The coffee industry in Sultan Kudarat is set for a boost as the local government unit vowed to launch more farm-to-market infrastructure projects next year with help from the Department of Agriculture (DA).

During the culmination ceremony of Project Coffee++ on 30 October at the Sultan Kudarat Convention Center in Tacurong City, Governor Datu Pax Ali Mangudadatu said the province will prioritize farm-to-market roads through DA funding.

“I only need P6 billion for the farm-to-market roads to really help a lot of our coffee farmers. We have to provide accessibility to our constituents from their respective coffee farms to the market in the center of the province. Coffee brings profit to our farmers, and what is lacking is accessibility,” he said in a press conference.

Agriculture Secretary Francis Tiu Laurel said President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has ordered the revitalization of the country’s coffee industry, particularly in Sultan Kudarat, with more funds for farm-to-market roads, coffee seeds, and other agricultural programs starting in 2026.

Mangudadatu noted that despite Sultan Kudarat’s reputation as a coffee-producing province, much remains to be improved.

“We are far away from our target. And relatively, when compared to other countries that also produce coffee, the whole country is a bit far from its counterparts. That’s why we are really looking for interventions, not only coming from the public sector, but also from the private sector, which can help us upgrade the status of our coffee farms,” he said.

Unlike other provinces that face a decline in young farmers, Mangudadatu said many children of farmers in Sultan Kudarat remain interested in coffee farming because it provides sustainable income for their families.

The province currently has over 20,000 coffee farmers, according to the governor.

In 2023, Sultan Kudarat emerged as the leading coffee producer in the Philippines, surpassing the combined output of Batangas, Cavite, and Bukidnon. Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority-Region 12 shows that Sultan Kudarat contributes 35 percent of the country’s total coffee supply. Of the region’s 26,172 hectares of coffee farms, 78 percent—or 20,437 hectares—are located in Sultan Kudarat, with an estimated 19 million coffee trees.

Catalyst for growth

The culmination program marked the end of Project Coffee++, the banner project under the Nescafé Plan, a three-year capacity-building initiative jointly led by Nestlé Philippines and the German development agency Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ).

The project has equipped 3,000 coffee farmers from Bukidnon and Sultan Kudarat with advanced agricultural techniques, financial literacy, and market access since its pilot phase, Project Coffee+, began in 2018.

Based on the project’s impact report, the first 1,500 beneficiaries tripled their yields and income after applying best practices learned from training, with 80 percent crossing the poverty threshold.

“The results of Project Coffee+ under the Nescafé Plan prove that sustainable farming leads to economic empowerment and new agri-entrepreneurship opportunities for the next generation of farmers,” said Mauricio Alarcon, chairman and CEO of Nestlé Philippines. “As we turn over the institutionalized knowledge products developed by Nestlé Philippines and GIZ, it will become easier for coffee industry stakeholders to offer programs that will train more farmers to become productive, profitable, and more sustainable.”

With climate change and land conversion threatening soil fertility and clean water, Nestlé and GIZ turned over Institutionalized Knowledge Products developed under Project Coffee+ and Project Coffee++ to the DA, Department of Trade and Industry, Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, the provincial governments of Sultan Kudarat and Bukidnon, and their respective state universities.

These materials include training modules on Good Agricultural Practices for Robusta coffee, financial and management skills, and regenerative agriculture techniques.

“As a project of GIZ, Coffee++ ends officially on 31 December 2025. But we have laid the ground for the sustainability mechanisms for the interventions and innovations under Project Coffee++,” said Immanuel Gebhardt, GIZ country director for the Philippines and Pacific Islands. “The biggest impact is the overall improved living condition of the coffee farmers brought about by the increased productivity and income. The proof of concept on the harvest of one ton per hectare—it can be done, and Filipino coffee farmers can do it.”