NewsBamboo showing up in Ecuador’s Napo Fair
Pablo Jácome Estrella, INBAR Director for the Latin America and the Caribbean Region, with entrepreneurs at the Napo Fair.
Diverse bamboo products from INBAR’s Bambuzonía project were on exhibition at an entrepreneurship fair in Ecuador.
Earrings, handbags, furniture, headbands, edible bamboo shoots and other products made with bamboo were exhibited at the Napo Fair held on 10 and 11 February 2023 in Ecuador’s Napo Province.
Diverse bamboo products made by Amazonian hands.
Funded by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the Bambuzonía project aims to maximize utilization of bamboo as a natural resource found in the Amazon region of Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. The project also emphasizes that the forest resource is capable of delivering ecosystem services to address land degradation, deforestation and climate change as a critical nature-based solution that also promotes resilient livelihoods in rural communities.
Eight entrepreneurs from the Bambuzonía project participated in the provincial fair, sharing their knowledge about the myriad positive applications of bamboo for both environment and economy to the diverse audience at the event.
Entrepreneurs made a variety of different kinds of edible bamboo shoots sourced with local ingredients.
Marianela Flores, a member of the Bamboo Preservation and Marketing Association (ASOPRECOM) points out that these types of public outreach events are key to expanding their products into new markets.
“I feel very happy about it. Broad in vision, these types of fairs help increase our visibility and expose our products to customers,” she said.
Wilfrido Álvarez from the Bambú Antisuyu enterprise, located in Pastaza Province, agrees. “It’s the first time I’ve participated in Tena. I like it — it’s interesting to get to know each other,” he added.
Wilfrido Álvarez together with his wife promote the manufacture of bamboo furniture.
For his part, Atamay Yantalema, from Bamboo Wasy, a venture that promotes ecological mobility through the manufacture of bamboo bicycle frames, mused on the impact of these fairs.
“Thanks to the support of INBAR, we have been able to test our bamboo bicycle frames. These events are important to boost our creativity and ecological mobility,” he said.
Bamboo Wasy manufactures bicycle frames out of bamboo.
For the country’s business sector, the exhibition of these products is critical. “It is not only to showcase the product but also the skills of the people — their work with a noble resource like bamboo,” said Juan Pablo Aguilar, representative of the firm D’minde Consciente.
Doménica Gancino and Mary Acosta, attendees at the fair, spoke about the importance of bamboo products. “They really capture your attention. They are ecological, and you feel at peace using it…because of the interesting value of the product, we must continue to spread knowledge about it,” they said.
Gancino and Acosta attending the entrepreneur fair.
The nine ventures promoted by INBAR in the Ecuadorian Amazon will continue to function as vehicles for the skills and creativity of project beneficiaries as they continue to develop environmentally friendly products in various corners of the country.
Visit the product catalogue here.
