BUTUAN CITY, Philippines – Noting a lucrative business from bamboo and its vital contribution to mitigate the effects of global warming and climate change, a partnership between government line agencies, local government units (LGUs), and bamboo growers was formalized to strengthen mass bamboo tree planting and mass production.

The strengthening of the bamboo industry was organized by the Region 13 office of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI-13) in collaboration with the Cottage Industry Technology Center (CITC), LGUs, farmers, furniture makers, and concerned entrepreneurs.

Earlier, a forum with Caraga Region’s 70 stakeholders was conducted here and business opportunities to be generated from the bamboo industry were discussed.

The forum also tackled the opportunities of the engineered bamboo, and the skillful manipulation, transformation, and right processing of the bamboo poles from planting to harvesting and production.

They discussed opportunities in the establishment of bamboo nursery and plantation, interventions in climate change adaption project in collaboration with the International Labor Organization (ILO), and funding opportunities for the bamboo industry on how to obtain a small business guarantee.