BACOLOD City – The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is spearheading efforts to “localize” Negros Occidental’s coffee industry to make it more in-tune with the government’s broader Philippine Coffee Industry Roadmap for 2017 to 2022.
Lea Gonzales, provincial director of the DTI in Negros Occidental, said stakeholders in the province need to revisit the national roadmap.
“We will again look at the value chain then come up with the action plan for the development of coffee industry in Negros Occidental,” the DTI official said at the forum on Localization of the National Coffee Roadmap on Wednesday.
“Localization” was explained as the process of adapting a national program to fit the specific circumstances of a region or province.
The two-day assembly, held at the Nature’s Village Resort in Talisay City until Thursday, was attended by stakeholders from both government and the private sector, including coffee producers, processors, and dealers.
Gonzales said the DTI prepared the six-year coffee industry roadmap with the Department of Agriculture (DA). However, Negros Occidental needs to develop its own action plan following the drafting of a roadmap in the regional level.
The yearly action plan, anchored on the national roadmap until 2022, should address the local coffee industry situation with a main goal of increasing coffee production in the province.
“Instead of importing, we will just produce our own. We need to further boost our coffee industry to help a lot of local farmers and producers,” Gonzales said.
The gathering was organized by the DTI in partnership with the DA and supported by other agencies such as the Philippine Coconut Authority and Provincial Environment Management Office. (PNA)
