What’s it like farming in a protected area? Agroforestry farmers Cristina Digo and Evelyn Buendia share their story.

The women live in Brgy. Himbubulo Weste in Guinayangan, Quezon. The protected area is located in Mulawin Spring and is part of an Area of Multi-Use Zone under the Department of Environment and Natural Resources’ (DENR). “You’re not allowed to cut trees, but you’re allowed to plant them,” Cristina said. “If you cut one tree, you have to replace it with 50.”

I am here on the invitation of Dr. Julian Gonsalves, Senior Asia Program Advisor at the International Institute for Rural Reconstruction (IIRR), an international organization focusing on rural development.

The women are recipients of IIRR and the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research’s (CGIAR) ClimBeR project, a climate resilience project, which, in this case, involves giving coffee and other fruit seedlings to target beneficiaries to aid coffee production. The resulting crops are processed and sold to local cooperatives like Asosasyon ng Responsableng Magkakape (AROMA) and Guinayangan Coffee Agri-Farmers, Processors, and Entrepreneurs Agriculture Cooperative (GCAFPEA). The interview was conducted in Tagalog.

The seedlings are intercropped under existing coconut trees, with recipients receiving 100-500 seedlings, depending on their land area. The program also provides local fruit seedlings like guyabano, lanzones, rambutan, mangoes, mangosetten, and durian, usually around 10-20 seedlings per variety.

Program coordinator Roel Jordan explained that recipients undergo an orientation on proper cultivation before receiving the seedlings. Harvests are sold at the local market and sometimes through private buyers as well.

Cristina, who is also the local AROMA president, is 58 years old and has been farming for 30 years. Though, like much of Quezon, intercropping her coconut trees with robusta coffee, guyabano, rambutan, lanzones, bananas, durian, and mangosteen.

Her tenant, Evelyn, 50, has been farming for five years. She used to work in town but has since settled in the area after being inspired by her friend’s success

Cristina farms on four hectares of land. She also raises native chicken for eggs and meat, as well as native pigs, which fetch ₱5000 for lechon size. As a member of the Guinayangan Livestock Raisers Association, she receives free vitamins and medicine.

She received 300 Liberica plants which she added to her 500 Robusta trees. She also received 30 guyabano trees and some cacao plants.

Evelyn farms on two hectares of land with around 300 newly planted coffee saplings intercropped with coconut along with cacao, guyabano, and banana. “It was challenging at first, but now it feels like a leisure activity,” she said “The fruit trees can get destroyed during a typhoon... Since this is a protected area, it’s important to plant non-fruit trees as well.”

The Department of Agriculture supplies the farmers with fertilizers once a year, an intervention the farmers appreciate.

Cristina has begun harvesting coffee cherries. “Harvest is from October to November. Robusta ripens first, Exselsa last,” she said. “The harvest was good at first, about 100 kilos but not right now because of the continuing rain. The lowest I’ve harvested is 30 kilos. Harvest is good as long as there are no typhoons.”

Dried beans are sold to GCAFPEA for about ₱100, cherries for about ₱50. “Because of the cooperative, we don’t have to worry about where to bring them anymore,” Cristina said. “They also gave us plastic to protect drying beans from rain.”

Evelyn is still waiting for her first harvest. She has, however, begun selling her cacao, complaining of a steadily dwindling harvest and of fruit being eaten by the wild civets that roam the area. She also sells her harvests to GCAFPEA.

Farming can be challenging, but the results are worth it. “Sometimes the coffee gets sick. When it’s too hot, it won’t bloom properly. I just keep caring for them, cleaning them, and applying fertilizer,” Cristina said. “The harvests are a big help to my family. It helped put my children through school and adds to our daily budget. Preparation is important because it directly contributes to a good harvest.”

She encourages other coconut farmers to consider intercropping their plantations with coffee. “There’s a lack of supply,” she said.

With the worldwide demand for coffee set to surpass its production, cultivating this in-demand crop may mean extra profit for farmers who are willing to put in the effort.