The Philippine Coffee Board Inc. (PCBI) launched on Tuesday a nationwide donation drive that will allow Filipinos to adopt coffee plants and shoulder a share of farmers’ production costs in a bid to boost domestic production.
In a virtual press briefing, PCBI unveiled its nationwide sustainable coffee planting program dubbed as the “Plant Coffee, Pilipinas” that seeks to plant at least 1 million coffee plants over the next three years.
“Let’s propagate coffee plants in the country. Instead of awaiting government budget, let’s start massive planting already,” PCBI President Chit Juan said on Tuesday. “Anyone who loves Philippine coffee can be part of this program.”
Under the planting program, interested individuals may donate P600, which is called “seed money,” to adopt a coffee seedling which will bear the name of the donor. Donors can locate their adopted seedlings via online maps and apps since the plants are geotagged.
Juan said they came up with the “seed money” value through consultation with coffee farmers who in turn made the calculation and suggestion for the ideal donation amount.
She added that the amount would be used by farmers to shoulder some of their expenses, such as planting materials and labor costs.
Juan said the planting program will not have a profit sharing component since it will purely run on kawang-gawa or charity. However, donors may opt to purchase coffee beans directly from their partner-farmers, Juan added.
Under the program, coffee farmers will initially receive P300 of the donated money. They will get the remaining amount once the coffee plant fully becomes a fruit-bearing tree.
“The donors may choose which part of the Philippines their coffee seedlings will be planted from a list of areas we have. The areas include Benguet, Sagada, Mindanao, Bacolod, Davao del Sur, Bukidnon, among others,” Juan said.
“This program also provides opportunities for our coffee nurseries as it create a new market for them.”
Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) data showed that the costs to produce coffee in a 1 hectare of land have been continuously increasing since 1997.
PSA data showed that production cost of coffee on a 1 hectare basis reached a record-high of P46,465 last year. This translated to a cost of P86.79 per kilogram.
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