DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/20 July 2026)–Long before they’re discussed in carpeted rooms in global conferences, the most enduring climate solutions start as tiny expressions of hope in communities. And on the afternoon of June 18, inside the RCBC Plaza in Makati, three Mindanao innovations carried their stories and dreams to the display booths of the Climate Action Showcase: chocolates from Bukidnon, rain-catchers from Agusan del Sur, and mushrooms from Marawi.
Organized by Villgro Philippines, the showcase was a “celebration of the growing climate innovation ecosystem” the organization has helped build over the years, bringing together climate enterprises across the country that were mentored under their accelerator program, including the three innovators from Mindanao.
“We believe that the people closest to communities hit hardest by climate change are in the best position to create relevant solutions. That’s why ideas from different parts of the Philippines, including Mindanao, are essential to building a more climate-resilient future,” Malen Horigue, program coordinator at Villgro Philippines, told MindaNews in an email last July 8.
In separate interviews, all three enterprises talked about their individual journeys to the showcase and how, in getting there, they brought so much more than just their goods.
Tree-to-bar chocolates from reforesting degraded land in Bukidnon
Before they became a product of reforestation, they were first a product of love.
Anitu Forest Chocolates farmer Marvi Montecillo wooed his now-wife Rogen with produce he grew from his own farm, using regenerative practices. After spending years doing trial-and-error with syntropic farming, eventually, his efforts bore literal fruit: cacao that Rogen, an entrepreneur, first received as courtship gifts of tableya, and now processes into artisan chocolates.
A 2020 article on Mongabay by Sandra Weiss describes syntropic farming as a way to mimic a natural forest ecosystem by planting crops and trees together in layers, pioneered by Brazilian-based Swiss farmer Ernst Götsch. Farmers trim the tops and sides of plants, do selective weeding, and use the trimmings and the weeds as mulch, according to a paper entitled “Syntropic farming systems for reconciling productivity, ecosystem functions, and restoration” by Jacobi, et al (2025) published on ScienceDirect.
In degraded land, such as the Montecillos’ farm before they started regenerative farming, Marvi said it’s an effective method to restore ecological balance without needing to rely on external inputs, like chemical fertilizers.
“Although cacao grows fine in non-agriculture land that has been left to fallow for a while, you would need constant biomass (chopped wood materials) to yield well every year. This is why growing a forest with lots of trees we can prune is necessary,” Marvi said.
Rogen added that the chocolates, which sell out at expos, are also made sustainable because consumers become drivers of production. “Ang among model, the more na naay participation sa consumer ma mupalit sila ug chocolates, the more na ma-expand ang forest kay there’s demand (In our model, the more consumers buy the chocolates, the more we can expand the forest because there’s demand),” she said.
Supplementing the environmental benefits, Marvi also said that regenerative farming is economically viable. According to him, “Dili ka gapalit ug synthetic fertilizers, mga pesticides o fungicides sa gawas, so imagina maka-produce ka ug own cacao beans na wala gyud ka nagpalit ana, mura kag nag-make your own money, (You’re not buying synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, or fungicides from external sources, so if you can make your own cacao beans without investing in those, it’s like you’re making your own money).”
Anitu received support to scale their operations, which enabled them to transform from a two-person team with a chocolate lab inside their home into a full production facility that employs their neighbors in Kibawe and people from their community.
Ultimately, they hope to inspire other cacao farmers in Bukidnon to adopt regenerative farming and be more empowered, in the process.
“Panaglitan maabot sa Singapore ang among chocolates, na isa sa among goals, so every time ga-buy ang mga tao didto, ang kwarta gasulod ug gabalik diri sa among community (If our chocolates reach Singapore, which is one of our goals, every time people buy them, the money will funnel back to our community),” granting autonomy to farmers and freeing them from Big Agriculture, Marvi said.
Gravity-powered raincatcher systems designed in Agusan del Sur
“I once asked a young girl in the floating community what she dreamed of, expecting “teacher, lawyer, doctor.” She said, “I want to drink water every day,”” Augustus Nicko Bas, co-founder and CEO of O1nnovations (pronounced “uwan-novations”), said, when asked about his personal drive behind co-creating their rain-catcher systems.
