Remember
Barako? The coffee drinker in you will probably remember.
Backtrack a little bit more and you are reminded
that Barako is both coffee and machismo. Coffee,
because the term has become the generic name for
all coffee from Batangas. Machismo, because the term
also refers to the strength of the male.
Barako is just that—coffee that has strength
in taste, power in body, and sharpness in aroma.
As such, strong-tasting coffee is often identified
by the
Pinoy as barako. Historically, Barako coffee takes its name from the same Tagalog
word for wild boar, because these creatures like to dine on the coffee plant's
leaves and cherries.
Barako refers to the Philippine Liberica. There are four
identified species of coffee—Robusta, Excelsa, Arabica,
and Liberica. Of these, Liberica has the largest cherries
and therefore, bigger beans. Today, Philippine Liberica
or Barako is grown predominantly in Cavite .
Barako has an annual export volume of 1,200 bags, valued at $.15 million. Most
of it goes to Saudi Arabia . Sadly today, Barako is on its way to extinction.
When we used to be one of the world's top coffee producers two hundred years
ago, today we produce only .012% of the world's supply.
So, why did the industry die?
According to the Figaro Foundation Corporation, the corporate social responsibility
(CSR) arm of the Figaro Coffee Company, a well-established name in the local
specialty coffee sector, the death of the industry was a simple case of the lack
of profitability for many of the Filipino coffee farmers. One reason was that
the farmers have no control over coffee prices; the world price dictates local
price, as do the local buyers. In this situation, the local farmers cannot guarantee
their own profitability. And then much of the land that the farmers owned and
planted with coffee was declared industrial, commercial or residential land.
They couldn't cope with the increase in land taxes, and so they sold off their
land.
There was also the technology problem.
"Then there is the technology problem. In many coffee countries, coffee
production is largely mechanized, cutting down on time and labor cost. In the
Philippines, except for the larger coffee farms, nearly everything is done by
hand. It is labor and time intensive. The smaller farmers cannot afford even
the most basic machines like hullers," the foundation says.
Infrastructure is another problem, it said. "There
are not enough farm-to-market roads. Thus, getting the
yield to the markets is difficult. As a result, many
farmers whose families have planted coffee for generations have sold their
land or have switched to planting more profitable crops."
"Recently, another problem has emerged. With the lifting of the ban on coffee
importation, local farmers are worried that that may put a severe dent on the
demand for locally-produced coffee," the foundation says.
Is something being done to reverse the situation?
Taking slow but sure steps to help reverse this situation is Figaro Foundation
Corporation, established in 1999, whose main thrust is to see the country back
on the world coffee belt.
The foundation focuses its efforts on the revival of the
coffee industry—to
give back to the coffee farmers a thriving livelihood while revitalizing the
almost endangered Barako—through its awareness programs, new plantings,
research and marketing.
The foundation's Save the Barako project is slowly picking up the coffee industry
from where longstanding apathy left it off.
In the last ten years, according to the foundation, the country has lost about
80,000 hectares of coffee farms. Only about 120,000 hectares of productive coffee
land remain, mostly concentrated in the mountains of Batangas, Bukidnon, Benguet,
Cavite, Kalinga Apayao, Davao and Claveria.
Sixty to eighty thousand coffee families are left but their numbers continue
to fall. It is to help these families, and make coffee a major dollar earner
for the country once more that the Figaro Foundation Corporation is working on.
Its thrust is very simple - boost production and provide aid to the last remaining
coffee families.
The Save the Barako project is a cooperative project of the Foundation, the municipality
of Amadeo, Cavite , and the National Coffee Development Board (NCDB). Philippine
Coffee Board (PCB). The program is aimed at revitalizing the local coffee industry
and Barako farming.
Encouraging figures
"Since 2002, the figures for coffee production have been encouraging." says
Pacita Juan, foundation director and chairman of the Figaro Coffee Corporation,
who also co-chairs the NCDBPCB, adding its ten-year development plan which
covers 2003-2013.
Juan says though that their foundation does not claim to
be the sole party helping the coffee farmer, it has joined
forces with other coffee companies. "We
have joined forces under the NCDB PCB to help rehabilitate the Philippine Coffee
Industry."
"For Figaro Foundation," Juan says, "we have, since 1999, undertaken
projects to inspire others to take up the cause. Through our modest projects
like tree-planting activities, somehow, the Filipino coffee farmer became aware
of the market acceptance of Philippine coffee and the high demand for the crop."
Juan says that on a small scale the foundation gives seminars
on Organic Coffee Farming for communities in Kalinga, Ifugao
and Benguet from where organically-grown
coffee is available. This program started in March 2004 when they went on a
trip to visit these coffee farming communities, she says. "The
farmers have been adopting our recommended practices and
are under our guidance so we can attain
organic certification in the very near future."
Since its launch in 1999, the Figaro Foundation has organized events and activities
in an effort to bring to the fore the plight of the coffee industry and the Barako.
The foundation's continuing communications campaign has made more and more Filipinos
aware of our coffee industry's plight and the Foundation's efforts. As a result,
many land holders have switched crops, or turned idle land into new coffee farms.
In 2000, Barako became the focus of the foundation's efforts, and as a result,
the then nearly extinct Barako has become a staple in many local coffee shops
and restaurants, as well as in Filipino homes.
The foundation has done numerous coffee farm tours which
introduced participants to how their coffee is made, and
in towns like Amadeo, how the coffee industry
supports the people who grow the coffee. It also supports mounts coffee festivals. – coffee
festivals are undertaken by the Municipality of Amadeo.
In Cavite, something dramatic is happening
The foundation reports: "The national average yield is ½ tons
per hectare, or 2 kilograms of green beans per tree every
harvest. Since coffee is
harvested once a year, those are also the stats per year. In Cavite however,
where programs have been implemented to boost production, the average coffee
tree now yields 3 tons per hectare -- six times the national average. That
boosts production up to 12 kilograms a tree, and a whopping
1,200 cups of brewed coffee
from a single tree in a single harvest."
The foundation also works in partnership with the Municipal Government of Amadeo
in Cavite and the Cavite State University (CavSU) - the National Research Center
for Coffee - in maintaining a 1.7 hectare Barako Pilot Farm which implements
new farming technology and good farming practices, and is planted solely to Barako
from seedlings raised by Dr. Andy Mojica of CavSU.
According to the foundation, Barako was chosen for this
project to support the its project to save it from extinction. "Barako also fetches a higher market
price than Robusta -- the variety most commonly grown in Cavite. This project
is projected to increase the income of coffee farmers from P15,000 per hectare
per harvest to as high as P85,000 per hectare per harvest," the foundation
says.
Over the years, the foundation has also joined international trade exhibits here
and abroad in line with its objective of campaigning for Philippine coffee.
For 2007, says Juan, the foundation will continue with
its programs including organic coffee growing through its "Wild About Organic" campaign. She
adds, "We start the year with Coffee Harvest Tours and mid–year
we do tree planting. We continue to support the 'Adopt-a-Farm' project in Amadeo,
Cavite."
In addition, "Our 'Save the Barako' program continues
to attract people to plant Barako in their coffee farms.
We point them to seedling suppliers, farm
consultants and other parties that may help them achieve desired results." |
