What
started out as an effort to promote peace in Mindanao eventually turned into a
lucrative business both for the peace builders but also for the thousands of
indigenous people in the island as they strive to meet the increasing demand
for Arabica coffee in the world market.
“We
went to the insurgency areas with the intention of teaching them about peace
but we found it difficult to teach them about peace without first addressing
the basic needs of the people,” Coffee for Peace, Inc. Marketing Manager Dawn
Albert Pates told BusinessWorld.
Since
2008, Coffee for Peace has been providing training to the tribal communities at
Mt. Matutum in Polomolok, South Cotabato, Mt. Apo in Kidapawanm North Cotabato
and Mt. Kitanglad in Bukidnon.
Almost
all of the coffee trees in the said areas have been wiped out by the Coffee
Leaf Rust in the 1800s but to their surprise, the peacebuilders saw coffee
trees still growing in the mountains of Mt. Matutum in 2008. They got some
samples and sent it for cupping to one of Canada’s biggest coffee companies.
“They
were not even aware we had Arabica Coffee in the Philippines but they liked the
sample so much as it was of high quality,” Ms. Pates said. She added there is
actually no coffee variety native to the Philippines although “we can create
our own flavor depending on the soil where it is grown.’
There
are four major varieties of coffee including Arabica, Robusta, Liberica and
Excelsa. The Kapeng Barako from Batangas falls under Liberica variety.
Mindanaoans however refer to any coffee produced in the mountains as “native”
regardless of the variety.
Majority
or 80% of the coffee being produced in Davao and in the country is Robusta
since this is the variety being bought by companies like Robina and Nestle for
their 3in1 coffee products. While Robusta is good for blending, she said, we
are encouraging farmers to plant more Arabica since it is premium quality
coffee that has less caffeine, less acidic and has a high 70% demand in the
global market.
“We
have an estimated 1,300 hectares of Arabica coffee from our trained farmers,”
she said. Coffee for Peace now has trained a total of 27 tribal communities
mostly from the B’laan tribe and 972 farmers.
“But
we do not buy coffee from the farmers unless they have undergone peacebuilding
training because we do not want development to cause disintegration.” The
training includes coffee plantation management, peace and reconciliation and
financial management. The trainees are not allowed to graduate unless they can
produce quality coffee, preferably following the wet process as it is cleaner
and more flavorful.
She
said the country has not been exporting Arabica Coffee for the past 27 years
but they had a breakthrough last 2011 when they exported Arabica from Mt.
Matutum to Canada. “But Level Ground (importer) from Canada wanted 50 tons a
month and we could only deliver 600 kilos,” she said.
Ms.
Pates admitted that they could not even supply the local demand, much more the
huge demand from the international market. They also have inquiries from Japan
and Europe but they could not commit as of now until they see the first
harvests beginning this year.
Coffee
for Peace started training the communities in 2008 and they started planting only
in 2009. With a gestation period of three years, she added, we hope to see
their harvest by 2013 and 2014. She said there are existing coffee areas
already so what they do is just rejuvenate the areas so that they produce
better quality and yield. Following the correct process, each tree can produce
3 to 5 kilos; otherwise, it would only produce less than a kilo of coffee.
“The
good thing about Arabica is that it can be intercropped with strawberry and
carrots so the farmers have other sources of income while waiting for the
coffee trees to bear fruit,” she said. And since the Arabica variety requires
only 25% of sunlight, they also encourage the farmers to plant more trees and
contribute to reforestation.
She
said the crops planted alongside the coffee trees will influence the taste of
coffee. They have buyers who ask them if their coffee was planted next to
strawberries since they had a fruity taste, she added.
Ms.
Pates said research and development is very crucial for the development of the
coffee industry. As of now, the government has no model farm for coffee
intercropped with other fruit trees. However, Dr. Rafael T. Mercado of the
Department of Agriculture said coffee now has the government’s full attention
due to recent developments. It is now considered one of the sunrise industries
because of the emergence of coffee shops and the increasing demand in the local
and world market.
She
said since most of our coffee farms are in the mountainous areas we can easily
match Ethiopia which is the top producer of coffee and the top producer of
coffee for Starbucks. However, she said, we have to start right and teach our
farmers to plant coffee the right way.
What
makes Coffee for Peace unique is that it uses the business of coffee to promote
peace in the communities. More importantly, it buys coffee at fair trade prices
which means the farmers are actually paid the price of coffee that is
prevailing in the market.
“As
of 2012 the market price of Arabica was only P80-P90 per kilo but we were
already buying from our farmers at P150 per kilo which is the fair trade
price,” she said. We also train them how to sort their produce since it gets a
higher market price. If they know how to price their products “hindi sila
maloloko nga mga traders and middlemen.”
Coffee
for Peace teach the coffee farmers to become businessmen and they do not give
dole outs. Instead, they help tap government and other support when it comes to
the provision of seedlings for the farmers.
She
said that since the trainings, the communities are more motivated but they do
not impose on them. Their houses have improved a lot, from light to heavy
materials and they now have more initiative in seeking ways to develop the
community, she said.
“Through
our trainings the coffee farmers learn how to negotiate, mediate and solve
problems,” Ms. Pates said. Our peace is profound—we do not seek to convert them
but we do not hide the fact we carry the cross, she added.
The
company’s aim is to make coffee an iconic product of peace so that when people
drink coffee they are conscious where it came from and how the coffee was
grown. Coffee for Peace has been operating a showroom for five years now and
aside from its popularity as a source of organic coffee, the shop has also
become a gathering place for missionaries and development workers. After all,
Coffee for Peace is a product of the peacebuilding efforts of two Filipino
missionaries from Canada who has since relocated to the Philippines.
