CAR strengthens program to boost bamboo industry

Boosting advocacy, capacity building trainings, establishment of a functional database, stronger partnerships, and improved technologies and equipment are among the priority strategies to ramp up the bamboo industry in the region this year.
 These were laid down during the recent Cordillera Bamboo Industry Cluster Strategic Planning and Roadmap Localization Workshop led by the Department of Trade and Industry.
“This workshop is a move to strategize, recognize, and adopt sustainable indigenous traditional systems and practices to address issues and concerns for a successful bamboo commodity implementation in our region,” said Cordillera Bamboo Industry Cluster Council Chair and Department of Environment and Natural Resources Regional Executive Director Ralph Pablo.
 Using the value chain analysis approach, members of the council and industry stakeholders identified specific activities based on the eight key result areas of the Regional Bamboo Industry Development Plan, specifically the Medium-Term Goal of the Philippine Bamboo Industry Roadmap.
“The value chain analysis approach is a tool to analyze the industry cluster activities with the goal of recognizing which are the most valuable to the industry and which ones could be improved to provide competitive advantage,” said DTI-CAR OIC Assistant Director Samuel Gallardo.
Also discussed during the planning-workshop are the bamboo industry value chain, SWOT analysis for the bamboo industry cluster, validation of issues and concerns, and validation of regional bamboo industry development strategies and initiatives with bamboo stakeholders at the regional and provincial levels. These also served as basis to identify plans and immediate actions for the industry this year.
The bamboo industry is among the priority clusters in the Cordillera along with coffee, cacao, processed fruits and nuts, and wearables and home styles. The Cordillera bamboo industry is at the lower middle of contributions in bottom line indicators that include job and investment generation, and assistance to micro small and medium enterprise and farmers.
“The bamboo industry plays into the region’s development agenda and has the capacity to contribute to reducing poverty and promoting inclusive economic growth while also projecting environmental sustainability,” said Gallardo. – Jamie Joie Malingan