TACURONG CITY (MindaNews / 30 Oct) — The three-year Project Coffee++ concluded here Thursday, equipping some 3,000 farmers from Sultan Kudarat and Bukidnon with advanced coffee production skills, financial literacy and market access.

Piloted in 2018 as the Project Coffee +, it was designed to help coffee farmers improve productivity, uplift their economic condition and achieve climate resiliency.

Mauricio Alarcon, Nestle Philippines chair and CEO, said the results of the project prove that sustainable farming “can lead to economic empowerment and create agri-entrepreneurs for the next generation of coffee farmers.”

Under Project Coffee +, the first 1,500 beneficiaries experienced a three-fold increase in harvest after applying the best practices they learned during a series of training, with 80 percent of the participants crossing the poverty threshold, a press statement distributed during the event said.

The Project Coffee — the banner project under Nescafe Plan — is a joint project of Nestle Philippines and the German Agency for International Cooperation or GIZ.

“We have seen remarkable progress in the income and yields [of our coffee farmers]. Project Coffee++ is making a difference in their lives,” Alarcon said during the culmination program here attended by over 100 beneficiaries from Sultan Kudarat and Bukidnon provinces.

Immanuel Gebhardt, GIZ country director for the Philippines and the Pacific Islands, said one of the key components of the project involves the establishment of a farmers’ school that teaches growers best practices in coffee production.

“The biggest impact is the overall improved living condition of the coffee farmers brought about by increased productivity and income,” he said.

He noted that in Sultan Kudarat, some farmers have been able to produce one ton of coffee per hectare.

Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr., the keynote speaker, lauded the Project Coffee++, describing its culmination as a “key milestone in the country’s coffee production.”

Laurel said the project helped transform the lives of thousands of coffee farmers in Sultan Kudarat and Bukidnon provinces.

“As we close Project Coffee++, we do not end its impact. Paramihin natin ito (We will multiply it),” he said.

Sultan Kudarat Gov. Datu Pax Ali Mangudadatu stressed the vital role of the coffee industry in his province.

“Coffee is an important industry in our province with at least 20,000 families dependent on coffee-growing for their livelihood,” he said.

Nestle and GIZ turned over the Institutionalized Knowledge Products developed under Project Coffee + and Project Coffee++ to the provincial governments and state universities in Sultan Kudarat and Bukidnon, the Department of Agriculture, Department of Trade and Industry and Technical Education and Skills Development Authority.

Combining theoretical and practical training in coffee farming, the knowledge products include a holistic set of skills such as Good Agriculture Practices for Robusta, financial and management skills, and regenerative agriculture (RA) practices.

It also includes monitoring reports verified by Rainforest Alliance, an international non-profit that advocates for biodiversity conservation and responsible supply chains, which track the participants’ adoption of RA and business management concepts and measure the performance gains resulting from the applied practices. (Bong S. Sarmiento / MindaNews)