Philippine Coffee Advancement and Farm Enterprise (PhilCAFE)

ACDI/VOCA implemented the $17 million USDA Philippine Coffee Advancement and Farm Enterprise (PhilCAFE) project from September 2018 through December 2023. PhilCAFE strengthened the Philippine coffee industry by building the capacity of key coffee value chain actors, increasing the value of Philippine coffee sales and the income of specialty coffee farmers, and empowering legacy institutions to support the sustained development of the coffee sector. To accomplish this, PhilCAFE built on the success of the MinPACT project and on ACDI/VOCA’s extensive network and reputation from working in tree crops and other sectors in the Philippines for the past 25 years. PhilCAFE partnered with the Coffee Quality Institute (CQI) and World Coffee Research (WCR) to transfer state-of-the-art skills in coffee quality and the latest research to position the Philippines to produce high-quality coffee in the decades to come.

Project Objectives

Increased production of conventional and specialty coffee
Increased coffee exports
Built the capacity and expanded service provision of coffee value chain actors

Activities and Approaches

Improved governance to promote the coffee industry
Expanded extension services to increase adoption of good agricultural practices (GAP)
Supported the establishment of nurseries and strengthened access to retail input agents
Increased the capacity of producer organizations as a critical link in the value chain
Improved post-harvest handling and processing to produce higher-quality coffee
Facilitated agricultural lending to close the financing gap across the value chain
Leveraged public and private investment to scale and sustain results
Highlighted the diversity of Filipino coffee origins and facilitated linkages to specialty and conventional coffee buyers

Results

Supported 4,240 individuals accessing $4.58 million of agriculture-related financing.
Supported 129 enterprises to improve the supply of improved inputs to coffee farmers.
Leveraged $7.6 million of new public and private sector investments due to USDA assistance.
Facilitated the sale of 3,500 MT of coffee by participating farms and firms.
$17.8 million worth of sales from project-assisted farms and firms.
Trained 17,800 coffee farmers in Good Agriculture Practices GAP.
Supported 44 coffee nurseries nationwide with a combined capacity of 1.1 million seedlings.
Established 53 demo farms as learning sites.
Engaged more than 300 coffee mentors who provided farm-level trainings to peers, including through COVID-19.
Trained 66 certified Q professionals spread strategically throughout the country.
Organized the Philippine Coffee Quality Competition (PCQC) which highlighted Philippine coffee internationally.
Initiated the PCQC Auction which rewarded winning producers with unprecedented prices each year.