The Agusan marsh is the largest freshwater wetland in the country, but the floating communities that call it home do not have access to clean water. Augustus said its geographical layout makes it hard to establish a water utility system, and water quality has been compromised by upstream effluents from mining operations and palm oil plantations, according to a 2021 National Geographic article by Sarah Gibbens. Improper disposal of waste, including human waste, has also exacerbated the issue, according to Augustus.
To have clean water, residents pay 50 pesos for a 5L water gallon and travel it by boat from La Paz, he said. Those who can’t afford to buy make do with boiling the river water around them or drinking rainwater straight from their sometimes rusty roofs.
His organization’s rain-catcher system, co-designed with the residents of the floating communities, converts rainwater into usable water for general use, or potable water for drinking. A complete system, it also comes with gutters, pipes, tanks, filters, and faucets.
“It requires no energy, since most of the communities we serve are in remote, far-flung, or floating communities; we ensured that it is powered by gravity 100%,” he said.
To help fund the production and installation of this system for the floating communities, which do not have purchasing power, they expanded their market to schools in San Francisco, Agusan del Sur that are also struggling with water access but have purchasing power.
“Students have to walk 10 minutes just to fetch water from a deep well, which is very dangerous. And imagine, each student has to go to school wearing not just their bag but also a bucket of water,” Augustus said.
With their raincatchers, schools that are not connected to water utilities can access water through their faucets. And with some of the proceeds from the sales of their system to schools, they intend to equip homes in the floating communities with subsidized rain-catchers.
O1nnovations also received support to enhance their social enterprise and allow them to bring their product to more people. “We just envision that everyone would have water access. We want to encourage everyone to harvest water through rain because it can really help address the water crisis,” Augustus said, adding that it might even help mitigate flooding.
Mushroom products farmed and processed by internally displaced communities in Marawi
It was a Google search that changed the trajectory of the lives of Sittie Aireen Lomangcolob and her community.
They had been displaced by the Marawi siege for four years when they realized that, when it was deemed safe to return to their homes, there was nothing waiting for them. Their homes had been leveled to the ground.
They relocated to the outskirts of the city and turned to farming to make ends meet. But they soon found out that the money they would earn come harvest time would barely cover the costs of farm inputs, like chemical fertilizers, leaving no room for anything else.
Undeterred, they did environmental scanning to identify viable business opportunities they can start without significant capital. They noticed that there was a saw mill in their area, with a considerable amount of unused, idle saw dust.
“Gigamit namo ang Google University so nahibaw-an namo na pwede diay siya gamiton na substrate kung saan doon patutubuin ang mushroom” (We used Google and we found out that we can use the saw dust as a substrate to grow mushrooms), she said.
Their only problem was they didn’t know how, but help arrived. Partnering with another mushroom farmer in Lanao, they received formal training on how to grow the mushrooms, enabling them to register as a sole proprietorship under the name, Ikram Mushroom Farm.
They started with 500 fruiting bags, and with additional support from the government and the private sector, they grew into Ikram Agriculture Cooperative, which is now a Learning Site for Agriculture.
“Ikram is an Arabic term; it means generosity, it means giving something without expecting something in return,” Sittie said.
In a poetic mirroring, they are now giving back by providing income opportunities to their members and their surrounding community. They also teach mushroom farming to guests visiting their facility and to other communities, including camp communities in former conflict zones.
Across these functions, Sittie emphasized that growing mushrooms can significantly impact larger conservation efforts.
“We have a very special [relationship] sa Nature. Kaning among mushrooms, dili ra man ta mag-grow ug mushrooms, kay katong spent substrate niya na nihunong na ug bunga, pwede to siya gamiton as natural fertilizer (We have a very special relationship with Nature. We’re not just growing mushrooms here, we’re also using the spent substrates that can no longer fruit as natural fertilizers),” she said, adding that it eliminates the need to use chemical fertilizers.
