World Bank funds P98 million arabica coffee project by Indigenous community in Bukidnon

The Department of Agriculture announced P98 million in World Bank funding for an arabica coffee production project run by the Daraghuyan Indigenous community in Bukidnon. The investment, under the Mindanao Inclusive Agriculture Development Project, includes farm-to-market roads, a processing facilit

The Department of Agriculture (DA) has announced that P98 million will be invested in arabica coffee production in Bukidnon under the Mindanao Inclusive Agriculture Development Project (MIADP), with World Bank funding. The Indigenous Peoples (IPs) community of the Daraghuyan Ancestral Domain is set to receive the funding, the DA said, citing their track record in growing arabica that has been entered in national and regional coffee competitions. The project will be implemented by the City Government of Malaybalay, the provincial capital.

The package includes two farm-to-market roads worth a combined P51 million; a P10.45-million multi-commodity warehouse and multipurpose drying pavement; a P14.76-million coffee consolidation, processing, and marketing enterprise; a P4.1-million Level 2 potable water system; and a P17.6-million ram pump and gravity-fed irrigation system.

“These investments are intended to sustainably increase agricultural productivity, resilience, and access to markets and services. The Daraghuyan Indigenous community has demonstrated strong potential in the coffee industry, and its wholehearted cooperation has helped make these interventions possible,” MIADP Project Director Macario D. Gonzaga said.

According to the DA, infrastructure development is ongoing in the area. The Sitio Damitan–Sitio Ulanguhon Farm-to-Market Road is 65 per cent complete, while a road project in Barangay Dalwangan is in the bidding stage. The Inhandig Tribal Multi-Purpose Cooperative has been put in charge of the coffee consolidation, processing, and marketing enterprise.

“The package provides nearly P700,000 in working capital to purchase coffee cherries from member-suppliers, helping strengthen the cooperative’s capacity to consolidate supply and support its farmer-members,” the DA said.