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Filipina chef wins UN award for helping farmers

A Filipino chef was among this year’s winners of the prestigious Young Champions of the Earth Prize award.

Twenty-year-old Louise Mabulo was among the seven young entrepreneurs recognized by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

Mabulo was named the winner for the Asia and the Pacific region.

The UNEP said Mabulo is addressing climate change through her Cacao Project.

“Mabulo’s solution, the Cacao Project, has trained over 200 farmers in agroforestry techniques, planting more than 70,000 trees across 70 hectares of land,” UNEP said in a statement.

The young chef will receive her prize in New York. Mabulo was first recognized in ABS-CBN’s Junior Masterchef competitions.

She said the project was initiated when Typhoon Nina hit her province in Bicol in 2016.

“It started out as a typhoon relief project. We realized we couldn’t just weather through the yearly typhoon. Coconut trees would take another 5 years. We had to think of something more resilient and something more profitable for the farmers and with demand for the market,” Mabulo told ABS-CBN News.

The Pinay chef discovered that cacao trees, having just the right height, can withstand strong winds. “Our soil is also perfect for growing cacao trees. It’s sustainable,” she said.

It would also only take three years to grow a cacao tree which can also help farmers have another source of income.

Mabulo will receive a $15,000 (P783,900) for her “Cacao Project.”

Staff Report

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