PHILIPPINES:INNOVATION IN the Philippines is for the bees. Honeybees to be exact. Many regions in the country are taking to mass production of honey, in farms big and small, as a way out of poverty and of achieving self-sufficiency.

In the Davao region, local government is funding projects to produce honey, most of it for export for the growing Chinese market.

The University of the Philippines in Mindanao (UPMin) set up a training programme and is tutoring 30 stakeholders from villages in the area around Mintal, Davao City, as well as entrepreneurs and representatives of non-government organisations in the ways of apiculture.

After the training course, the beekeepers were put to work on 22 beehive pilot farms which were set around the university.

Vicente Lao, chairman of the Mindanao Business Council, said the production and export of honey is a way to combat poverty in the region.

He said beekeeping is perfect for the island of Mindinao, because it is accessible to women working at home, or small companies.

The region is climactically suited to beekeeping as there are no typhoons, year-round production is possible because locally-produced coconuts means the bees have plenty to eat.

Beekeeping is one of the key industries in the OTOP (one-town, one-product) system introduced by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to try and revitalise poor parts of the country.

First introduced in 2004, it is modelled on the One Village One Product (OVOP) concept in Japan, and similar projects are also being implemented in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Mongolia, some provinces of China, and even some towns in the US.