The Department of Agriculture and Nestlé Philippines Inc. teamed up to roll out the Mindanao Robusta Coffee Project to enhance the sustainability of Robusta coffee farming in the region by improving the farmers’ access to farm inputs, training and market opportunities.
Agriculture Senior Undersecretary Domingo Panganiban and Nestlé Philippines chairman and chief executive Kais Marzouki signed the memorandum of understanding for the project implementation on March 1, 2023.
“I thank everybody, most especially Nestlé, for embarking on a program that we all know is very important to Filipino farmers and the country. All of us will work together as one and I hope that this will be the start of a long activity that we shall be undertaking as far as the coffee industry is concerned,” Panganiban said.
The project will primarily benefit Mindanao Robusta coffee farmers who are practicing monocropping and intercropping in coconut areas and other diversified farming systems suitable for coffee production.
“We are aligned with the DA in improving farmer productivity, profitability and sustainability. We also believe that it is time to go beyond sustainability. This is why we are channeling efforts to ramp up farmers’ understanding and adoption of regenerative agriculture practices like composting, intercropping, cover cropping and agroforestry. Doing these will enhance their livelihood and resilience to the effects of climate change,” Marzouki said. Othel V. Campos
