THE Department of Agriculture (DA) has created a new Coffee Industry Development Office (Cido) to improve support for the country’s coffee sector, as local demand continues to exceed supply.
Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. ordered the creation of the Cido through Department Order 06. The new office will operate under the DA’s Office of the Undersecretary for Special Concerns and Official Development Assistance, now led by Undersecretary Jerome Oliveros.
The move centralizes all coffee-related programs, funds and policies that were previously handled by several DA units. It gives the coffee industry its first dedicated office within the department.
The order cites Executive Order 292, or the Administrative Code of 1987, which requires the DA to support both local and export agriculture.
Growing Urgency
DA officials said the change responds to growing challenges in the sector. While coffee consumption is rising worldwide and in Philippine cities, local production continues to lag.
Farm output has suffered due to aging farmers, limited access to farm inputs and credit, outdated equipment and weak post-harvest facilities. Post-harvest facilities refer to systems used to process, store and transport crops after harvest.
These problems have led to lower yields, uneven quality and increased reliance on imports to meet local demand.
Before the reorganization, coffee programs were managed under the Office of Special Concerns and Official Development Assistance through Department Order 19, Series of 2025. Elevating coffee into a standalone office marks a shift from scattered oversight to a focused, commodity-based strategy.
Clear mandate and funding
Cido will lead planning and set priorities for coffee programs. It will monitor implementation across DA bureaus and regional offices and ensure projects align with national goals and official development assistance-funded programs.
The office will also work with local governments, state universities, private companies and farmer groups. It can recommend policy and operational changes to fix gaps in the coffee value chain, or the full process from production to sale.
All coffee development funds will now be consolidated under Cido. This includes allocations from the High Value Crops Development Program and the Office of the Secretary. Officials expect the change to improve accountability and speed up project implementation.
Analysts said the creation of Cido reflects a broader DA strategy to give struggling farm sectors clear leadership and measurable targets. However, they said results will depend on proper execution, especially in modernizing farms, attracting younger farmers, upgrading processing facilities and connecting producers to higher-value markets.
“We cannot keep talking about the promise of Philippine coffee while farmers grow older, yields stagnate and imports rise,” Laurel said. “By creating Cido under focused leadership, we are putting strategy, funding and execution in one accountable office. This is about restoring competitiveness and ensuring Filipino coffee farmers finally benefit from a market that is already growing around them.”
According to the Philippine Coffee Board Inc. (PCBI), the country’s demand for coffee is between 150,000 metric tons (MT) to 200,000 MT, while production is only at around 30,000 MT to 33,000 MT, with the balance of 120,000 MT being filled by imports.
The PCBI also said then that the national average of coffee production in the Philippines is currently between 500 to 700 kilograms per hectare. / KOC