Koronadal City, South Cotabato - The Sultan Kudarat Coffee Council and other stakeholders convened in Koronadal City for a two-day planning workshop that ran from May 25-26, 2023. The objective of the workshop was to develop the Sultan Kudarat Coffee Roadmap.
“The Coffee Industry can be an effective instrument for poverty alleviation and lasting peace in the province. In order to ensure the growth and sustainability of the industry, we must endeavor in creating a strategic plan which defines the steps necessary to maximize our combined efforts for the achievement of our desired goal for our people, our Province, and the coffee industry of our country,” Gov. Datu Pax Ali Mangudadatu wrote in a letter to the council members and the invitees.
Meanwhile, Ronan Eugene Garcia, chairperson of the Sultan Kudarat Coffee Council and the SOCCKSARGEN Coffee Council said the roadmap will address the gaps, issues, and concerns affecting the sector and further push the development of the local coffee industry.
“Talking about coffee, we have long been the champion,” Garcia said.
Citing 2021 data from the Philippine Statistics Authority, he underscored that Sultan Kudarat is the top coffee-producing province in the country, sharing 35 percent of the national production.
SOCCKSKSARGEN Region is also the top coffee producing region in the Philippines, contributing about 40 percent of the country’s annual yield. Of the regional harvest, 87 percent come from coffee farmers in Sultan Kudarat.
Sultan Kudarat Province’s efforts to gain the coffee capital title have gained support from national line agencies, developmental organizations, academe, local government units and other stakeholders.
The Regional Development Council XII, in its 1st quarter meeting in March, passed Resolution No. 38 series of 2023 “Requesting the Senate of the Philippines to Confer to the Province of Sultan Kudarat the Designation Coffee Capital of the Philippines.” (PIA 12)
###
0 Comments