I was invited to the closing ceremony of Nestle Philippines’ Project Coffee++ at the Sultan Kudarat Convention Center in Tacurong City, Sultan Kudarat. The three-year capacity building project was jointly led by Nestle Philippines and German agency for cooperation GIZ. The program has been equipping coffee farmers in Bukidnon and Sultan Kudarat with the agricultural skills, financial literacy, and market access since its first phase began in 2018.

“[Project] Coffee++ has strengthened farmers’ entrepreneurial skills, enhanced soil and crop productivity, and promoted sustainable, climate smart practices. These efforts directly contribute to our shared goal of Masaganang Agrikultura, Maunlad na Ekonomiya, a productive, resilient agriculture that empowers Filipino farmers. Nestle’s commitment to source nearly 80 percent of its local green coffee beans from Sultan Kudarat, the coffee capital of the Philippines demonstrates how inclusive value chains can uplift communities,” said guest of honor Department of Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel in his speech at the event. “Through programs like Coffee++, we receive concrete results. We improve farmer incomes, stronger cooperatives, and renewed pride in our locally grown Robusta coffee.”

One of the 3,000 farmers in the program was Elizabeth Javier from Brgy. Kuden in Senator Ninoy Aquino, Sultan Kudarat. Javier had been farming coffee since 1998. She shared that farming coffee used to be very difficult. Seedlings were procured from other coffee farmers regardless of provenance. “We grew whatever we found,” she said in Tagalog. “Our yield was low because we didn’t select for proper genetics.”

She added that they had no idea how to increase yield back then, so their harvests averaged around 300 kilos per hectare, pretty low considering the global maximum harvest per hectare is currently at around 3,400 kg, as per Brittannica.

All this began to change in 2012, when Nescafe set up a plant in Sultan Kudarat. “They began to train us,” Javier said. She joined the training program in 2014 where she learned the 4C Code. “The Common Code for the Coffee Community, how to care for the environment as part of your responsibility as a coffee farmer.”

Training included how to increase yield, how to choose plants for desired genetic traits, and for Javier in particular, how to share this knowledge with others. “We had training on economic, social, and environment. Us farmers were able to increase our yield because we focused on Good Agricultural Practices.” The harvests were sold to Nescafe for use in its instant coffee.

When the program’s first iteration, Project Coffee+, began in 2018, Javier was immediately on board. “From farming, we were taught to be agripreneurs. They taught us how to increase our yield and also gave us quality farming tools like fertilizers. When production and profits increased, they taught us record keeping and how to manage our money throughout the year,” Javier said. “Now we’re also focused on regenerative agriculture, to bring back healthy soil so the next generation can profit from it as well.”

From 300 kg per hectare, Javier now harvests more than 1000 kg per hectare. Nestle buys her harvests as long as they meet the company’s quality standards from Commercial Robusta 2 and 3. “There aren’t any rejects because we were taught post-harvest handling and how to produce quality products.”

The harvests are bought per farmer, with the farmers organized into clusters depending on where they live. Javier herself is a cluster leader. Her responsibilities include gathering interested farmers for training. She is also what the program calls a “Trainor of Trainors,” training other farmers on how to improve their yield and grow their farm business. She is also president of a local association called the Rural Improvement Club. “My journey is to help my fellow farmers.”

Since coffee is only harvested once a year, from October to February, Javier has other businesses that she tends to while waiting for harvest season. She has a small sari-sari store and grows other crops like corn, rice, and peanuts, though her primary focus is really coffee.

“We’re now financially stable compared to before because of the income we get from farming,” she said. “I’ve been able to invest in other sources of income so that I can make money even before the harvest.”

Despite her success, Javier acknowledges that farming is not without challenges. “Unpredictable weather is a challenge because too much rain can affect coffee fruits,” she said. “I encourage farmers to apply fertilizer so their crops won’t be as affected.”

Coffee farming has enabled her to give her children a good education, with one graduating with a degree in education and the other in accountancy. With her own life as evidence that it’s possible to make a good living as a farmer, she hopes that more farmers will consider planting coffee because, as she says in English, “Coffee is life, coffee is money, and coffee is gold.”