BACOLOD City – Farmers and fisherfolk in San Carlos City, Negros Occidental were creating coconut handicrafts to be sold at the Panaadsa Negros Festival this month.
Twenty-four members of two farmer and fisherfolk associations in San Carlos were trained at the Negosyo Center of the Department of Trade and Industry last month to produce various crafts using coconut and its byproducts as main raw materials.
Aside from being showcased at the Panaad sa Negros Festival, their outputs may also be sold to the San Carlos City government to be given out as souvenirs for tourists, said Negosyo Center coordinator EngiemarTupas.
At least 100 German tourists were set to visit the city’s Sipaway Island this year.
Among the items that may be sold as souvenirs were key chains, necklaces, anklets, baskets, and candleholders.
Members of the Self Help Group from San Carlos City’s Barangay Ermita and the Sipaway Coconut Farmers Association from Barangay San Juan joined the skills training on Sipaway Island.
Tupas, a senior trade and industry development specialist at the DTI, said the agency was looking into exporting the coco crafts with continuous product development and craftsmanship improvement.
The DTI helps ensure there is a market for such products, said Tupas.
“We will also work on linking them with other resorts,” the DTI official said.
The coco crafts production in San Carlos City was the first skills training that the Negosyo Center in Negros Occidental conducted this year. (With PNA/PN)
