Naawan, Misamis Oriental – This 4th-class municipality in Northern Mindanao is banking big on its small bamboo processing facility to improve the lives of its upland farmers.
The facility, located in the town’s Economic Enterprise Center, was established two years ago with financial support from the Department of Trade and Industry and the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA).
The common service facility now produces high-end furniture and school desks made out of bamboo, mostly the Giant Bamboo variety.
On Tuesday, Jan. 5, I visited the facility along with Naawan Mayor Dennis Roa, a very pro-active local chief executive who has endlessly explored all economic opportunities for his 22,000 constituents.
I saw the high quality bamboo products which were manually made in the common service facility by the local people themselves.
Mayor Roa said that the town needs now is a furniture designer who could help the local bamboo furniture makers build attractive products.
The center also needs additional tools and equipment for the furniture making.
The town of Naawan will be one of the pioneering members of the Mindanao Bamboo Industry Council when it will be organized on Jan. 19 in Cagayan de Oro City.
MinDA is initiating the organization of the Bamboo Council as part of its Green Mindanao Project which promotes the planting of bamboo, fruit trees and harvestable trees, including the very valuable Agar Tree, in the denuded highlands of Mindanao.
The Green Mindanao Project also aims to reduce poverty among the Indigenous People’s Communities who ancestral domains are minimally utilized for agricultural production.
#BeautyAndBountyOfMindanao!
#WalkingAnExtraKilometer!
(This video presentation was prepared by the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) Media Team for the Beauty & Bounty of Mindanao Program.)
https://fb.watch/aoGWYZwiMz/
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