THE Department of Agriculture (DA) said on Monday it is set to implement a P12.4-million integrated coffee processing and marketing enterprise subproject in Kalinga to help indigenous peoples engaged in coffee farming in the province.
The Kalinga Integrated Coffee Processing and Marketing Enterprise has recently been issued with a No Objection Letter 1 (NOL1) from the World Bank under the Philippine Rural Development Project.
This letter gives clearance for the local government unit (LGU) of Kalinga to proceed with the procurement process of the subproject.
Rose Macabio of the Gawidan Farmers’ Association in Bagumbayan Village, Tabuk City, said with the establishment of the enterprise, coffee farmers in their community will no longer need to bring their harvests to Tuguegarao City or Isabela for selling.
Macabio said the association will directly buy coffee beans from local farmers for processing.
“This project encourages us to plant more coffee. We have to increase our production since the processing facility is already here,” Macabio said in a statement. She added that the approval of the project is very timely for the community since the demand for coffee has improved recently. She said there had been a period when coffee, their community’s primary produce, was not profitable for them.
The DA said the enterprise is expected to benefit more than 1,500 hectares of coffee production areas in Tabuk City and its neighboring towns. It will also benefit more than 600 coffee growers from the proponent groups alone, not including those from potential expansion members. The agency said Kalinga is the Cordillera region’s top coffee producer. It ranks seventh among coffee- producing provinces nationwide.
Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority showed that the total production of coffee in the Cordillera Administrative Region in 2014 reached 5,251.48 metric tons (MT). The bulk, or 66.08 percent of the total production, is from Kalinga, which posted 3,470 MT in coffee production in 2014. Majority of the coffee produced in the province is coffee robusta, contributing 3,385 MT of the total output.
The DA said after the subproject complies with conditions set under the NOL1, a NOL2 will be issued, signaling the LGU to proceed with the awarding of contracts to winning bidders.