As more support is being poured into boosting the coffee industry in Mindanao, PRDP brews specific support for coffee farmers.

Through the convergence initiative of the I-PLAN component, DA-PRDP is partnering with different institutions to fill in the gaps in the value chain for their champion commodities. With the recent launch of the “Knowledge on Agri-preneurship and Productivity Enhancement” or KAPE in Sultan Kudarat, the Project has gone beyond supporting farmers through their enterprise subprojects and into the skills enhancement of coffee farmers by partnering with the Sultan Kudarat State University and Nestle Philippines.

The KAPE training aims to equip the first batch of participants to become coffee trainers who are knowledgeable on good agricultural practices and also acquire the skills they need to help provide technical assistance on the ground.

Nestle Philippines Government and Industry Affairs Executive Donnel Jun Tiedra said that they want to see more farmers become agri-preneurs so they will treat their farms as business.

“Here, we teach our partners and farmers on good agricultural practices and entrepreneurial skills as well as crop diversification which will provide them extra income while waiting for the harvest season,” said Tiendra. “We look forward that after this training, they will adopt an agri-preneurship mindset and for them to think of farming as a business that they need to grow.”

According to Sultan Kudarat State University Director for Extension and Project Leader for KAPE Training project Dr. Shonie Bronio, they also plan to tap their faculty in the agriculture, accounting, and agri-business department to become part of the resource persons for the next batches of farmer trainings.

“We have so many farmers that need to be equipped with knowledge on financial management. Through this convergence, we can get the support we need for research and extension so we can facilitate the transfer of technology to more farmers on the ground,” said. Dr. Bronio. “We look forward to seeing Sultan Kudarat become the coffee capital of the country. We hope to see the lives of our farmers improve because they can finally produce quality coffee not just for local and national market, but international market.”

The training was attended by MAOs of Sultan Kudarat in particular, the municipalities of Lebak, Kalamansig, Esperanza, Bagong Bayan, and Senator Ninoy Aquino as well as professors and technical staff on agriculture from SKSU. They participated in a series of lectures on the business aspect of farming, farm diversification, good agricultural practices and were took part in a farm visit where mother plant gardening, seedling preparation and harvesting was demonstrated.

The convergence initiative is an avenue for more partnerships, and collaboration from different government agencies, private sectors, academe, and other stakeholders which provide support focusing on champion commodities such as coffee and cacao. The support from European Co-Financing Grant made this activity possible which contributed in pushing the advocacy of the Project and partner institutions in improving the coffee industry in Sultan Kudarat.  (Joy M. Montecalvo, PSO Min)