ABSTRACT
This study aims to describe the profile of people who are willing to participate in home/community gardening and to determine the motivation of people who would most likely work or participate in community garden project during the COVID-19 pandemic. The total number of participants is 20. Participants agreeableness to share their time and knowledge during the COVID-19 pandemic was tallied as well their motivations (Food security, Sense of Community, To Learn New Knowledge, To Help the Environment, Source of income and to relieve stress felt during the COVID-19 pandemic. The data suggests that the profile of people who are willing to participate in home/community gardening are within the age group of 46-52. They are considered in middle adulthood. According to Colarusso, middle adulthood is the golden age of adulthood (similar to late latency in childhood, although much longer) because it is an interval of relative stability characterized (for most) by physical health, emotional maturity, a clearly defined sense of self, competence and power in the work situation, and gratifying relationships with spouse, children, parents, friends, and colleagues. This suggests that early middle age people are more interested to take urban gardening and their interest decline with age. The majority were females with sixteen (16) participants while males had 4 (4) participants. According to Hovorka, Zeeuw and Njenga, (2009), it might be explained by the fact that women typically bear the burden of providing for their families, and hence dominate urban agriculture. Their study stated that females tend to have lower educational levels than men and therefore have more difficulty finding formal employment. The data showed that 4 of the males (college=1, high school =2, elementary=1) have slight edge in education compared to women (college=2, vocation=1 high school=11, elementary=4). Most of the participants have high school education followed by people with elementary education while the least were participants with college and vocational education. Majority of the participants have estimated family income of less than ₱9,520 while the two particpants is in between ₱ 9,520.00 to ₱19,040.00 and other two participants is between ₱ 19,040.00 to ₱ 38,080.00 Though the research showed it is practiced by urban residents in all income categories. Majority of the participants have no work most of them are plain housewife, followed by people who are contractual. Food security is the most people’s motivation to participate in community garden project during the COVID-19 pandemic followed by as source of income. Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic forced governments around the world to impose lockdowns, home and community gardening has become a popular initiative among affected households.
Keywords: motivation, community garden
see PDF attachment for more information