Louise Mabulo

Louise Emmanuelle Mabulo (born September 12, 1998 in Manila) is an environmentalist, farmer, social entrepreneur and chef from the Philippines.[1] She is the founder of The Cacao project,[2] a seed-exchange and social business that works with over 200 farmers from the San Fernando area in the Philippines. In 2018 she was named Outstanding Young Farmer of the Philippines.[3] In 2019, she won the award Young Champions of the Earth, awarded by the United Nations Environment Programme.[4][5] She also won a fellowship with the Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative at Brown University.[3] She was named part of the Forbes' list '30 under 30 Asia',[6] as a featured honoree.[7] She was also distinguished with the Friend of Humanity mention by the Friendship Ambassador Foundation.[8]

Louise Emmanuelle Mabulo
Born (1998-09-12) 12 September 1998
Philippines
NationalityFilipino
OccupationChef, Entrepreneur, Farmer, Environmentalist
TitleFounder of The Cacao Project and Culinary Lounge
AwardsUnited Nations Young Champion of the Earth
Websitehttps://louisemabulo.com/

She has also taken part in different chef contests since the age of 12,[9] where she was a finalist at the Junior MasterChef Pinoy Edition.[1][10] She also won the Best Dessert in Asia Award at the Disciples des Escoffier Young Talent Trophy at the Restaurant and Bar Show in Hong Kong.[1]

Life

Louise Emmanuelle Mabulo was born in the capital of Philippines, in Manila, surrounded in an area 'still lush and green', as she described it.[11] She started participating in chef contests when she was 12.[9]

Mabulo was raised in Swansea, and later moved to Camarines Sur, where she currently resides. In 2016, the Philippines was struck by Typhoon Nock-Ten, which destroyed almost all of the food supply of her province. She organized a social media campaign to raise funds, but soon enough she realized that the most important supply needed to re-build the agricultural lands were seeds. By looking around, she discovered that the trees that remained standing were cacao trees, and given her background as a chef, she knew that cacao was a very high-value crop.[9] That was her inspiration to start The Cacao Project.

The Cacao project that she runs is trying to mitigate the effects of climate change through providing resilient and resistant crops while at the same time giving farmers means for their subsistence. Through her project, she has trained 200 farmers in agroforestry techniques, planting more than 70,000 trees across 70 hectares of land, restoring two water sources and using environmental friendly techniques for pest control and crop fertilization.[4][9] She expects sales of about 11.2 million pesos and a gross margin of around 1 million pesos on 2020's initial cocoa harvest.[12] The project also provides farmers with seeds for staple crops such as bok choy, pumpkin and okra.[12][13]

Part of her advocacy efforts are directed towards changing the perceptions that people have over farmers and agriculture, particularly removing the stigma that farmers are poor, uneducated and have failed in traditional educational systems. Through her work and advocacy, she tries to build an environment of respect and empowerment for farmers, since she believes agriculture is fundamental to address climate change:[14]

In the end, our environment and our climate run through the very fiber of our daily lives: in our breakfast, lunch and dinner. And we need to close the gap that separates our consumers from our producers.

— Louise Mabulo, #Youth4ClimateLive Series: Driving Empowerment - Protecting the Most Vulnerable

Mabulo also founded The Culinary Lounge, a project that helps farmers by using local ingredients.[13] Mabulo has been invited to speak at different international events.[15]

References
  1. "About Louise". Louise Mabulo. Retrieved 2020-12-23.
  2. "The Cacao Project". The Resolution Project. Retrieved 2020-12-23.
  3. "Outstanding farmer award for young talented Bicolana". bicolmail. 2018-11-22. Retrieved 2020-12-23.
  4. UNEP. "Louise Mabulo". Young Champions of the Earth - UN Environment Program. Retrieved 2020-12-23.
  5. "Filipina wins U.N. award for helping cacao farmers". cnn. Retrieved 2020-12-23.
  6. "Forbes Releases 2020 30 Under 30 Asia List". Forbes. Retrieved 2020-12-23.
  7. "30 Under 30 Asia 2020: Social Entrepreneurs". Forbes. Retrieved 2020-12-23.
  8. "Louise Mabulo". Friendship Ambassadors Foundation, Inc. 2020-02-25. Retrieved 2020-12-23.
  9. UNEP (2019-09-18). "Top young chef future-proofing the Philippines". Young Champions of the Earth - UN Environment Program. Retrieved 2020-12-23.
  10. Williams, Shauna Popple (2016-02-04). "Louise Mabulo: Culinary Prodigy". Tatler Philippines. Retrieved 2020-12-23.
  11. "Bridging our rights to a restored planet". Children's Environmental Rights Initiative. Retrieved 2020-12-23.
  12. Watson, Rana Wehbe. "From Economic Empowerment To Waste Management, These 30 Under 30 Social Entrepreneurs Are Making An Impact In Asia". Forbes. Retrieved 2020-12-23.
  13. Lee-Brago, Pia. "A chef for the earth". Philstar.com. Retrieved 2020-12-23.
  14. "#Youth4ClimateLive Series: Driving Empowerment - Protecting the Most Vulnerable - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 2020-12-23.
  15. "Louise Mabulo". Global Landscapes Forum Events. Retrieved 2020-12-23.
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