Louise Mabulo

Personal Details

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Education

Work Experience

Other Affiliations

Durations above are transcribed as submitted; the kit's formatting made a small number of date pairings ambiguous, and these have been kept as close to the original layout as possible.

Programs: Climate-resilient agroforestry, Farmer Field Schools, environmental education, and ecosystem restoration, delivered through three pillars — Education, Agriculture, and Restoration.

Reach: The kit states the initiative directly supports 300+ farming households, reaching approximately 2,300+ direct and indirect beneficiaries, with programs spanning approximately 9,000 hectares across Camarines Sur and Northern Samar.

Impact: 750+ acres of degraded land restored, 300,000+ trees planted, and 26 farmer-owned enterprises and brands established. More than 10 ongoing programs are cited, including Farmer Field Schools, teacher training, agroforestry, restoration campaigns, enterprise development, climate adaptation training, and women's leadership initiatives, having trained 100+ farmers, 18 teachers, and reached 720+ students.

Outcomes: The kit reports stronger food security, diversified household incomes, increased entrepreneurship, improved housing and education, and greater household stability. Farmer enterprises are reported to have generated over PHP 400,000 in sales during a four-day regional trade fair. A named case example, Farmer Virgie's agroforestry farm, is offered as a model for sustainable livelihood transformation, and communities are said to demonstrate faster recovery from typhoons under diversified agroforestry.

Innovation: The kit describes a climate-resilient agroforestry model localizing the Farmer Field School approach, combining scientific methods with ancestral farming knowledge, and introducing value-added initiatives such as post-harvest processing, shared service facilities, and cacao-leaf fossilization enterprises.

Growth: Organizational growth is measured through enterprise development, community impact, and environmental outcomes — 300+ households supported, 26 enterprises established, approximately USD 50,000 in grant funding and institutional support secured, and programs expanded across approximately 9,000 hectares.

Challenges: The kit describes continued operations through the COVID-19 pandemic via socially distanced field training, and response to Super Typhoon Rolly, Typhoon Ulysses, and another major storm through food distribution, livelihood support, farm rehabilitation, and reconstruction of more than 25 homes for vulnerable families.

Recognitions: UNEP Young Champion of the Earth (2019), Forbes Asia 30 Under 30 (2020), National Geographic Explorer (2021), BBC 100 Women (2023), UN Foundation SDG Vanguard Award (2024), Tatler Asia Most Influential (2024), and Elle UK 40 Under 40 (2025) are all cited as recognizing this work. See Recognition & External Validation below for the verification status of each.

Business Model: The Cacao Project is described as a mission-driven social enterprise integrating environmental restoration, farmer prosperity, and business sustainability into its core operations, with 100% of organizational surpluses and unrestricted revenues reinvested into community development and climate resilience initiatives.

Investment: Resources are directed toward farmer training, agroforestry expansion, ecosystem restoration, enterprise development, post-harvest infrastructure, educational programs, community nurseries, and climate adaptation initiatives, evaluated against their contribution to livelihoods, food security, ecosystem restoration, and long-term economic opportunity.

People: Nearly 100% of team members are said to participate directly in community development and environmental initiatives. The organization reports prioritizing hiring from the communities it serves, with beneficiaries trained to become trainers, facilitators, nursery managers, restoration coordinators, and community leaders.

Partnerships: Named collaborations include UN Geneva's One Pledge, One Tree campaign, the Department of Agriculture and Department of Trade and Industry (shared chocolate-processing facilities), National Geographic, TED, and the University of Nebraska.

Programs: Delivered through the same three pillars — Education, Agriculture, and Restoration — including Farmer Field Schools, community workshops, school-based environmental education, agroforestry, biodiversity conservation, and ecosystem restoration.

Beneficiaries: The kit states 2,300+ direct and indirect beneficiaries, 100+ farmers trained, 720+ students reached, and a women farmers' association of 50+ members and growing.

Sustainability: The organization reports building local ownership by equipping communities with the knowledge, skills, infrastructure, and economic opportunities to continue initiatives independently, through localized Farmer Field Schools, community workshops, and value-added livelihood initiatives that combine scientific research with traditional agricultural knowledge.

External Review: The kit states that The Cacao Project has undergone reviews, evaluations, or due diligence by Forbes, Tatler, UNEP, TOFARM, local universities, UN Geneva, the FAO Young Scientists Group, and funding partners, with regular reporting to funders including the National Geographic Society and UNEP.

