Smallholder farming has often been viewed as a life of toil with little reward. This International Coffee Month, Nestlé Philippines and other stakeholders in the public and private sectors reaffirm their commitment to rewrite this narrative permanently in the coffee industry.
Project Coffee+, the pilot coffee acceleration initiative of the NESCAFÉ Plan in tandem with the German agency GIZ, has been transforming coffee farmers into agripreneurs, training them in more sustainable and effective methods of coffee growing, and teaching entrepreneurial skills to enable them to run their farms as lucrative businesses. Since 2018, the initiative has uplifted the livelihoods and lives of participating Robusta coffee farmers in Mindanao, where their average yields and incomes have grown threefold.
Transforming coffee farmers’ livelihood and lives
A transformation has been brewing in Bukidnon and Sultan Kudarat, where 3,000 smallholder farmers who participated in Project Coffee++, the second phase of Project Coffee+, are achieving new levels of income by replacing old ways with new mindsets. They are not simply farmers anymore; they are business owners leveraging regenerative agriculture and entrepreneurial practices to build profitable, sustainable, and resilient livelihoods. Close to 80 percent of all Project Coffee+ participants have since crossed the poverty threshold.
Farmers like Pedro Regidor, Richard Lozaga, and Reynaldo Teofilo, are some of the Project Coffee+ participants who are embracing regenerative agriculture to heal the soil and produce quality green coffee beans. They are proving that coffee farming is a good source of income, particularly with meaningful interventions from the private sector, NGOs, and government agencies. Interventions include technical training, financial support, farming inputs, and access to ready buyers.
From bean to bank – Richard Lozaga’s 9MT harvest boosts farm expansion
In 2009, Richard began planting coffee on his 5-hectare farm in Sultan Kudarat. Before joining Project Coffee++ in 2023, Richard’s coffee yield was a little over 7MT – then already a sizable harvest, considering that the national average coffee yield was only 300kg per hectare.
But in crop year 2024, Richard’s coffee output grew to 9MT, proving he could maximize farm productivity by shifting to high-yielding coffee plantlets, regularly pruning and cutting trees, and allocating more areas for coffee.
‘Dahil sa mga natutunan ko sa training sa programa ng Project Coffee+, na-improve ko ang aking farming practices. Nakabili ako ng truck at ng sariling motor na hindi na kailangan pa humiram or mangutang o magtrabaho sa mga ibang sakahan – dahil lang sa harvest ko na kape,’ said Richard. ‘Ang produkto naming kape, hindi kami nahihirapan ibenta kasi alam namin na laging nandiyan ang Nestlé para bilhin ito.’
Richard’s coffee income helped his children earn their college degrees. He built his house, bought five motorcycles and a truck, and many other tools and equipment to operate his expanding farm, which now has a bigger area for coffee and includes a piggery.
Today his children are operating their own coffee farms, after seeing first-hand how income from coffee farming has sustained their needs, providing a comfortable life.
Pedro Regidor: Young orphan turned businessman
At 13, Pedro lost both his parents and had to work to support himself. After many years of working for other farm owners in Sultan Kudarat, he was finally able to purchase a 2-hectare farm and start a family. He began planting coffee in 1997, and after 10 years of hard work, he saw his coffee first harvest totaling 1.5MT in 2008.
Pedro joined Project Coffee+ in 2020, which taught him Good Agricultural Practices for coffee, and how to generate income from other revenue streams. In 2024, thanks to a 6.8MT coffee harvest, his biggest output yet, he was able to invest in a piggery from his coffee earnings.
‘Tumaas ang ani ko noong 2024 dahil nai-apply ko ang aking natutunan sa Project Coffee++ ukol sa responsible sourcing, Farmer Business School, at regenerative agriculture,’ said Pedro. ‘Nakatanggap din ako ng pataba mula sa Nestlé at sa kanilang mga partners kaya malaking tulong para sa ganitong level ng harvest.’
His coffee income has helped give his children a college education, and a sturdy home for his family. He has invested in farm equipment, a bodega, trucks, and motorbikes. His farmland has grown by an additional 23 hectares.
Reynaldo Teofilo: A champion of soil fertility
In Bukidnon, Reynaldo safeguards his farm’s soil to sustain its future productivity. Reynaldo, who has been farming for 35 years, depends on his 1.8-hectare farm for all his income. Seventy percent of his farm’s revenue is from coffee, while 30 percent is from other crops.
His initial coffee yield was 300kg per hectare, barely enough to support his spouse and their two children. In order to optimize the profitability of his farm, he joined a NESCAFÉ Plan training program on Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) for coffee in 2017, then Project Coffee+ in 2018.
In 2020, Reynaldo made a breakthrough – his earnings rose to six figures when he harvested 1.3MT per hectare of coffee. He came to appreciate the full benefits of regenerative agriculture, and fully embraced its techniques, including agroforestry, rejuvenating aging trees, mulching, grafting, and composting. He has also diversified his crops, earning significantly from fruits and other produce. In 2024, his farm achieved record revenues, as the quality of his coffee crop merited an attractive price.
‘Dahil sa Project Coffee+ marami akong nakuhang technical assistance upang mapalago ang aking farm at ngayon, ang laki ng kinikita ko dahil sa kape.’ Reynaldo explained. ‘Ipagpapatuloy ko ang paggamit ng mga regenerative agriculture practices at ng GAP. Nais kong maabot ang 3MT per hectare na coffee harvest sa 2026.’
Project Coffee++ culminates in optimism for coffee farming tomorrow
Project Coffee++ built directly on the results of Project Coffee+ which substantially increased the yields and incomes of farmers in Bukidnon and Sultan Kudarat.
From 2022 to 2025, Project Coffee++ provided training to develop farmers’ skills in management and finance, and sustainable practices to improve soil health, such as composting, organic fertilizer application, and soil cover, boosting both farm income and environmental health.
The initiative closely involved various stakeholders including the Department of Agriculture, its training arm (DA-ATI), the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, and state universities in Northern Mindanao and SOCCKSARGEN, to strengthen the coffee value chain. The learning materials produced with the help of these stakeholders will be instrumental in the continued training of other farmers in the country. As the Project Coffee+ initiative draws to a close, Nestlé believes its successes can be replicated in other coffee-producing regions.
‘The NESCAFÉ Plan seeks to help equip our coffee farmers to increase supply for the steady rise in coffee demand,’ said Joey Uy III, SVP, Corporate Affairs Head of Nestlé Philippines. ‘The conclusion of Project Coffee++ validates our conviction at Nestlé – that Filipino coffee farmers can considerably improve their production volume and earnings sustainably, resulting in a higher quality of life, and preserve productivity against climate change impacts, while producing among the best Robusta coffee beans in the world.’
Project Coffee ++ combines the ecological wisdom of regenerative agriculture to boost yields and quality, along with the role of agripreneurship to generate greater value from bean to cup, which is good for both profitability and the planet.