A deputy speaker of the House of Representatives is pushing for the passage of a measure seeking to revitalize the coffee industry.
In House Bill 6358, or the proposed the Coffee Industry Development Act, Party-list Rep. Sharon S. Garin of Aambis-Owa said her proposal will create the National Coffee Board (NCB) that will take charge of developing programs and instituting industry-wide improvements that will benefit coffee farmers, processors, traders, consumers and other industry partners.
Under the bill, the NCB is expected to create and maintain a coffee industry road map that will outline the planned programs and projects to develop the industry on a national scale. It will also be tasked to provide technical assistance on planting systems and rehabilitation of farms, among others.
The board shall be composed of secretary of the Department of Agriculture (DA) as chairman, secretary of the Department of Trade and Industry as vice chairman, secretaries of departments of Science and Technology and the Interior and Local Government, and one representative each from state of universities and colleges and league of municipalities, where coffee is primarily grown.
The bill said the amount of P50 million shall be allocated from the special activities fund of the Office of the President or from any other sources that may be identified for the purpose of the operation and industry development. Thereafter, such sum required shall be included in the annual General Appropriations Act of the DA.
According to Garin, the Philippines is one of the few countries that produces the four varieties of commercially viable coffee, namely, arabica, liberica (barako), excelsa and robusta. Climatic and soil conditions in the Philippines—from the lowland to mountain regions—make the country suitable for all four varieties.
The lawmaker, citing the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), said an average of 37,000 metric tons (MT) of coffee are harvested annually from 117,454 hectares.
However, she added domestic production has been declining by 3.5 percent annually over the past 10 years.
“Among the factors that have contributed to the decline in national coffee production are the lack of productive trees, and poor farming methods,” she added.
Based on data from the International Coffee Organization, Garin said coffee consumption in the country increased by 8.8 percent from 2014 to 2015, an indication that Filipinos may have shifted from being moderate to heavy coffee drinkers.
“For being a nation filled with coffee drinkers, it is saddening to know that the coffee industry, from coffee growers, processors and traders, is in such a sorry state,” Garin said.
She added the Philippines used to be the world’s fourth-biggest coffee exporter until market conditions changed from 1989 to 2002, when the country’s output went down from 70,000 tons a year to just 23,000 tons.
“Our local supply cannot fulfill the local demand and we have to import coffee just to meet it,” she said.
Out of the 65,000 MT yearly consumption of coffee, Garin said only 30,000 MT come from local supply, while the rest is imported from countries, such as Indonesia and Vietnam.
“We are a nation of coffee drinkers. It is an undeniable fact that coffee has become a staple beverage among Filipinos. From consumer drinks from your favorite coffee- shop chain, to high-class brews from specialty stores, to 3-in-1 coffee mixes sold by the packet, the demand for coffee bisects the class divides and coffee drinkers from all over the economic spectrum,” Garin added.