In a bid to revive the banana fiber industry in the municipality of Sto. Tomas, Davao del Norte, the Department of Trade and Industry – Davao del Norte Provincial Office pushed for a market linkage between Marsman Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Cooperative (MARBCO) and TADECO Homes – a leading exporter of handcrafted items in the region.
MARBCO, a fresh banana exporter located in Puerto Azul, Brgy. Tibal-og of the said town, is a beneficiary of the Department of Trade and Industry’s (DTI) Shared Service Facility for banana fiber processing. Under this, the cooperative has received various equipment for banana fiber extraction.
With it, they were able to export raw banana fiber to Japan in 2013. However, demand for the fiber gradually lessened and eventually production stopped.
Seeing the potential of banana fiber in exportable handicraft items, DTI tapped experts from TADECO to train MARBCO members on creating value added products from raw banana fiber particularly threads for fabric production and banana fiber scrunch for handicraft making purposes. A total of 20 agrarian reform beneficiaries were trained.
At the conclusion of the training, the group was able to produce “Sinugpon” (banana fiber thread) and 5 designs of banana fiber scrunch. Outputs from the training will be featured during the Mindanao Trade Expo Kadayawan Week Celebration on August 12-18, 2016 at Abreeza Mall, Davao City.
TADECO Homes also expressed its intent to tie up with MARBCO to develop more handicraft products from banana fiber and market it through their stores.
The rising demand in the global market for home decors and handcrafted items made from natural raw materials presents a great opportunity for the banana fiber. With the revival of this particular industry, DTI aims 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.(DTI Davao del Norte).