COFFEE has been part of Filipinos’ basic necessities throughout the years. As time passes by, there has been a growing demand as a lifestyle also changes.
In the Philippines, coffee production has been growing and evolving, not only to supply the country's demand but also, to reach the international market.
Since then, Davao Region has never missed that opportunity. With the region's rich natural resources, which are suitable for a variety of crops and fruit production, Davao has a huge potential not only to meet the demand in the country but also in the international market.
One of the prestigious coffee farms in the region is a farm owned by Marivic Dubria, located on the foothills of Mt. Apo, the tallest mountain in the country.
Dubria Farms is one of the top producers of award-winning Arabica coffee in Purok Pluto, Sitio Balutakay, Barangay Managa, Bansalan, Davao del Sur.
In an interview with SunStar Davao last February 4, she admitted that never in her wildest dreams she would become a farmer.
It was a gamble on their part, she admitted, considering she has no knowledge of running a coffee farm.
She previously worked as a daycare teacher, while her husband, Joe Randy, had been a farmer.
Admittedly, her earnings as a teacher weren't enough to sustain the needs of her family.
In an interview uploaded on the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD)-Davao Region's YouTube channel in August 2021, Dubria was emotional when she shared her struggles during the early years.
In 2003, his son got sick and they were financially short to pay for her son's hospital bill.
"Nanghangyo mi sa among financer sa gulay apan gibalibaran. Pinakalisod gyud to nga experience sa akong kinabuhi (I appealed to the financer of our vegetable farm if we could borrow but got declined. That was the hardest experience in our lives)," Dubrai said, who was teary-eyed while narrating her story.
"Mao to siya tungod ato, naningkamot mi sa akong bana nga makalingkawas sa kalisod pero tungod kay bag-o pa lage kang sugod dili pa gyud madakuan. Wala man mi ikagasto (That moment made me realize that me and my husband should strive for us to recover from poverty. It was challenging on our part considering we are a starting coffee farmer. We don’t have enough capital)," she added.
She vowed to herself that she won't stop striving to uplift themselves from poverty.
One day, her life started to go in a different direction when Dubria met Joji Pantoja, founder of the social enterprise Coffee for Peace, who influenced her to go into coffee farming.
But to do that, she would need to borrow money as her starting capital.
In 2011, she qualified to be a beneficiary of DSWD's Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps).
Marivic said their neighbors looked down on them for relying on government aid allocated for the poorest in their community. She endured those insults whenever they would line up at the bank alongside other poor families.
"Nagsabot mi sa among bana na sa first release sa among 4Ps among ipalit og bagging bag kay gienganyo mi nga magtanom og kape unya tabangan ang mga farmers nga instead nga magsige ka'g tanom og gulay, dapat naa ka sustainable income nga dili ka magbalik-balik og tanom (My husband I agreed that we would be buying bagging bag in our first release of the 4Ps since we were encouraged to start coffee planting, instead of solely focusing on planting vegetables. In return we would be helping other farmers)," she said.
With assistance from the government and private organizations, a group of 20 farmers convened to form the Balutakay Coffee Farmers Association (BACOFA) in May 2013. By 2017, the association’s membership had reached around 200. They then renamed the organization the Balutakay Coffee Farmers Agriculture Cooperative, which has 108 members. Eventually, she served as the association’s manager.
Planting the seed of success
From being isolated into the four corners of the classrooms, her life changed as she is exposed under the heat of the sun to plant coffee seedlings, which would soon sprout into a large coffee farm.
The Dubria couple had converted a majority of their land from vegetable cropland into a coffee farm.
Purok Pluto is one of the remote communities in Davao del Sur. Despite the area popularly known as one of the jump-off points to Mt. Apo, life wasn't easy for those living there.
Being an impassioned coffee farmer, Dubria vowed to also help her fellow farmers who are also in the same dilemma.
"One time, nag-pray ko sa among area, niingon ko nga 'Lord, if given na chance na makatabang sa akong pamilya ug sa among community kay pait gyud ang sitwasyon sa mga farmer diria (I prayed in our farm, and said, ‘Lord, if I would be given the chance to help my family and the community because the condition of our farmers here is very hard)," she said.
From just being a simple livelihood, her perspective towards coffee farming changed when she attended various seminars and training, which in return, also impacted fellow farmers.
In time, her coffee has brought an additional level of economic prosperity to the area.
It was a trial and error phase, Dubria said, considering technology was scarce at that time.
"Tungod sa mga training and seminars, kung unsa to amo natrainingan, amo gi-try sa amo farm, ug didto namo nakita nga nindot ang technology para mapadaghan ang technology (Because of the training and seminars I attended, I applied what I learned and tried on our way of farming, and we saw how it improved our production),” she said.
