TAGUM CITY—The Department of Trade and Industry, through the initiative of the provincial government, has pushed for the revival of the Mindanao banana fiber industry initially in Santo Tomas town and later in adjacent municipalities, a top local government official said.
Gov. Anthony del Rosario said the local government unit recently pushed for a market linkage between Marsman Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Cooperative (Marbco) and Tagum Development Corp. (Tadeco) Homes, a leading exporter of handicraft items in Southern Mindanao (Region 11).
Del Rosario said Marbco, a fresh banana exporter based in Sto. Tomas, received various equipment for banana fiber extraction under DTI’s Shares Service Facility for banana fiber processing. It exported raw banana fiber to Japan in 2013 but the demand for the fiber gradually declined.
A local DTI executive, who asked not to be identified, lately saw the potential of banana fiber for exportable handicraft items and tapped experts from Tadeco to train some 50 Marbco members in creating value-added products from it, particularly threads for fabric production and banana fiber scrunch for handicrafts.
The training ended with the group being able to produce “Sinugpon” (banana fiber thread) and five designs of banana fiber scrunch, the local DTI official said, adding that products from the training are being featured in the ongoing Kadayawan festival in Davao City.
DTI noted that the “rising demand in the global market for home decors and handicraft items made from natural raw materials presents a great opportunity for the banana fiber.
With the revival of this particular industry, DTI seeks to “conduct more trainings on banana fiber craft making, thereby establishing a new livelihood project for the community of agrarian reform beneficiaries in Sto Tomas and other municipalities.”
Tadeco Homes executives also expressed their desire to “tie up with Marbco to develop more handicraft products from banana fiber and market them through their stores strategically located in various areas of the Davao region.