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To cap off 2023, the BBC released its 100 Women list, naming women who have inspired and influenced people worldwide.
Among those on the list are former US First Lady Michelle Obama and human rights lawyer Amal Clooney, and a 25-year-old Filipina farmer and entrepreneur named Louise Mabulo.
Ms. Mabulo, the daughter of San Fernando Camarines Sur mayor Fermin Mabulo, joins 27 other Climate Pioneers in the list. She was lauded for her efforts in setting up The Cacao Project, which according to the BBC 鈥渁ims to revolutionize local food systems through sustainable agroforestry.鈥
In this B-side interview with Joseph L. Garcia, the 100 Women-lister extols the virtues of cacao as a crop, changing the face of farming in the Philippines, and how growing up Filipino can make one sensitive to climate change.
Cacao as Crop
After the devastation of Typhoon Nina (international name: Nock-Ten) in 2016, Ms. Mabulo thought that farmers in her Bicol hometown deserved more than seeing their crops destroyed and having to start all over again.
She set up The Cacao Project as a seed exchange program, which later evolved into a training program and social enterprise.
Ms. Mabulo said cacao was an ideal crop in the Philippines because aside from its high value as a crop due to global demand for chocolate, it is resilient to typhoons.
鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 get easily flooded, and it doesn鈥檛 get cut down by high winds, which is ideal for our landscapes,鈥 she said.
Removing the stigma of farming
According to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), the average daily pay for a farm worker in the Philippines in 2019 was P331.10 per day.
Apart from the low wages, the agricultural profession is not held in high esteem locally 鈥 with the exeception of wealthy landowners who own the farms. Ms. Mabulo is working to change the face of farming by presenting it as a viable career option.
鈥淚鈥檓 trying to empower farmers to understand that what they鈥檙e doing is land stewardship. It鈥檚 not just farming and producing food, and creating harvests. It鈥檚 also rethinking what a farmer looks like,鈥 she said. 鈥淭hat can be young people getting into agriculture and aspiring to be a farmer.鈥
Filipinos and climate sensitivity
All Filipinos have a storm story, and are thus affected by the increase in the strength and number of typhoons caused by climate change.
While she did grow up in Wales, their family鈥檚 move to Camarines Sur made her appreciate how knowledge of local climate and weather is learned from a very young age.
鈥淲hat I like to say here in Bicol is all of us are raised as meteorologists and weathermen. We all know immediately what the tickers and signs are of typhoons and how to prepare for them,鈥 said Ms. Mabulo.
Farmers have, therefore, learned how to live around the changes in weather.
鈥淩esilience is incredibly important, and that we need to build resilience and adapt to the typhoons,鈥 she said.
However, she said it is also important to have the resources to not just survive, but thrive despite challenges posed by climate and weather.
It shouldn鈥檛 just be left to farmers, says Ms. Mabulo.
鈥淚t also made me question the systems that kept us resilient. In an ideal world, we wouldn鈥檛 have to be resilient. All of these resources should be readily available to us,鈥 she said.
Recorded remotely on Dec. 20, 2023.
