THE volume of coffee production in Davao Region is not enough to sustain the demand of the local and international market, according to focal persons from the Department of Agriculture in Davao Region (DA-Davao) on Tuesday, October 18.
Rubylyn Gomez, the Regional High-Value Crops Development Coordinator of DA-Davao, said the region produces a little over 10,000 metric tons of coffee based on 2021 data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
This production volume puts Davao Region on the map for coffee production since the region is the second-highest producer next to Soccsksargen.
"Dako ang iyang impact sa agriculture sector since ang Davao Region man gud is (That has a big impact in the agriculture sector of Davao Region since we are) known for high-value crops. Ang coffee is apil na siya sa Top 5 (Coffee is one of our top 5 high-value crops)... Kita ang second sa Region 12 (We are second to Soccsksargen) as to area and production," Gomez said during the Agribiz Froum at SM Lanang Premier.
Despite this, the Regional Industrial Crops Focal of DA-Davao John Matuguinas said the volume is still not enough to meet the demands of the market.
In a previous report, German-based data research firm showed the country consumed 198,000 metric tons of coffee in 2020 but the Philippines only produced 60,000 metric tons in 2019, 17.8 percent of which was from the Davao Region. Soccsksargen on the other hand produces 32.4 percent of the country's coffee production.
“For the coffee, sa local demand nato is dili gyod kaya pa ma-produce, ma-suffice ang production so ang atoa gyod ana is continuously promoting sa atong mga kaigsuonan nga dako siya og opportunity (For the coffee, we still cannot produce or suffice the local demand so what we are doing is continuously promoting that coffee farming offers big opportunities),” Matuguinas said.
In order to increase Davao Region’s coffee production, Matuguinas said the DA conducts a High-Value Crops Development Program wherein continued support is given to farmers by providing tools, training, and planting materials.
The clustering of farmers is also being done to establish associations or cooperatives in order to link them directly to clients and consolidators. Matiguinas said DA-Davao is currently supporting more than 100 partner organizations annually with around 50 hectares of the coffee farm each.
"Tanan nga provinces sa region, naka-scatter ang atong partner organizations sa coffee, and ginatabangan gyod nato sila, continuously support nato sila sa ilang panginahanglan para as a result ang ilang ma-produce is competitive and quality (All of the provinces in the region, we have scattered partner organizations of coffee farmers, and we are helping them by supporting their needs in order for them to produce high-quality coffee),” he said.
At the same time, the DA also reaches out to grassroots communities and provides them with community-level processing resources such as storage facilities, post-harvest facilities, and nursery and fertilization intervention packages.
Recently, an P8 million coffee community-based enterprise was turned over to the New Leyte Agriculture Cooperative in the Municipality of Maco, Davao de Oro last August 24.
“Dili na sila muadto sa Davao para mag-process sa ilahang kape kay within na sa ilahang community, makaproseso na sila (They do not have to go to Davao anymore to process their coffee since they already have facilities in their community),” Matiguinas said. ICM