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Sustainability
NESCAFÉ supports Bukidnon coffee farmers through sustainable means
May 2009
AS part of its efforts to support the coffee farmers, the rural communities and the local coffee industry, NESCAFÉ, Nestlé’s heritage coffee brand, extends its support to Bukidnon farmers by gifting them with superior coffee planting materials and free training and assistance on coffee growing.
The handover was made during the closing ceremony of the province’s annual Kaamulan Festival and was led by no less than Senator Loren Legarda, Provincial Governor Jose Ma. Zubiri Jr., and Nestle Philippines (NPI) Senior Vice President for Corporate Affairs Edith De Leon. Also present were the leaders from the 7 tribes of Bukidnon namely the Higaonon, the Manobo, the Matigsalug, Talaandig, the Tigwahonon, and the Umayamnnon.
The Kaamulan Festival, famous for being the country’s only tribal-harvest festival, attracts more than 200,000 people from various parts of Mindanao.
Included in the package presented are coffee pulpers, coffee seeds & polybags for seedling production.
But more than the farm inputs, NESCAFÉ will also provide free coffee farming training to three representatives of each tribe at the Nestle Experimental and Developmental Farm (NEDF) in Tagum City this April. After the training, Nestle Agronomists will also do actual visitations to ensure that learnings are properly applied in their respective farms.
“Our main objective is to empower our local coffee farmers to become self-sufficient, “ De Leon revealed. “We would want them to share learnings on decision-making on how to increase their productivity as well as the quality of coffee they produce. In the future, because of these empowered farmers, the Philippines can become self-sufficient on coffee.
Odie Lanas, Consumer Marketing Manager for NESCAFÉ, lamented the fact that though coffee consumption in the country has increased through the years, local coffee growing has continued to slow down.
“We envision to contribute to improve on this through the help of our Nestle Agricultural Services’ free technical assistance,” says Lanas. “We want the consumers of NESCAFÈ, not only to enjoy good coffee but to feel good about the products they support. NESCAFÈ, through its efforts in promoting the local coffee farming industry, not only delivers good quality coffee, but also is a socially responsible brand. |
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