A TRANSPORTABLE farming mechanism from Quezon town, Bukidnon province, called Mobile Cassava Processing Unit emerged as the biggest winner in the recently concluded local Business in Development (BiD) Challenge organized by Citibank, the Citi Foundation, and the Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP).

The machine was developed to help provide higher income primarily to cassava farmers in Central Mindanao by giving them access to better processing facilities right at their doorsteps

The winning entry of Bukidnon entrepreneur Nathalie Arsonillo gave her the chance to compete in the 2010 Women in Business Challenge of the Dutch BiD Network in Amsterdam slated on June 9.

Panabo, Davao-based coco-sugar manufacturer Healthy Sweets was the other major winner, which proves there is a market for health-conscious sugar as exemplified by the coconut sugar and muscovado varieties.

The PBSP said the winning mobile cassava-processing entry was to represent the Philippines and the rest of Asia, with two entries from Uganda to represent Africa and two other entries from Peru to represent Latin America, plus a special runner-up entry from Afghanistan.

According to the PBSP, the finalists are expected to “get access to a network of more than 36,000 like-minded entrepreneurs, coaches and investors” from all over the world, as well as “win tailor-made advisory services worth €5,000 from the UnitedSucces, the worldwide network for businesswomen owners,” according to the Dutch BiD Network.

Meanwhile, peace-promoting fair-trade coffee and healthy banana-based French fries from Davao City, together with healthier coco-based sugar-cane substitute from Panabo City, Davao del Norte province, were just three of the Top 10 winning entries of the local leg of the international BiD Challenge.

For the second year in a row when another Filipina has made it to the Netherlands competition, women entrepreneurs who have made a difference in combining profit and helping reduce poverty in the world’s developing nations will compete in the second edition of the BiD Women in Business Challenge this season.

Naga, Camarines Sur-based costume-jewelry designer Marianne Olano of Baycrafts previously won the special BiD Women in Retail Business Challenge plus €10,000 from Dutch financial group ING for her designs made from indigenous and synthetic materials such as pearls, wood, fiber, seeds, crystals and glass.

Also in the last BiD season international awarding in The Hague in the Netherlands, the partnership of Filipina entrepreneurs Maria Lourdes Molina from Loot Fairy Toys here in Manila and Maria Mina Lacson of Cebu became one of the finalists in the BiD Women in Business Challenge.

Specializing in eco-friendly and nontoxic toys for children called Ecobloks, their joint venture helped the idle woodworkers and found use for wood scrap from makers of wooden slippers and furniture by transforming these materials into wooden toy building blocks made from scrap mahogany and pine wood—unpainted and lead-free.

In the 2008 BiD Challenge international marketplace, the Philippine winner and the country’s main entry to the international BiD competition in the Netherlands eventually won the grand prize in 2009.