To further promote inclusive growth, the country’s coffee industry should help farmers to bring them up to higher value chain.
Philippine Coffee Board Inc. (PCBI) co-chair Pacita U. Juan said in an interview with the Philippines News Agency that big coffee companies can help farmers to add value in their products so that farmers can earn higher also.
“Of course as a big company, its objective is to get the coffee at the lowest price possible. So they don’t let farmers to do the next steps in the value chain,” Juan said. “Every step adds value.”
She said farmers can adjust to higher value chain even without financial investments involve, like sorting of coffee.
Juan cited that currently, coffee farmers earn an average of Php 40,000 annually for every 500 kilograms of coffee harvested per hectare. But moving them up to higher value chain, coffee farmers can double their earnings up to Php 80,000 annually.
“Inclusive growth is include the farmer in the value chain, move him up in the value chain,” she stressed.
The coffee industry is also a good sector to trickle down the effect of robust economic growth as it creates employment in the rural areas and even provides a living for indigenous people — in line with Aquino administration’s goal of inclusive growth.
In a recent interview, PCBI chairman Nicholas A. Matti mentioned that for Mindanao alone, the coffee industry is helping 40,000 farmers who are mostly indigenous people.
PCBI has alleviated coffee farmers in Sulu from poverty in which the organization helped a farmer to earn Php 120,000 per year.
Coffee farmers in Sulu now supply to Zamboanga and Cotabao markets, according to Juan.
Moreover, the industry should also make farmers realize that there is a big market for coffee for them not to stop planting coffee.
According to Matti, the coffee industry is a growing sector as there is 3.0 to 5.0 percent annual growth in demand of robusta coffee while roasted and ground coffee demand has an annual growth of 10 to 15 percent.
Also, the country has an opportunity to fill the gap on Arabica supply in the global market as Central American countries are losing five million bags of Arabica coffee since last year. Central American countries supply around 10 percent of the global coffee demand.
Meanwhile, to further enhance the local coffee industry the PCBI is bringing its annual National Coffee Summit in Abreeza Mall in Davao City from October 13 to 17.
This will be the first time for the PCBI to hold the coffee summit in Mindanao as the coffee organization is eyeing to shift the country’s coffee hub to Mindanao.
Source: interaksyon.com/article/91130/coffee-industry-needs-to-move-farmers-to-higher-value-chain
