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By Rhick Lars Vladimer Albay
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ILOILO City – “There is gold in coffee,” Department of Trade and Industry – Cordillera Administrative Region regional director Myrna Pablo told Panay News during the official industry cluster rollout of the Coffee Industry Roadmap in the Visayas, held from Aug. 2 to 4 at Days Hotel Iloilo.
Also the National Industry Cluster coordinator for coffee of DTI, Pablo shared that the three-day assembly seeks to present to local producers, farmers, and stakeholders the Duterte administration’s plans for a sustainable and globally-competitive Philippine coffee industry, seen to contribute to achieving food security and poverty alleviation.
“Ang goal ng ‘roadmap,’ is to direct, guide, and provide direction kung ano ang priority ng government to stakeholders relative to the coffee industry,” said Pablo. “Nandun sa ‘roadmap’ yung mga dapat gawin ng sector gaya ng pag-strengthen ng coffee group sa production for 2017-2022 in the Visayas”
Pablo said that coffee remains a largely untapped industry in the country, though it possesses the most potential for exponential growth. She adds that the Philippines is among the top consumers of coffee; but when it comes to the top producers, the country is not on the list.
“There is a misalignment of production versus consumption,” the DTI official said. “Ang laki ng consumption natin, pero ang liit ng production. That’s the first concern that the ‘roadmap’ seeks to address: the need to increase production and productivity. Kase largely reliant parin tayo sa pag-iimport ng coffee from Vietnam.”
President Rodrigo Duterte signed the long-awaited Philippine Coffee Industry Roadmap 2017-2022 in March after a series of consultations with industry stakeholders. The program is a joint-venture by DTI and the Department of Agriculture to bridge the various gaps in the supply chain to make the local coffee industry more competitive.
Based on data from the International Coffee Organization, coffee consumption in the country increased by 8.8 percent from 2014 to 2015.
However, domestic production has been declining by 3.5 percent annually over the past 10 years, according to data from the Philippine Statistics Authority.
Meanwhile, DTI Region 6 OIC-regional director Rebecca Rascon said she is optimistic Western Visayas will be able to up its production and empower its coffee stakeholders and farmers with the guidance of the Coffee Industry Roadmap.
“The coffee industry in Region 6 is going to be very dynamic,” Rascon told Panay News. “Kay ngaa man? We have energized the stakeholders from the whole of the barrio chain – from the nursery operators up to those who plant, we also have representatives from processors, and even coffee shop owners said they are willing to cooperate.”
“I look forward to a brighter prospect for the industry, kay kung lantawon natun ang data. The world demand for coffee is high. With that high global demand, the Philippines is serving only a minute amount when we could have the potential to be a competitive producer of coffee,” concluded Rascon./PN
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