Senator Cynthia Villar is urging cacao farmers to venture into agri-entrepreneurship, agri-tourism, and agri-related training by establishing their own farm school or learning center specializing in cacao.
Speaking during the Kakao Konek 2018 held in Davao City recently, the seasoned legislator pointed out that increasing production and farm productivity alone cannot move the farmers out of poverty.
“We must also teach small farmers capacity-building strategies and approaches to level up their knowledge and know how to help them to operate their small farms as agri-businesses and to have alternative sources of income,” said Villar, the Senate Agriculture Committee chairperson who is also the primary author of the Farm Tourism Development Law or Republic Act (RA) 10816.
The veteran lawmaker said that many farmers have converted their farms into a farm tourism site.
“Many of them are now managing their farms as a business. It has become a win-win situation for them—they farm, they accept tourists or visitors to their farms and for those who have a school or learning site, they can also accept trainees/students,” the lady senator said.
“It has become a win-win situation – they farm, they accept tourists or visitors to their farms and for those who have a school or learning site, they can also accept trainees/students.”
“We really have the competitive edge in cacao, so we just have to work on enhancing or strengthening that. Having said that, why do we still import 40,000 MT (metric tons)of cocoa and cocoa products to serve the local demand? When in fact we are in the best position to fill the supply gap in the world cocoa market,” she stressed.
“We are in the best position to fill the supply gap in the world cocoa market.”
“A mere 10 percent share in the world supply can provide a profitable income to the country and local producers,” Villar added.
The global demand for cocoa products is expected to reach between 4.7 million to five million metric tons by 2020. Villar said this presents huge opportunities for the local cacao industry players.
She urged the cacao stakeholders to strengthen the local cacao industry first before aspiring to become regionally and globally competitive.
Based on the data of the Department of Agriculture (DA), local average annual cocoa consumption is placed at 50,000 MT and local supply is only around 10,000 MT.
