MALAYBALAY CITY, BUKIDNON --- In celebration of National Farmers and Fisherfolk Month, the Department of Agriculture (DA) and Nestlé Philippines vowed a joint initiative to boost the livelihood of Filipino coffee farmers and secure the long-term development of the coffee sector.

In his message to farmers in Bukidnon Integrated Coffee Center (BICC) in Malaybalay City in Bukidnon, Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said that the government cannot be alone in revitalizing the country’s coffee industry and that it needs “willing and committed partners.”

The goal is enshrined in the 2021–2025 Philippine Coffee Industry Roadmap, which specifies the commitment and participation of private sector partners and stakeholders in providing mechanisms that will bolster the country’s coffee industry.

Bias on collaboration

“This collaborative bias within the government is expressed clearly by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. every time he asks that we work closely among each other and with all other sectors in society to increase efficiencies and maximize program effectiveness and sustainability,” Laurel said in a message read by DA Undersecretary Cheryl Marie Natividad-Caballero.

“I see this happening whenever the DA, the Department of Trade and Industry, and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, as well as private and non-government organization partners, work together in support of Nestle’s advocacies in upskilling coffee farmers with the latest farming production technologies, such as regenerative agriculture, to preserve the soil and the environment for future generations,” he added.

The agriculture chief also shared that the DA has given its imprimatur to a three-year joint coffee project between the German government and Nestlé Philippines involving 3,000 coffee farmers in 21 farming communities in Sultan Kudarat and Bukidnon with the application of balanced fertilization and regenerative agricultural practices. 

Good returns

“With the improving coffee-buying prices these days, our coffee farmers will be able to get good returns for their investment and hard work and transform coffee farming into a viable livelihood that will also attract the youth to engage in it,” Tiu added.

As for Nestlé,  the world’s largest food and beverage company, it has vowed to prioritize the domestic harvests of smallholder coffee farmers for their products, rather than importing.

“We envision a future when the Philippines will be self-sufficient, perhaps even resume exporting coffee,” Nestlé Philippines chairman and CEO Kais Marzouki said.

“Through our Nescafé Plan, we carry out a continuing commitment to help our coffee farmers become agripreneurs, with sustainably increased yields and incomes to elevate their quality of life,” he added.

Nescafé is a coffee brand under the said Swiss F&B company.

Last Friday, executives from the DA and Nestlé Philippines held a Robusta tree planting ceremony in BICC, signaling the beginning of the coffee planting season in 2024-2025.

Moreover, they presented awards of recognition to 25 coffee farmer groups from coffee-producing areas of Northern Mindanao and the Davao region.

The farmer awardees are the first beneficiaries of fertilizer support from the DA and Nestlé Philippines joint Mindanao Robusta Coffee Project, a five-year agreement that aims to improve the production and sustainability of Robusta Coffee Farming in the said region.