Task force chairman and concurrent Presidential Adviser for the Creation of One Million Jobs, Luis P. Lorenzo, Jr. said the government is opening a P350-million coffee rehabilitation credit line which will be managed by the government’s credit and guarantee company, the Quedan and Rural Credit Guarantee Corp. or Quedancor.
The rehabilitation program will cover 20,000 hectares of coffee farm involving 22 coffee-producing provinces nationwide. Millers, processors, producers, farmers’ organizations and other entities engaged in coffee processing, milling and / or other related coffee production activities may avail of a rehabilitation loan from Quedancor. The loan, which will be in the form of inputs and supplies, will depend on the project cost but in no case to exceed P15,000 per hectare for every farmer-beneficiary.
The task force came up with the said financing scheme after conducting a series of consultation nationwide with various stakeholders in order to address the pressing concerns of coffee growers and traders in the areas of production and post-harvest technologies.
The government’s coffee rehabilitation program plans to increase coffee yield from the present 500 kilograms per hectare to 1.5 MT per hectare and to generate a projected 80,000 jobs by year 2004.