The lack of fertilizers is also not a problem since there are also ways to improve coffee production by trying organic fertilizing.
Harvesting success
Her success and enthusiasm have encouraged more women and farmers in her community to start producing quality coffee through the right way of coffee farming and by using modern practices with the help of new farming technology.
Marivic has since won numerous awards for green coffee quality competitions and continues to introduce innovative processing methods to produce quality coffee beans.
In 2018, Dubria, along with three other coffee growers in the region won the 2018 Philippine Coffee Quality Competition (PCQC) in Baguio city ━ besting all 34 Arabica coffee entries from all over the Philippines. This became her ticket to the Specialty Coffee Expo in Boston, Massachusetts in the United States the same year.
Furthermore, she was chosen as the Dangal ng Davao del Sur Awardee for Industry during the 52nd Araw ng Davao del Sur celebration.
Marivic has explored ways to elevate the quality of the coffee by introducing an innovative processing technique.
Around a decade after she first encountered Coffee for Peace, Marivic now sells her own brand of coffee beans called “Marivica.” She even started selling it to other establishments.
Bacofa caters to mostly third-wave coffee shops in Manila and Davao city and also supplies to foreign buyers in Japan and Canada.
Challenges
Dubria shared that before, the farmers here subsisted on planting temperate vegetables such as cabbage, spring onion, beans, lettuce, and many more. In the process, much of the rainforests have been cleared, leading to soil erosion and degradation. The use of chemical inputs such as pesticides was also rampant, leading to increased acidity that renders the soil unproductive.
Despite initial successes in vegetable production, many farmers continued to face financial difficulties due to unpaved roads and a lack of access to a market. But with coffee being introduced in the area, things turned favorable for the farmers and their families.
With the continuous exposure in the international market, she said that many foreigners are fascinated with how coffees from Davao taste unique from other varieties.
That’s why she was shocked to learn that the international market is in need of 20,000 tons per month, which Dubria admitted still cannot cater to.
Road to international market
On February 4, Davao International Coffee Trading Company (DICTCo) teamed up with Dubria Farms in a historic memorandum of agreement signing (MOA) at the Haven's Dew Resort in Bansalan, Davao del Sur.
The partnership witnessed a bright new future in coffee production and trade as it marks the start of this cooperative venture that seeks to promote the richness, quality, and potential of Mt. Apo’s coffee to global markets and the Filipino economy.
DICTCo CEO Bernard Gusman said it envisions the enterprise bolstering the regional economy and placing Davao City and the adjacent provinces in a more competitive standing with their international peers.
"We aim to support the local economy by providing fulfilling jobs to farmers and to share the Philippines' highest quality coffee with the rest of the world," Gusman said in his speech.
Dubria, owner of the multi-awarded Dubria Farm, for her part, is excited about the partnership as they will be the tutors who will oversee the details of the farmers’ beneficial stewardship of the land and the proper selection and cultivation of the best possible beans available.
"Challenging siya. Kabalo ko na (It’s challenging because I know) you have to lead the rest of the farmers, tapos imo i-oversee ang (you also have to oversee the) operations. Pero kayanon nato ni," Dubria said.
She said the partnership is a "dream come true" as this would be a great opportunity for their coffee to be marketed on the international scene.
With the partnership, she said they would be able to adapt new methods in cultivating and processing coffee that would meet not only the demands of the market but also its quality standard.
Both parties expressed optimism as the partnership between the coffee traders, the farmers, and the people of Davao City seeks to bring the coffee industry and its Filipino counterparts to the global coffee stage.
Giving back to the community
Dubria has taken on the role of trainer, teaching fellow farmers how to improve their harvest and how to produce quality coffee beans. She is even invited by government agencies to attend international events to represent Filipino coffee farmers.
With the growing number of farmers who were inspired by her story, it is her responsibility to train and guide them.
“Gikan ko sa pinaka-pobre. Kabalo ko unsa kalisod magsugod sa wala, maong misyon nako na tabangan sila (I started from the bottom. I know what it’s like to start from nothing, that’s why my mission is to help them),” she said.
This is why their partnership with DICTCo is her way of giving back to the community, which also helped her reach where is right now.
For those who want to start their own farm, she highlighted key things: hardwork, passion, and open-mindedness to innovation.
In line with that, she hopes that the government would continue to support local farmers, especially those small-scale, which she believes plays a huge role in improving not only the coffee industry, but in the country’s economic progress in general.
“Naa gyud sa imo mindset. Naa ra na sa imo kung gusto nimo magpabilin sa imong kasamtangang kahimtang o sa imo nakasanayan (It all boils down to mindset. It’s up to how if you want to stay in your current state or your comfort zone), or you go and do more. For me, strive for more,” Dubria said. RGL