NEDA assistance perks up Cebu coffee industry

MANILA, Philippines - The Cebu coffee industry would be receiving assistance from an anti-poverty program implemented by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) in increasing production and expanding markets for their produce.

NEDA’s Accelerated and Sustainable Anti-Poverty Program (ASAPP) would be revising the coffee industry in Tuburan, Cebu by strengthening linkages between government agencies, local government units and privates enterprises.

ASAPP is an inter-agency program that seeks to reduce poverty in 10 priority provinces by creating sustainable employment and income-generating activities.

After consultations with the Region VII office of NEDA , stakeholders identified the Tuburan coffee industry as a potential driver of inclusive growth in the area.

NEDA said based on  visits to coffee farms, the ASAPP Cebu Team developed varioust echnical assistance projects to enable the town’s local coffee growers sector to increase production in 2,000 hectares of production area in Tuburan and expand their market.

These include technical assistance on coffee production, coffee handling practices, and post-harvest facilities as initial interventions. The team also found the need to provide coffee seedlings and funds for fertilizers, as well as for post-harvest facilities and facilities for coffee bean processing.

 “What is good about the ASAPP is that it is inclusive—the community, the LGUs, the line agencies and the private sector all work in a coordinated fashion towards a common goal and common interest of raising incomes. ASAPP is mutually beneficial to all stakeholders in the area,” said NEDA Deputy Director General for Policy and Planning Rosemarie Edillon.

The ASAP-Cebu Action Team is composed of members of the local government of Tuburan and its coffee people’s organizations. From the private sector, Bo’s Coffee and the Philippine Retailers Association were involved in the Tuburan coffee ASAPP project.

The government is represented by NEDA, Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Department of Agriculture, PCA, Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, Department of the Interior and Local Government, Department of Labor and Employment, and the Cebu provincial government.

Also under ASAPP, DTI conducted entrepreneur-driven intensive trainings for the Hapao basket weavers in Tuburan. Raw materials used during the training were supplied by a private partner that also purchased the finished products of the participants.

“One of the poverty reduction strategies of the ASAPP is to assist marginalized groups in self-employment. This includes apprising them of industry demand and assisting them in responding to this demand through capacity-building, production and value-adding support, and linking them to markets and institutional buyers,” said Edillon.

Consistent with the mid-term review of the PDP, ASAPP accelerates the inclusion of marginalized groups in the growth process by making the interventions area-specific and responsive to the gaps that the private buyers and grassroots suppliers identify.

The ASAPP was implemented in 10 pilot provinces, which are considered the poorest provinces in the country. These are Iloilo, Pangasinan, Quezon, Camarines Sur, Negros Occidental, Cebu, Leyte, Zamboanga del Sur, Davao del Sur, and Sulu.