ACDI/VOCA and WCR cooperate to fund a project to legally introduce Arabica varieties to the Philippines for the first time.

Recently, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) funded the conclusion of the five-year Philippine Coffee Progress and Agricultural Enterprise (PhilCAFE) project funded by the International Bureau of Agricultural Cooperative Development (ACDI/VOCA) and the World Coffee Research (WCE). The project is focused on improving production and quality, empowering farmers and supporting the skills development of national researchers and producers, paving the way for innovation in the Philippine coffee industry.

The project was launched in 2019 to support more than 13000 coffee farmers across the Philippines. Several field trials, training, learning and research were also held. Kraig Kraft, director of WCR Asia and Africa, said the project was successful, legally introducing new Arabica varieties to the Philippines for the first time, and supporting research on coffee-related projects, improving the quality of Philippine nurseries.

WCR participated in the installation of 18 farm technology trials (OFTT) and two coffee variety test shops, both of which continued to manage data collection and analysis in cooperation with government agencies, cooperatives and farmers. The coffee variety test shop focuses on introducing and evaluating many high-performance varieties developed outside the Philippines, providing Philippine coffee growers and industries with opportunities to acquire new, high-yield, climate-tolerant, pest-resistant and disease-resistant varieties. Researchers from the Department of Agriculture in the 11th District of the Philippines said that the decline in coffee production in the Philippines has a lot to do with climate change, so the Philippine coffee industry needs this kind of project very much. If it can adapt to the new varieties, it can maintain production and provide income for farmers.

According to Philippine customs regulations, guns and coffee varieties are contraband. The establishment of coffee variety test sites in Luzon and Mindanao is the first time that coffee varieties have been legally introduced into the Philippines. These varieties come from other coffee producing countries and are being tested under climatic conditions in the Philippine growing areas to determine their potential vitality yield and quality.

Many smaller Arabica coffee-producing countries face the same challenges as the Philippines. There are no local breeding programs, no new varieties that can meet the needs of the market, and no varieties that can meet the needs of climate change. And the project can help these countries, while helping the capabilities of local researchers. The project aims to create sustainable coffee development in the Philippines through cooperatives, producer organizations and government agencies, and there will be more varieties of coffee from the Philippines on the market in the future.