THE TECHNICAL Education and Skills Development Authority will train inmates at the New Bilibid Prison on urban agriculture.

TESDA, together with the Department of Agriculture, Department of Agrarian Reform, and Bureau of Corrections, signed an agreement on September 15 to implement the “Bagong Buhay sa Gulay” project at the NBP in Muntinlupa City.

Under the project, inmates will be taught how to tend and sustain vegetable gardens while the DA and DAR will provide quality seeds, planting materials, and other inputs.

TESDA Director General Isidro Lapeña emphasized that persons deprived of liberty should not be deprived of opportunities and should also be entitled to develop their well-being by honing their skills and enhancing their potential.

He assured the beneficiaries that TESDA will fully support them until they reintegrate back to society.

“This training will not only teach them about crops planting but they will also be able to help our government’s food security program as they produce their own food,” Lapeña said.

Since he assumed office in 2018, Lapeña has been pushing for the establishment of mini-organic farms and community gardens.