Adapted from the project funded by Commission on Higher Education (CHED) in 2012, the National Coffee Research, Development, and Extension Center (NCRDEC) continues the practice of extending support to coffee farmers by innovatively providing services to target stakeholders with technical assistance and support services.

Background and Problem

CvSU is located at the heart of coffee producing municipalities such as Indang, Amadeo, and Tagaytay. The practice was adapted from CHED-funded project in 2012 entitled “Empowering Small-scale Coffee Farmers through Long-Term Support from NCRDEC” which was directed to organize and to help small-scale coffee farming communities by providing them with technical assistance and support services. In line with its goal of bringing back the Philippine coffee back to the world market and transforming CvSU into a Coffee Research University in 2030, the NRCDEC continues to assess and formulate new strategies to provide extension support to suit the needs of coffee farmers and to help improve the coffee industry in the country. In addition, the framework used in the project was inspired from the observed best practices implemented in several organizations abroad especially in the United States and Canada which aimed to improve the lives of their target stakeholders by providing innovative and technical assistance.

Solution and Impact

The practice aims to innovatively provide services to target stakeholders by giving two meaningful benefits: the ability and the opportunity. NRCDEC provides education and trainings to coffee stakeholders that will enable them to gain knowledge and skills. Moreover, the center also provides opportunities through establishment of linkages with public and private institutions which allow the coffee stakeholders to have an instant access to resources and market. From 2013 to present, the best practice helped sustain the center’s objectives:

  1. To help provide leadership in conducting coffee research and extension activities;
  2. To produce technically-equipped coffee production specialists through the conduct of trainings and workshops; and
  3. To establish strong partnership with farming communities, research institutions and other agencies or organizations.

Milestones

In the continued practice of empowering coffee farmers, the NRCDEC has improved its undertakings to lead in the conduct of coffee research and extension activities in the country. In addition, the center has increased its number of linkages and partnerships from government, public, and private institutions in line with the target activities and deliverables stated in the NRCDEC Strategic Development Plan. Over the years, the NRCDEC is assessing and formulating new strategies in providing extension support and services to suit the needs of coffee stakeholders.  For the last five years, an average of 600 stakeholders benefited from skills training, site assessments and other means of technical assistance conducted by the NRCDEC. As a result, the project was awarded by the Philippine Extension and Advisory Services Network Inc. (PhilEASNet) as an “Outstanding Extension Project” in the 5th National Symposium on Agriculture, Fishery, Forestry, and Natural Resources Extension in 2014.