The coffee convergence in Sultan Kudarat has led to the conduct of three batches of trainings for coffee growers in the province.

The “Knowledge on Agri-preneurship and Productivity Enhancement” (KAPE) Training, which started in December 2022, aims to improve the entrepreneurial skills and management of coffee growers of Sultan Kudarat. With funding from the European Union Co-Financing Grant through DA-PRDP’s I-PLAN sub-component 1.2, the KAPE training has resulted in the certification of twenty coffee trainers which in turn have trained forty coffee farmers to become agricultural entrepreneurs or agri-preneurs. The coffee trainer’s role is to mentor coffee farmers in crafting their respective coffee farm and enterprise business plans.

With more enterprise support from DA-PRDP and Provincial Local Government of Sultan Kudarat, there is a need to enhance the entrepreneurial skills of farmers for them to be more competitive in marketing their products and handling their enterprise subprojects.

The inaugural batch of KAPE training was conducted with partners from Nestle Philippine through their Government and Industry Affairs Executive Donnel Jun Tiedra who was the resource trainer for the first batch of trainers from Sultan Kudarat State University, and Department of Agriculture. 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.

The second batch was held last February 21-24, 2023 at Senator Ninoy Aquino Sultan Kudarat with the third batch held last February 28-March 2, 2023 at Kalamansig Sultan Kudarat.

The KAPE training provided coffee farmers knowledge and skills on coffee farm plan, basic Integrated Nutrient Management and Integrated Pest Disease Management (IN-IPDM), and coffee farm business management.

Apart from the training, the farmers were provided with farm tools – pruning shear, grafting knife, and a saw for coffee rejuvenation and farm maintenance.

With the coming in of the PRDP Scale-Up, more support for the coffee industry in Sultan Kudarat will be provided through Public-Private -Partnerships (PPPs) with partnerships with corporations such as Nestle Philippines and state universities and colleges (SUCs) such as Sultan Kudarat State University among others.

PRDP’s inter-agency convergence continues to serve as a platform to institutionalize synergistic partnership among various value chain enablers in addressing gaps, constraints of priority value chains in the agri-fishery sector. (Joy Montecalvo, PSO Min)