Malacañang signs 5-year plan to boost domestic coffee output

PRESIDENT Rodrigo R. Duterte has signed the five-year coffee roadmap that aims to boost bean yields and self-suff iciency levels.

“The signing at Malacañang was witnessed by private and government representatives who had started working almost five years ago on the Roadmap, the result of a sustained multi-party effort that outlines the vision, mission, goals, strategies, and action plans to grow the coffee industry from 2017 to 2022,” said Nestlé Philippines in a statement on Monday.

“The document integrates the coffee value chain model and analysis, and addresses the challenges of the industry with appropriate strategies and implementation of action plans, resources and timelines agreed upon by the various participants involved,” it added.

According to a copy of the Philippine Coffee Industry Roadmap obtained by BusinessWorld, the Department of Agriculture, which will carry out the plan, hopes to expand annual production to 214,626 tons from the current 37,000 tons a year, bringing the country’s self-suff iciency level to 160.16% from the current 41.60%.

This would also translate a to yield of one ton of coffee beans per hectare from the current average of 0.33 ton per hectare.

To ensure that the roadmap is effectively implemented, one of the strategies considered is the creation of a Philippine Coffee Council, a private sector-led body, which will be tasked to guide and monitor its implementation.

Nestlé Philippines, a major purchaser of domestic coffee, has been invited to be a member of the council.

“[T]he company faces the task of helping to sustain the support and involvement of public and private sector stakeholders, to complete the value chain and thus make available to the farmer all inputs and infrastructure necessary to make coffee growing a successful venture,” it said in its statement.

Nestlé Philippines said it contributed in the drafting of the roadmap by providing data and information on the current and future outlook of the market to project coffee planting needs.

The 5-year plan — a first for the industry— aims to fill various gaps in the supply chain amid low productivity, increasing demand and lack of post- harvest equipment.

It resulted from several meetings and workshops among government agencies, civil society groups and stakeholders.