Business Model

The Cacao Project is presented as a mission-driven social enterprise rather than a profit-maximizing business. Per the kit, 100% of organizational surpluses and unrestricted revenues are reinvested into community development and climate resilience initiatives, with allocation decisions evaluated against contribution to livelihoods, food security, ecosystem restoration, and long-term economic opportunity. No financial statements, audits, or profitability ratios have been published or located for the organization.

Grant Funding

The kit states approximately USD 50,000 in grant funding and institutional support has been secured to strengthen community enterprise development. This figure's cited source, the Resolution Project's venture page for The Cacao Project, was fetched directly and confirms Ms. Mabulo's status as a named Fellow of the Resolution Project, but the page does not state a dollar figure anywhere. A grant ledger or funder confirmation supporting the USD 50,000 total will be requested from the nominee as a straightforward documentation follow-up.

Trade-Fair Sales

Farmer enterprises are reported to have generated more than PHP 400,000 in sales during a four-day regional trade fair, with products frequently selling out during exhibitions. This figure is Self-Reported; searches of DTI, DA, and local news archives did not locate independent coverage of the event or the sales total.

Farmer Intercrop Income

Through an agroforestry model combining long-term cacao cultivation with short-cycle intercrops (bok choy, okra, pumpkins), the financial annex states that participating farmers have earned between PHP 3,000 and PHP 12,000 per month during the years before cacao trees mature. This figure appears, close to verbatim, on the Resolution Project's venture page. The kit's financial annex attributes the figure to Devex; no Devex article on Ms. Mabulo or The Cacao Project could be located, so the figure is best treated as Third-Party Reported via the Resolution Project rather than via Devex.

Cacao Economics

The kit notes that cacao trees reach commercial productivity after approximately three years and remain productive for approximately 20 to 25 years, providing a long-term income-generating asset once established. It further situates this within a global market context: Devex reported the global cocoa bean trade at nearly USD 9.6 billion in 2021, which the kit cites as evidence of the commercial attractiveness of the crop Ms. Mabulo selected for the project's agroforestry model.

Reinvestment Priorities

Per the kit, reinvested funds are directed toward farmer training, agroforestry expansion, ecosystem restoration, enterprise development, post-harvest infrastructure, educational programs, community nurseries, and climate adaptation initiatives — consistent with the programs described throughout the four rubric narratives above.

Venture Funding, Investors, and Valuation

No venture funding round, institutional investor, or valuation is claimed anywhere in the kit, and none appears in any public record reviewed. This is consistent with a grant-and-impact funding structure rather than a venture-backed one, and is noted here simply for completeness rather than as a gap.

Legal Entity and Registration

The kit does not state a legal form or registration number for The Cacao Project, and no Philippine SEC registration, corporate filing, or registry entry was located in the sources reviewed. Public materials describe the initiative loosely as a “project,” “initiative,” or “social enterprise” without specifying its legal structure. As with each nominee under review, the legal form and registration are noted here as an open item to be confirmed with the nominee, rather than treated as a deficiency.

2021 public discussion regarding impact figures

In August 2021, a social-media content creator publicly questioned the farmer headcount associated with The Cacao Project following a 2019 site visit. Ms. Mabulo responded publicly that participating farmers are distributed across a wide area, rather than concentrated in one visible location. Neither party published supporting documentation, and no independent review followed. This is relevant to the committee's review because farmer-count figures continue to vary across current materials, as detailed in the tables above. Ms. Mabulo voluntarily met with the Commission on Human Rights Region V during this period to provide a statement; this was a procedural step, not a finding.

Family public office

Ms. Mabulo's father is the incumbent Municipal Mayor of San Fernando, Camarines Sur. In 2023, media outlets reported that cases had been filed with the Office of the Ombudsman concerning local quarrying operations in the municipality. No report reviewed connects these matters, or any local-government funds, to The Cacao Project. This is included solely so the committee is aware of the public record; it is not offered as a finding against the nominee or the organization.

FAO-related assessment

The kit references an FAO Young Scientists Group assessment of the organization's women-in-agriculture initiatives. The FAO/World Food Forum's own published cohort list for the Young Scientists Group could not be matched to Ms. Mabulo. This is suggested as a straightforward item to confirm with the nominee, since it may reflect a different program, a naming variation, or a listing not covered in the search conducted.

Anonymous online community commentary

Beyond the 2021 public exchange described above, anonymous online community commentary exists discussing the venture's ownership and organizational structure. This commentary is unverifiable — it consists of unattributed claims from unidentified individuals — and should be weighed accordingly; it is noted here for completeness rather than as evidence of anything in particular.