CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY - The Department of Agriculture’s Philippine Rural Development Project (DA-PRDP) has invested PHP2.1 billion in infrastructure and enterprise subprojects to improve coffee production and quality in Mindanao.
In a statement Monday, PRDP said the move forms part of the 2021-2025 Philippine Coffee Industry Roadmap, which aims to ramp up coffee production in the country, especially in Mindanao.
According to the roadmap, the Philippines is only 15 percent self-sufficient in coffee, with Mindanao coffee production accounting for 83.6 percent of the national output. The highest-producing area within Mindanao is Soccsksargen Region (Region 12), contributing 35.6 percent, followed by Northern Mindanao (Region 10), with 9.2 percent.
According to PRDP, Region 12 has the highest number of subprojects, with 40 infrastructure and enterprise subprojects totaling PHP1.2 billion.
Davao Region (Region 11) followed by 19 subprojects worth PHP578.2 million; Region 10 with 12 subprojects worth PHP48.8 million, and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) with 10 subprojects worth PHP143.7 million.
The coffee roadmap indicates that most Filipino coffee farmers cultivate robusta, which accounts for 66 percent of the country’s coffee production.
Arabica coffee beans account for 25 percent of total production, while Excelsa and Liberia comprise eight percent and one percent, respectively.
Meanwhile, DA and Nestlé Philippines recognized 25 coffee farmer groups in Regions 10 and 12, which have been chosen as the first beneficiaries of fertilizer support from the Mindanao Robusta Coffee Project (MRCP), a joint project of the DA and Nestlé Philippines.
The MRCP is a five-year agreement between the DA and Nestlé to energize every step of the coffee value chain through five main areas: research, fertilizer assistance, upskilling farmers, establishment of coffee centers, logistics, and marketing.
"We envision a future when the Philippines will be self-sufficient, perhaps even resume exporting coffee," Nestlé Philippines Chairman and CEO Kais Marzouki was quoted as saying in the PRDP statement. (PNA)
