Cacao and coffee: Zambo Sur’s new engines for growth
MIDSALIP, ZAMBOANGA DEL SUR—Ruben Peñonal, now 67, remembers planting in 2014 cacao underneath his over 2-hectare coconut field in Bacahan village here, using grafted seedlings distributed for free through a government program.
Attracted to the idea of cacao eventually supplementing the income they get from coconut farming, he was among a few farmers who joined as pilot beneficiaries of the program.
At that time, he had to augment his farming income by operating a rolling store selling snacks in schools and during public events so he could send his four children to school.
When the 2,000 cacao trees matured and started bearing fruit after about two years, “our life began to ease,” recalls Peñonal.
Although he takes pride in having provided for his children’s education through his earnings as a vendor and coconut farmer, “it could have been better if only I’ve learned of cacao growing in those early years,” Peñonal says.
“But it is not yet late,” he adds.
With a team of three manually harvesting every two weeks, the 20-kilogram beans they produced earn up to P6,000.
To earn more, Peñonal learned to process the beans and sold his products, such as tablea (molded nibs of roasted, grounded and fermented cacao beans), in his own store in the town center.
Seeing the financial benefits it brought Peñonal’s family, more farmers in the town jumped into the cacao growing trend, with at least 30 farmers planting some 80 hectares as of last year.
Voracious demand
Zamboanga del Sur Gov. Divina Grace Yu wants that momentum to develop into a greater bandwagon throughout the rest of the province.
Yu had set an ambitious target of making Zamboanga del Sur a major producer of cacao and coffee so that farmers in the province will be able to build an economically hopeful future founded on the world’s voracious demand for these high value crops.
Given the province’s vast agricultural potential, Yu says she had eyed some 10,000 hectares to be planted with cacao and coffee.
According to the Department of Agriculture’s Agribusiness and Marketing Assistance Service, global demand for cacao in 2020 was estimated at between 4.7 million to 5 million metric tons, with a predicted shortage of at least one million metric tons.
The country alone consumes 50,000 MT annually while domestic supply only reaches up to 15,000 MT, necessitating importation.
For coffee, production in 2020 stood at some 60,000 MT of dried cherries, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority. But this falls short of filling the close to 200,00 MT of annual consumption. Hence, at least 70 percent of the country’s coffee needs are imported.
In an effort to sustain the farmers’ fervor for cacao and coffee, two of the high-value crops it is promoting, the Zamboanga del Sur provincial government set up a processing center in partnership with the municipal government of Ramon Magsaysay, which owns the 1,000-square-meter lot upon which the facility was built.
Price incentive
As part of its operation, the center is engaged in buying the cacao and coffee produce of farmers.
“The provincial government buys fresh coffee cherries from local farmers and wet cacao beans. We do the fermenting and drying and selling,” says Ivy Soon-Medrano, focal person for the provincial government’s coffee and cacao processing program.
Soon-Medrano says they offer a price incentive.
Wet cacao beans are bought at P100 per kilo, way above the P80 to P90 per kilo offered by other traders. Ripe fresh coffee cherries are bought at P50 per kilo, far better than the P25 to P30 per kilo set by private consolidators.
“We also train the farmers on how to identify the right ripeness of the coffee cherries to be harvested,” adds Soon-Medrano.
Most of the coffee grown in the province are robusta, Soon-Medrano notes.
In the past two years, the provincial government sold the cacao and coffee beans it processed to different roasters and chocolatiers in Metro Manila who have their own brands.
“We sell good quality products that’s why we could sell these to them at higher prices,” Soon-Medrano says.
Production challenge
Not content with this, the provincial government may soon have more value-adding activities for cacao and coffee locally done with post-harvest processing equipment from the Department of Trade and Industry. These include roasting machines for coffee and cacao, grinders, and packaging machines.
With these, Soon-Medrano explains, the center will soon be able to sell roasted coffee beans and cocoa powder under its own brand.
Given the availability of such opportunity, Yu understands the challenge at the farming side so that there will be produce to process.
Yu tells the Inquirer that the provincial government has employed the services of topnotch individuals—who used to work in private companies engaged in coffee and cacao—to help guide and focus on the production side by training farmers on proper crop management that ensure higher yields.
Most of the production of coffee and cacao are currently concentrated in Ramon Magsaysay, Midsalip and nearby towns.
Cacao and coffee seedlings are continuously distributed to farmers along with training through farmers’ associations.
The provincial government also holds the annual Kakao Festival that brings local industry stakeholders together. The festival highlights local chocolate and cacao products as well as holds training and forums for farmers, conducts chocolate-making demos and food fairs, all geared at boosting the growers’ morale and enthusiasm for cacao farming.
To address the broader level challenges, and using the experience of Zamboanga del Sur in grappling with these, Second District Rep. Jeyzel Victoria Yu, the governor’s daughter, has sought national government support by filing House Bill No. 1507, which seeks to institutionalize a Philippine Cacao Development Program and creating for such purpose the Philippine Cacao Industry Council.
The younger Yu explains the country faced challenges in achieving good local yields and quality standards due to various agronomic, logistical and other constraints.
Cacao, according to Congresswoman Yu, is mostly grown by small farmers who encounter difficulties in accessing high-quality planting materials, modern farming technologies, market linkages and affordable financing, making them unable to capitalize on the rosy market opportunities for the crop.
