Community Empowerment and the Urban Poor’s Community Agricultural Garden Development

Abstract

This article entitled “Community Empowerment and the Urban Poor’s Community Agricultural Garden Development” is about how to empower the urban poor’s community of people under the bridge to develop a community agricultural garden. These people are the urban poor who have become community researchers and participated in the learning process to develop their own potential. They also give the community a push to start a public agricultural garden. This article aims at presenting the community empowerment process to enable the community to accomplish a goal of developing a public agricultural garden, which becomes a source of safe food production and a place where good relationships among people in the community can be formed during the period of 18 months. This research study revealed that community participation in social space construction and community empowerment resulted in many valuable and productive outcomes such as waste management, transformation of a waste land to a community agricultural garden, and formation of a group to create a community agricultural garden named “Baan Poonsup’s Organic Vegetable Garden.” Evidently, such activities and learning process resulted in increased knowledge and a sense of commitment to uphold the community’s mutual mission. The role of the community of people under the bridge is upgraded as they have gained dignity as community researchers. They can use their learning potential to apply for community development funding themselves. They will not have to wait for external assistance only. The goal of long- term development is that the community agricultural garden project is a tool to develop the community’s local economy leading to a saving group that can achieve a goal of purchasing residence land from the National Housing Authority. Moreover, this agricultural garden project is supported by various government and private agencies in the form of volunteers and networks both inside and outside the community. The push to empower various urban communities to create an agricultural garden has multi-dimensional benefits.