilities, schools, and agriculture.
Rebuilding comes in more subtle forms than simply construction. A twenty-minute drive up Marhalika Highway within Barangay Bagacay is La Granja Farm—an unassuming yet lush part of Tacloban (still within city limits) that is committed to rebuilding the way citizens produce, consume, and sustain their food sources. Damaged during the typhoon, the farm is coming back stronger than ever.
La Granja Farm is the only certified organic farm among Leyte and Samar (a major neighboring island connected to Leyte via bridge). The area is owned and operated by Martina “Tina” Reyna, an energetic agriculturist originally from Samar. After graduating from University of the Philippines Los Baños in 1977, Tina started her farm in Leyte. Along with her agricultural business, she and her husband operate a general goods shop, Reyna Store, within the more urban area of Tacloban.
“You know that song, Bahay Kubo?” Tina asks, referencing a popular children’s song that refers to the indigenous Philippine structure of the nipa hut and native flora. “We have all the vegetables from that song, including more!” In addition to the various vegetables and fruits cultivated, Tina also raises carabao (water buffalo), chickens, and horses. Signs visible from the road advertise buko (young coconut) juice, newly picked from the dozens of coconut trees dotting the landscape. The quality of the crops is so renowned in the area that there is no need to bring anything to market—individuals frequently stop by the farm to buy the produce fresh from the earth.
The earth today is vastly different from when the typhoon hit in November 2013. “The water was up to the corn fields,” Tina relates solemnly, gesturing to the hills where stalks of corn flourish in the humidity. “When I saw the farm after the typhoon, I cried.” But since the typhoon, Tina and her staff have replanted vegetables and trees, rebuilt cottages, and re-implemented their organic fertilizer system.
La Granja is also deeply invested in the community. Tina has taught multiple workshops in sustainable and organic farming and nutrition, including longer term 13-week seminars for farmers. She has also partnered with international NGOs to integrate these practices into the rebuilding effort of typhoon-hit areas.
One of these organizations, Communitere, takes a “Do-It-Yourself (DIY)” approach to rebuilding, championing a “maker ethic” within the community and allowing locals to not only take ownership of their rehabilitation projects, but transform these from ideas into physical, real-world objects and systems. Tucked behind a gas station on Apitong Road, the NGO has created a resource center with training facilities, an innovation lab (complete with 3D printer and solar cell equipment), and workshop space for manufacturers and artists alike. Outside of their offices is a small organic garden of herbs and vegetables, with a wall lined with plastic soda bottles upcycled to hold seedlings.
In this stage of recovery, Tina has helped the area become greener herself, serving as an agricultural expert and community collaborator for Communitere, transitioning her knowledge about farming in the Philippines, and helping staff and locals scout out spaces for new farms and gardens. “This farm is my happiness,” Tina says, her voice brimming with joy. “It is my contentment, my satisfaction.”
It is almost surprising how verdant and rich the land is, considering the destruction from a year ago. “After a typhoon, everything comes back greener,” Tina explains. With La Granja serving as a model for organic farming and sustainability, the hope is that other Filipinos—well beyond Leyte and Samar—will adopt these practices and habits, not only to recover from a disaster, but to thrive in a fresh world.
