GIANT BAMBOO FOR HUMANITY

"The goal is not to live forever, but to create something that will."

A Collaborative Platform with Rotary Club of Tuguegarao Citadel for Development and Poverty Alleviation

Proponent: Integrated Farmers Association of Amulung, Cagayan, Inc.
Rotary Club Tuguegarao Citadel D3770

Project Summary:

The project will cover 50 hectares within the Cagayan River Basin watershed, the biggest river basin in the Philippines. The proposed pilot project is located in Amulung, Cagayan in geographic coordinates between 170 51’ 23.71” North Latitude and 1210 45’ 57.69 East Longitude of Corona classification. It is within the Western section of the Sierra Madre Mountain ranges directly draining to the Cagayan River, the longest river systems in the Philippines. The Sierra Madre Mountain ranges is considered one of the hot spots in the World based on the records of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) due to the anthropogenic pressures on its biodiversity on both flora and fauna and the threat to the ecosystems where it provides to the thousands of families rely on farming as their livelihood to feed their families. In addition, its significant contribution on the ecological functions to mitigate climate change. The main goal is to restore degraded upland ecosystems and at the same time reduce poverty while creating better environment and resilient rural communities by creating income and jobs through the development of this project. The following are the objectives such as:

• Farmers and Resources: Provide support small farm holders to restore degraded areas to produce quality bamboo and hybrid corn for silage production;

• Trade and markets. Provide technical assistance to develop engineered bamboo products and silage production by creating market chain through the mobilization of start-up capital, technology and credit network for future expansion of the pilot project;

• Policy and research: Initiate research and development to create positive business and rural development efforts to generate technologies on bamboo plantation development and silage production;

• Coordination & management: Facilitate project linkages between the Rotary Club, government agencies (Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Department of Agriculture, Department of Trade and Industry and Department of Science and Technology) and the farmers’ collaborators. This project is an environmental and market driven endeavor to showcase how degraded areas can be restored by not sacrificing the current livelihood systems of the upland farmers who are the small farm holders and prime collaborators of this project.

The project’s primary justification is based on the strong market for bamboo and silage products both local and international market. The current market and medium term competitiveness of the products from bamboo and corn farming shows that poor communities that will be engaged on this project have potential strong competitive positions to the local and global markets especially when this project will be scaled up to the regional level. The expansion of this project to an industrial scale is very possible as there are around 300,000 hectares available within the Cagayan River Basin ready for the expansion of this pilot project.

The Rotary Club in partnership with the Integrated Farmers Association will initiate this showcase project. The project will entail a project total cost of 60,000 US dollar to include the start-up fund to purchase small equipment for silage production. Silage production from corn to be planted in between the bamboo will start production at first year of the project implementation.

Project Goals & Objectives:

The goal is to create a demonstration site that showcases a technology how to restore degraded areas through an integrated bamboo and corn farming. This is to optimize the use of the land without compromising the integrity of the ecosystems.

The objective is to:

• Mobilize the upland farmers that cultivate hybrid corn to participate in bamboo plantation development;

• Create alternative source of income of local communities while restoring the degraded ecosystems;

• Develop a 50 hectares demonstration site to showcase integrated bamboo plantation and corn farming for silage production;

• Replicate this technology to the provinces covering the Cagayan River basin for the bigger purpose and impacts; and

• Promote inclusive development and shared benefits

Project Implementation Plan:

The project underscores the partnership principle of the private sector and government in addressing crucial issues. It will be implemented in 3 years period, however, it will be become a multi-year project when it will be expanded all over the Cagayan River Basin depending on how funding donors and government will take the technology that will be developed under this project. The government will provide support and policy guidance for the implementation of the showcase project and the private sector will directly implement the project through the Rotary Club Tuguegarao Citadel.

The land holder of a tenured areas in Amulung, Cagayan will be the direct partners/farmer cooperators to this pilot project. The farmers were awarded a Stewardship Certificate Contract from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to develop and managed certain portion of forestlands awarded to them.

The target is to develop 50 hectares tenured areas in Amulung Cagayan as demonstration site for integrated bamboo plantation and corn farming for silage production through a funding support from Rotary Club International. The ultimate target is to expand this project to the Cagayan River Basin degraded areas with funding support from government, foreign institutions and private sectors providing support for poverty alleviation and climate change mitigation.