Philippines bamboo entrepreneur digs in on poverty and climate threats
LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Mark Sultan Gersava grew up in poverty, one of 12 children of a slash-andburn subsistence farmer in the Philippines province of Sultan Kudarat.
Today he is the “chief executive farmer” of a company aimed at tackling that same poverty, and combating climate change at the same time.
His firm Bambuhay helps farmers shift from slash-and-burn agriculture - which accounts for about a third of deforestation in the Philippines - to growing bamboo, now in demand as an alternative material to throw-away plastic.
The company, now in its second year of operation, makes popular bamboo straws, toothbrushes, tumblers, and bamboo-based charcoal briquettes, to replace those made from wood.
So far Bambuhay has sold nearly 400,000 reuseable bamboo straws, Gersava said.
Last week, wearing a bamboo salakót, a traditional farmers hat, he told delegates to the One Young World conference of youth leaders in London what drove him to launch his company.
“In the span of one year,
I experienced two super typhoons (and) the hottest measured temperature in Philippines history,” Gersava said.
“This was the first time I had faced the direct consequences of climate change,” he said.
LESS POVERTY, FEWER EMISSIONS
Gersava settled on bamboo - a fast-growing plant that absorbs large amounts of climate-changing carbon dioxide and can help prevent soil erosion - as a way of taking action on both climate change and poverty.
The Philippines climate, he said, is perfect for growing the giant grass and has