MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Agriculture (DA) is teaming up with Nestle Philippines to boost local coffee production and enable the country to go beyond the 15 percent sufficiency level.
Collaborations were discussed with Nestle Philippines aimed at uplifting the Philippine coffee industry after the latter expressed full support for the implementation of the coffee industry roadmap 2021-2025.
During the meeting, Nestle urged the DA to include sustainability in coffee production while working closely with farmers to ensure high quality coffee beans.
Nestle also pushed for greater public investment, which is seen as crucial to revive and sustain the sector that has declined by 3.5 percent every year for the past 10 years.
The DA is looking at Mindanao, specifically SOCCSKSARGEN where 70 percent national production is sourced to be developed as the country’s coffee capital.
Last year alone, coffee growers from Bukidnon and Sultan Kudarat increased their yield and income by threefold.
The growth comes after Nestle and GIZ’s Project Coffee+ interventions and Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) applied by coffee farmers in their coffee farms.
To maintain this development, Nestle Philippines has proposed the establishment of a coffee center in Sultan Kudarat and conduct research on balanced fertilization.
With the government and private sector’s joint actions, the DA forecasts a 1,000 kilogram per hectare coffee yield especially with the interventions provided by government and training and distribution of quality planting materials offered by Nestle.
The coffee industry roadmap 2021-2025 provides a clear direction to enhance farmers’ technical capability and skills towards increased yields and better incomes.
Under the strategy, the government will increase the local supply from farmers to boost production for use in manufacturing and out-of-home consumption.
It will also establish a database containing vital information such as volume of production and current buying price that may be accessed by stakeholders.
Nestle said the realization of the programs and initiatives highlighted in the roadmap would play a crucial role in the attainment of an advanced and progressive sector.
For this year, the DA allocated P84.15 million to fund projects to raise the country’s coffee production.
Of the total, P30.37 million has been set aside for the rehabilitation of 486,450 old trees while P10.56 million has been earmarked for the acquisition of planting materials to be distributed to local growers.
In addition, P7.79 million will go to the maintenance of production facilities in DA stations, and P5.84 million for research and development.
The coffee fund will also be used for capability enhancement and training of stakeholders, construction of storage facilities, roasting centers, and other production equipment, as well as various farm inputs.
Coffee is one of the most traded agricultural commodities in the world, making it a major contributor to the Philippine economy.
Presently, the country is 15 percent self-sufficient in coffee. Bulk of the production comes from Mindanao with an 83.63 percent share, followed by Luzon at 9.18 percent, and Visayas at 7.2 percent.
However, coffee production has been on a downtrend in the past couple of years.