ECCP supports advocacy to develop bamboo sector

CEBU, Philippines — The European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (ECCP) is joining the movement to develop the bamboo industry by providing an avenue for stakeholders to discover innovations and potential earnings capitalizing on this raw material abundantly available across the country.

To jumpstart this advocacy, ECCP announced to host a virtual webinar dubbed “Sustainable Market: Learn, Innovate and Earn in the Bamboo Industry,” slated on May 31, 2023, via Zoom, from one o’clock in the afternoon to 3 in the afternoon.

According to ECCP, apart from being a membership organization, the Chamber also takes pride in spearheading sector-driven events in line with its advocacies such as exerting the extra mile in promoting the bamboo industry in the Philippines.

The virtual webinar will be graced by experts and bamboo advocates like Amy Villanueva, the co-founder of Kawayan Collective, a company based in Dumaguete City founded in 2019 with the goal of working at the forefront of bamboo design and redefining the use of bamboo in low-cost housing building the Philippines.

Scientist Christian S. Camacho, senior science research specialist at the Department of Science and Technology-FPRDI, and professor Love Jhoyce M. Raboy, Bamboost Project leader of the University of Science and Technology of Southern Philippines also will join Villanueva to expose the opportunities and uses of bamboo in different uses.

Through the virtual forum, ECCP aims to feature and explore the bamboo industry both as a business and as a research venue for stakeholders from the government, academe, and the private sector. With bamboo being the fastest-growing plant in the world, it is an under-attended source of investment opportunities – one that promises three major business merits: resilience, versatility, and rapid replenishment of stocks.

The bamboo industry is a growing sector that offers various opportunities for learning and earning, ECCP said.  Bamboo is a versatile and sustainable resource that can be used for a wide range of products, including furniture, flooring, construction materials, textiles, and paper.

Likewise, bamboo is a potential alternative as well to traditional lumber and hardwood in the furniture business because of its quick growth and maturity in three to five years. Since bamboo can be harvested frequently, the return on investment is also much quicker, making it an appealing and sustainable community project, even for small farmers.

In addition to its economic value, bamboo plays a significant role in the global effort to combat climate change. Here are some ways you can learn, innovate and earn in the Bamboo industry: Bamboo Farming, Bamboo Product Manufacturing, Bamboo Crafts and Art, Bamboo Research and Development, and Bamboo Tourism.

The Philippines now has an estimated bamboo area of around 104,000 hectares. It generates a value of $60 million yearly. With 5.59 million hectares of arable land, the

The Philippines can expand its bamboo area to 400,000 hectares-- if only to level up to at least 10 percent of China’s bamboo area of 4.2 million hectares.

Such an area can yield a whopping $3 billion (P150 billion). The industry can employ one million rural folks including indigenous people that can be organized into cooperatives.

Each 10-hectare area can generate a net income of P922,995 per bamboo worker per year, according to a study by the International Network for Bamboo and Rattan (INBAR). Bamboo too is a sustainable material. It fights climate change in several ways, INBAR said.

First, its fast-growing trait enables it to sequester carbon more substantially than other plants. It releases 35 percent more oxygen than other trees. Bamboo plants sequester 12 metric tons of carbon per hectare annually.

Bamboo also replaces fossil fuels and reduces deforestation. Its solid biomass is used for cooking (charcoal and briquettes) and it can be converted into pellets for electricity and heating.  It is harvestable year-round, providing a stable rural income, as it thrives in problem soils and steep slopes, it is an excellent land restoration crop. — (FREEMAN)