Industry study on the bamboo furniture manufacturing in the Municipality of San Enrique

Abstract

Bamboo furniture making has become the secondary means of securing an additional source of livelihood for the many residents of Barangay Bantayan and Barangay Cubay, San Enrique, Iloilo. This study was done mainly to determine the status of bamboo furniture industry in the said places. Using a structured interview schedule, a face-to-face interview was conducted by trained interviewers to gather the required data. Frequency and percentage distribution were the main statistical tools used.

Results of the study showed that all the respondents are males with the majority having elementary and high school education which contributed to their limited capacity on business management. Although all of the respondents believed that bamboo furniture manufacturing is a profitable business, they are beset by many problems including financial constraints, poor workmanship, marketing channel and product pricing. With these problems, the majority claimed that they want to avail of government assistance in the form of financing, skills training, management training and marketing and extension services in order to boost the potential of our bamboo craft industry.