Young chef and farmer-entrepreneur Louise Mabulo won in the 2019 Asia-Pacific Regional Finals of the United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP) Young Champions of the Earth, a prize that sent her to the global finals of the UN competition in September.
Louie Mabulo was hailed as one of the 5 Regional Finalists from the Asia-Pacific Young Champions of the Earth described by the UNEP as having made “an impressive array of scalable, innovative and potentially impactful solutions to some of the world’s most pressing environmental challenges.”
The 18-year-old won for her Cacao agroforestry work with social venture The Cacao Project, an initiative which she describes as providing participating farmers of San Fernando in Camarines Sur with cacao seedlings and short term crops such as bok choy, okra, and pumpkins, to intercrop with the cacao.
Mabulo’s site notes that the seedlings are a long-term, resilient crop which provides farmers with a considerable income after three years and will be productive for up to 20-25 years. “Farmers will be paid a fair wage and be better positioned for sustainable success,” according to Mabulo.
Louise Mabulo’s UNEP Young Champions of the Earth competition entry notes recounts how My Farm and Culinary Lounge started The Cacao Project after her community was hit by Typhoon Nock Ten in 2016, destroying 80 percent of agricultural land.
Mabulo’s The Cacao Project team has since trained over 200 farmers with natural and responsible farming practices, making fertilizers and preserving traditional farming methods, and planted over 70,000 trees across 70 hectares of land leading to the revival of two water sources.
Mabulo, a recipient of the Outstanding Young Farmer of the Philippines award, speaks in various fora as a global youth leader and is also a competitive archer.
Filipinos have championed local cacao such as Dalareich Polot from Bohol, Marielle Flores Moens from Cavite, and the Puentespina family of Malagos in Davao.
WATCH this video to learn more about Louie Mabulo’s The Cacao Project and SEND her cheers in the comments below!
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