here is strength in convergence as the cacao stakeholders gathered to identify the gaps and the role they can play to address it.

The “Mainstreaming of PRDP Tools: Updated Cacao VCA Presentation and Convergence Consultation”, which was conducted on July 20, 2023 in Davao City, provided a convenient platform for the cacao key players from the different regions in Mindanao to lay down the different challenges and issues they encountered in the industry.

Christopher Lindo the Vice President for Cacao Industry Council for whole Mindanao and Regional Chairman of Cacao industry in CARAGA Region commended the Philippine Rural Development Project (PRDP) for its initiative in holding the said activity where he was able to meet also the representatives from private sectors, farmers, academe, and national government agencies.

“I am very happy because we were able to talk about the gaps, issues and concerns that we need to tackle to strengthen the cacao industry. Everyone shared their vision,” said Lind. “I believe that when we implement projects in our region we have to apply the “3 Cs” of Convergence, Collaboration, and Cooperation.”

According to PRDP Project Support Office Mindanao (PSO Mindanao) Deputy Project Director Noel T. Provido, cacao continues to be PRDP’s champion commodities with big investments that would focus on enterprise and other infrastructure subprojects.

I-PLAN Component Head, Elden Karl Requilme presented the Value Chain Analysis (VCA) Report highlights and different PRDP support to Cacao Industry. Participants expressed their appreciation for the VCA report as they were able to check the data for their respective regions and share their insights on the importance of the VCA.

The convergence initiative is implemented under the I-PLAN subcomponent 1.2 which aims to further strengthen the support leveraging of additional resources with stronger engagement of private sectors, harmonize strategies in the allocation of resources and delivery support services among implementers, and serve as a platform for discussion and feedback on recent developments and bottlenecks in the industry.

Following this stakeholders consultation, the I-PLAN team will work linking up with parthers that could help in providing intervention and support to fill in the identified gaps in the cacao industry.(Joy Montecalvo, PSO Min)