Four Filipino civil society organizations (CSOs) were among 25 awardees who received a total of $4.8 million in the ninth annual Global Development Marketplace, a competitive grant program for innovation in development held in Washington last week. More than 1,700 entries vied for 25 grants of up to $200,000 each.

One hundred finalists from 47 countries were invited to the World Bank’s headquarters in Washington DC, to present their ideas on the theme, “100 Ideas to Save the Planet.”

Of the 100 finalists, eight were from the Philippines.

"We are happy to note that eight out of the 100 finalists are from the Philippines and four of them won the grant competition. This goes to show just how creative Filipinos are in designing innovative solutions to development challenges. We need fresh and innovative ideas in dealing with climate change issues,” said Maryse Gautier, World Bank Acting Country Director.

The competition challenged participants to come up with an idea from their own communities to help save the planet and its people from the effects of climate change. The ninth annual Development Marketplace was sponsored by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the World Bank Institute.

The winning concepts come from East Asia and the Pacific (5), Europe and Central Asia (2), Latin America (13), the Middle East, North and Sub-Saharan Africa (5) and South Asia (2).

Of the five winners from East Asia and Pacific, four were from the Philippines, namely:

1. Floating Power Charger: Providing Light in the Darkness of Climate Change. – Heavy flooding in remote areas of the country often knocks out hydro power equipment built in rivers, resulting in blackouts. With the DM grant, Lambs Agri Mechanicals and FSSRI at the University of the Philippines in Los Baños will install floating hydro power generators in rivers that can be removed when it floods. The project will benefit over 2,000 people.

2. Bell and Bottle: Low-Cost Warning System for Flood/Slide-Prone Communities. – An innovative system using soda bottles and bells to detect imminent landslides and floods in remote communities in the Philippines. This proposal by the Farming and Soil Resources Institute of the University of the Philippines in Los Baños and the Center for Initiative and Research for Climate Adaptation, is designed to protect over 12,000 people from disasters.

3. Strengthening Disaster Preparedness of Southern Leyte with SMS Technology. – A project by the Philippines Business for Social Progress, will help prepare the residents of Southern Leyte for disasters by raising awareness of disaster risks through announcements and information-on-demand via mobile phones.

4. Fishing Communities Seek Security in Aquaculture and Mangrove Restoration. – a project by the Trowel Development Foundation of the Philippines. Storms and rising sea levels threaten the livelihood of some 20,000 poor fishing households in Northern Samar who have abandoned their fishponds in a vast mangrove forest that once protected the villages from storms. With the DM grant, the Foundation will replant mangroves and set up a value-chain system to fatten and market tie-crabs. This will raise local incomes and build the capacity of fishing villages to adapt to climate change.

The four other finalists from the Philippines are the following: Farming Systems and Soil Resources Institute with its project ‘Farmers Look to Fish Farming to Cushion the Impact of Climate Change; International Resources Group-Philippines, Gulay 4 Salambao: Contained Vegetable Farming for Fisherfolk’s Survival; Pipuli Foundation, Inc., Diversified Crop and Fish Farming for Food Security; and Ecosystems Research and Development Bureau, Mangrove Rehab Scheme to Provide Biofuel and Poverty Relief in the Philippines.

“The Development Marketplace is an important part of our mission to break down funding barriers and promote innovative entrepreneurial ideas at the grass-roots level," said Monique Barbut, CEO and Chairperson of the Global Environment Facility (GEF).