“As old as the mountain, always fresh as the morning.” That is how we relish our coffee brew in the Cordillera.

Kalinga is home to Cordillera’s best coffee blend business because its wet months, dry summers, and humus-laden soils are ideal for cultivating the lovely, fragrant blossoms. There is more to the argument. Under the canopy of broad leaf trees, in the province’ low and highlands, the four main varieties of coffee in the Cordillera are grown by the farmers, particularly Arabica, Robusta, Liberica, and Excelsa.

It is not easy to pinpoint what exactly makes Kalinga a great grower of exceptional coffee businesses, but the investment of the Philippine Rural Development Project (PRDP) will unmistakably boost the province’s backyard coffee industry to a projected national and regional competitiveness.

Kalinga is ranked as the 7th largest coffee producer in the country with a total of 3,698.50 metric tons (MT) or 68% of the region’s total coffee production.

Among the municipalities of Kalinga, Tanudan has the widest production area for Robusta with 3,954 hectares (ha) covering almost half of the province’s production area. Around 10,598 farmers are tending about 7,418ha for Robusta production. These accounts to a total of 3,784MT of the said variety being produced in the province. On the other hand, Pinukpuk has the widest area for Arabica with 10ha or 31.54% of the total production area.

Also, the province produces a total of 56.60MT Arabica and 58MT Excelsa.

Most of these coffee plantations in Kalinga are located along the mountain sides wherein forest trees such as acacia serve as a shade for the coffee trees. Also, various vegetables are planted and domesticated animals live in coffee areas.

From seed to cup: The Kalinga way

Most growers produce their own seedlings by selecting good seeds from their previous production for transplanting.

Various activities practiced by Kalinga coffee growers include pruning, irrigation, and pest and diseases management. Coffee rejuvenation is also practiced to increase the yield of century-old coffee trees. In Kalinga, the stripping method or one-time harvesting is usually done but can result to damages of coffee trees and the inclusion of unripe berries that can affect the overall quality of the harvest.

At the field level processing, the main product is coffee green beans. Kalinga coffee growers usually sun-dry coffee berries on pavements and plastic nets or canvass materials/ tarpaulins for an average of 14 days. These are then manually pounded or placed in hulling machines. Rice mills are used in instances where hulling machines are not available.

Coffee growers often sell their fresh coffee beans/berries to coffee buying stations/ local individual processors/ consolidators  who roast, grind and pack. Some also barter their coffee beans/berries with basic goods brought in by traders to their barangays.

Roasted coffee, on the other hand, are packed in 250grams (g), 500g and one kilogram capacity either as whole or ground. These are sold to local households, hotels and restaurants, to other local market outlets and in the province/region sometimes.

As the coffee industry flourishes, the demand for coffee increases opening a vast range of investment opportunities not limited to seeds/ seedling production; organic coffee production; processing of specialty coffee and coffee-based beverages and food; and the establishment of coffee shops.

The emergence of specialty coffee shops demanding good quality coffee has also increased the advocacy of the need to produce quality coffee. Hence, some coffee growers in Kalinga who have been practicing the dry processing method to produce green beans has slowly shifted to wet processing method in their pursuit to supply the demand for gourmet coffee.

Boosting the Kalinga Coffee Industry thru PRDP

To boost the coffee industry in the province, the PRDP, a six-year development project under the Department of Agriculture (DA) designed to contribute to the national goals of inclusive growth, job creation and poverty reduction, opened a possible venue where the needed supports can be provided. The project also supports the implementation of the Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Act of 1997 or the Republic Act 8435, where coffee is included as among the priority commodities to be developed in CAR.

Since Kalinga is the biggest producer of coffee in the region, the province ventured into the consolidation and marketing of coffee, a subproject under PRDP’s Enterprise Development Component or I-REAP.

The Kalinga Integrated Coffee Processing and Marketing Enterprise was conceptualized in response to the need for alternative buyers and market expansion that will give higher income to coffee grower members. The enterprise, funded by World Bank through the PRDP, LGU and the proponent groups, has a total investment cost of  P14,804,033.33. It was recently issued with a No Objection Letter-1 (NOL-1) from the World Bank which signals the start of the project implementation.

The Dupligan Farmers Multi-purpose Cooperative (DUFAMPCO), a farmer cooperative in Tanudan, Kalinga was selected to lead the Enterprise.

DUFAMPCO, with around 60% of its members (501 individuals) as coffee growers, strive to continue building its network of buyers and be active in participating to local, regional and national trade fairs and exhibits. The cooperative has charted a good track record, capable of implementing projects related to rural development in partnership with government agencies like the DA, Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).

Chosen as the lead proponent for the enterprise, the cooperative is expected to consolidate 450MT of coffee green beans from its affiliate members during the enterprise’s first year of implementation.

“Ti projection ko ket ma-maintain ti volume ti consolidation ken agprocess kami amin ta makitak demand ti ground coffee ti merkado” (In my projection, the volume of consolidated coffee produce will be maintained and the enterprise will soon venture into the processing of roasted and ground coffee because of its growing market demand), said Mr. Ramon Bomosao, Sr., DUFAMPCO Manager.

While DUFAMPCO envisions to maintain the volume of coffee consolidated and expand its business to the processing of roasted and ground coffee, the coffee industry in the province is also deemed to be fully developed through the enterprise. As PRDP places necessary interventions in this industry, Kalinga will always be a great grower of exceptional coffee. (Elvy Taquio, RPCO CAR InfoACE)