DTI RAPID 12 Booth
DTI, through the Rural Agro-enterprise Partnership for Inclusive Development and Growth Project or RAPID Growth Project, provides assistance to MSMEs in establishing strong backward and forward linkages with farmers in the coffee, cacao, coconut, and processed fruits and nuts industries. These partnerships aim to yield higher value-added products, improve market access, and increase the incomes of smallholder farmers and MSMEs; in effect, generating jobs and livelihood opportunities in farming communities.
The six RAPID-assisted MSMEs were Kalamansig Farmers Agricultural Development and Marketing Association (KFADMA), Keytodac Coffee Growers Inc. (KCGI), Villamonte Coffee Growers Association Inc. (VCGAI), Greentropics Enterprise, and Kalamansig Coffee Federation.
Organized by the Coffee Heritage Project, the Manila Coffee Festival is an annual celebration of the best of Philippine coffee, where Filipino coffee growers and aficionados blend well with Filipino coffee culture, enjoying various activities such as latte art workshops, live coffee demonstrations, and insightful discussions about the coffee industry from among a hundred exhibitors. Here market matching and booking between MSMEs and institutional coffee buyers also take place.
Heading the Region 12 delegation was Regional Director Flora Politud-Gabunales, who said in an interview that the coffee producers and processors of Region 12 are now seeing the importance of observing good agricultural and production practices as these will lead to high-quality coffee, which in turn can fetch a higher selling price, especially among the specialty coffee buyers.
She added that like the Manila Coffee Festival, DTI-XII also has its own local version of the latter. “The Kape Dose Coffee Quality Competition, which was spearheaded by DTI 12, is a recognition of the most flavorful and aromatic coffee of Region 12. Through the competition, we provide an opportunity for coffee farmers to have their coffee assessed by the Q Graders of the Region. Those deemed specialty Arabica and fine Robusta are being marketed as the best coffee of Region 12 and, therefore, are being sold at a premium price,” said Politud-Gabunales.
Politud-Gabunales also added that “SOCCSKSARGEN, being the number one coffee producer in the country in terms of volume produced, and being the largest hectarage planted, DTI-XII partners with other national line agencies, NGOs, and academia, to increase the number of coffee farmers who are producing quality coffee, reinforcing the claim of Region 12 as the Coffee Capital of the Philippines."
According to the Philippine Statistics Authority website, SOCCSKSARGEN remains to be the highest producer of coffee with a production of 3.15 thousand metric tons or 33.4 percent of the country’s total coffee production for the first quarter this year. This was followed by Northern Mindanao with a 13.7 percent share and Davao Region with a 12.3 percent share.
One of the highlights of the festival was the “Single Origin Bar” – a 20-foot long coffee bar that showcased the best of the best single-origin coffees from around the country through different brewing demonstrations and free-tasting sessions.-END
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