In another partnership, they are growing mushrooms on logs, such as wood wastes and trimmed branches, with a farmer community around Mt. Mupo, not only for economic empowerment but also for environmental protection.
“Naghimo pud mi ug conservation agreement na kami ang mupalit sa ilang [mushrooms], but at the same time, they will be the stewards in protecting what remains in the forest of Mt. Mupo (We also made a conservation agreement that we will buy their mushrooms, but at the same time, they will be the stewards in protecting what remains in the forest of Mt. Mupo),” Sittie said.
At present, the cooperative plans to improve production and processing facilities to make them more efficient, and engage more community members. “Gusto pud namo ma-motivate ang among mga kauban, maka-inspire pud sa among fellow IDPs, na life can still be beautiful after the siege (We also want to motivate our community and inspire our fellow IDPs that life can still be beautiful after the siege),” Sittie said.
Beyond Mindanao
The Climate Action Showcase also spotlighted climate innovations from Luzon and Visayas, such as sabutan products handwoven by Egongot weavers in Aurora restoring their forests and ancestral domain while preserving their cultural identity; a wireless, non-electric slow cooker from Palawan that reduces energy use by up to 75%; and accessible solar energy for households and businesses through rent-to-own financing in Dumaguete.
Other innovations included 400kg of textile waste upcycled into home goods to provide sustainable income in Payatas; affordable, modular recycling machines from Cavite for efficient waste management; plastic-free, handmade personal care products from Makati; and passive cooling solutions from a Manila builder to cool buildings without requiring additional power.
“We intentionally selected enterprises representing different stages of growth, climate sectors, business models, and geographic location to demonstrate that climate innovation is happening across many fronts and that there is no single path to creating climate impact,” Horigue said.
She also stressed that sustaining this collective work from climate innovators requires an ecosystem, so solutions can “move beyond local pilots and achieve scale.”
From grassroots to legacies
In designing climate-resilient innovations in response to climate change, Augustus reminds that communities must be at the center of the process. “Each community has challenges unique to their own. There is no single solution that fits all; it is important for us to contextualize to have sustainable solutions,” he said.
He acknowledges, however, that more support should be given to the youth. “As youth, we are not really used to the systems in the government, so it was one of the blockers that we had to continue our progress,” he said, alluding to knowing things “that aren’t written in the book” as a prerequisite to accessing support.
MindaNews reached out to the Mindanao Development Authority to ask about existing support for Mindanao’s climate innovators, but has not yet received an official response.
Sittie says that coming together is imperative. “Kung isa ra ka [tawo ang mag-work na i-address ang climate change], pwede maka-contribute ka, makatabang ka, pero paunti-unti (If only one person would work to address climate change, the effect would be limited),” she said. But if people work together, impact can be amplified, according to her.
In a landmark move that institutionalizes the value of working together and centering conservation on community-based initiatives, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources has formally directed the mainstreaming of Nature-based Solutions (NbS) across the agency’s programs, policies, plans, projects, and activities through Administrative Order No. 2026‑30, which was signed on June 29, 2026.
One of the partners that Sittie’s organization is working with for their mushroom-on-logs project in Mt. Mupo, Forest Foundation Philippines, sits as one of the founding members of the Nature-based Solutions (NbS) Support Network, which will champion a holistic approach to environmental resilience.
DENR Secretary Juan Miguel Cuna, in a press statement dated July 3, 2026 and posted on the agency’s website, said that the policy “turns nature into a frontline partner for Filipino families” to “reduce flood risk, secure water supplies, and protect livelihoods.”
For Rogen and Marvi, the motivation to continue and commit to climate action innovations is anchored on something much simpler but equally meaningful: “This is our gift to our children’s children,” Rogen said. (Kat Petines-Rabino/MindaNews)
Held last 18 June 2026 in Makati, Villgro’s Climate Action Showcase featured climate innovations from across the Philippines, including three from Mindanao. Photo courtesy of Villgro Philippines
0 Comments