Hankering for a hot cup of coffee to jumpstart your day? You’ve got to first be a tad grateful to the microfinance worker who helped bring you your yummy latte.

Microfinance is also the driving force behind coffee production, one of our most dynamic and popular industries. With every cup you consume, there is a large probability that you are drinking coffee from farmers, who have in one way or another been supported by a microfinance institution.

According to Pacita “Chit” Juan, Philippine coffee champion and the founder of Figaro Coffee Company, microfinance “has helped them (farmers) go from harvest to harvest—from season to season—as coffee is an annual crop. Microfinance helps them to invest and engage with other cash crops in between coffee harvests.”

There is also a great probability that the coffee you are drinking—whether from a fancy grande cup at your favorite coffee shop or from the plastic cup of a quick mix vendo—is an industrious Filipino farmer’s main source of livelihood. That is why Chit Juan has been resolute in encouraging more people to patronize Philippine coffee.

Filipino farmers yield some of the most sought after and flavorful coffee brands. Our coffee brands are also safer and more nutritious because these are grown “in an organic way.” Chit Juan said: “Many of our coffee farms are naturally organic and under rainforests and shades.”

Moreover, she adds that drinking Philippine Coffee “gives our farmers the hope that the future generations of coffee farmers can still be productive and efficient to grow this wonderful crop.” If you’re still not convinced, Juan shares with us three of the most notable brands from Filipino farmers. Try these coffee blends for a taste of what our farmers–with the help of microfinance–can achieve:

Mount Apo Altura Coffee

Known for its smooth flavor with a mild and slightly sweet taste, the Mount Apo Altura Cofee “command a very high value.” The flavor—and the price—are due to a very complicated production process. To begin with, its coffee beans are selected and picked from stout Arabica trees growing at high altitudes of almost 1,500 meters above sea level. Then it is fed to the Asian civet cat. In the cat’s stomach, the beans absorb proteolytic enzymes, which makes it free from amino acids. After the civet lets the beans loose, these are washed, sterilized, and dried in the sun. Only after these steps, is the coffee roasted, making it ready for consumption. The Mount Apo Altura Coffee is widely recognized by enthusiasts as the superlative coffee experience.

Café Amadeo

Café Amadeo, according to Juan, “is famous for being a monobrand, or a single brand of a coffee town, and is run by a cooperative.” Farmers from the Café Amadeo Development Cooperative, which was established in June 28, 2002, grow the coffee in a quaint municipality in Cavite. The cooperative’s tasty selection of Robusta, Excelsa, Liverica, and Pahimis blends have brought much success to Amadeo, bringing sales of nearly Php 3 million a year for the farmers.

Rainforest Coffee

Health buffs as well as coffee lovers will definitely enjoy a savory cup of the organically produced Rainforest Coffee. Cultivated in the lush forest communities in Negros, the Rainforest Coffee is known for being the product of organic farming. “Rainforest is certified organic by a local certifying organization,” said Juan. The coffee blend is also quite tasty, and even better than some of the high-end local brands served in fancy Manila cafes.

Senator Pangilinan with PinoyME president and CEO Dan Sonco and the Kalasag farmers.

“In a span of three years an onion producers coop in Nueva Ecija doubled their incomes when they dealt directly with Jollibee. Now the same cooperative is teaching farmers in Bukidnon to plant onions as well,” posted Pangilinan on his Twitter account after visiting Nueva Ecija onion farmers last August 12.

The chair of the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Food was referring to the “Bridging Farmers to the JFC Supply Chain Project,” which linked up the Kalasag Onion Farmers Producers Cooperative with Jollibee Foods Corporation, the largest Philippine fast food chain. The senator was accompanied in his visit by PinoyME president and CEO Dan Songco.

Possibilities for more partnerships

Started in 2008, the project has allowed small farmers to sell their crops directly to Jolllibee, resulting to increased profit and opportunities for expansion. Kalasag has since been supplying the popular restaurant chain with onions.

In just its first year, farmers from six municipalities have benefited from the project. Aside from those in Nueva Ecijia, agricultural workers from Nueva Vizcaya, Bukidnon, and Zamboanga Sibugay have also cut costs, and improved earnings by selling their produce directly to Jollibee.

“Bridging Farmers to the JFC” is now being expanded to support rice, bell pepper, and tomato farmers in Quezon, Bukidnon, and Misamis Oriental.

Jollibee Foundation executive director Ma. Gisela Tiongson is optimistic that the success of the project will lead to more partnerships with more farmers.

Support from the Senator

Senator Pangilinan and Dan Songco survey the onion fields of Nueva Ecija.

The senator has expressed concern in earlier statements that the government’s food security program may be threatened by the “unattractive income from farming.”

“This is a fact that is looming over us for years now,” he said. “The average age of our farming sector is now at 57 years, plus the fact that the annual income of ordinary farmers and fisherfolk averages only P17,000. This could pose a threat to our efforts to achieve food security.”

More value chain models like “Bridging Farmers to JFC” is seen to be one of the solutions to achieve better and more sustainable livelihood opportunities for farmers. Aside from connecting the farmers with established corporations like Jollibee, the model also provides training to increase the farmers’ productivity, gain skills in enterprise management, and improve their access to credit.

The body of former president Corazon Aquino lay in state on August 2, 2009 at a public wake at the St. Benilde Gymnasium, La Salle Green Hills. Outside, the streets were lined with yellow ribbons, the symbol of celebration after the People Power revolution. However, most Filipinos were inconsolable. As the sympathy flowers that ornament the wake, the ribbons serve one purpose—to provide a vivid and lasting memory for those who have gathered to mourn the passing of the lady most dear to our nation.

Two years later, the loss of founder of the PinoyME Consortium continues to fill us with sorrow. Members of the consortium honor her memory by striving to fulfill her vision—that of ending poverty in the lives of Filipinos through microfinance. And while the flowers and ribbons of her wake no longer provide them with keepsakes of Tita Cory’s life, there are blossoming communities all over the country that remind them of her humble yet indomitable spirit. These are the seeds of hope that were planted on that doleful day when the Aquino family requested for people to donate to the PinoyME Social Investment Fund (SIF) in lieu of flowers.

Laua-an farmers stand against poverty

In the mountainous town of Laua-an, Antique, a cooperative with mostly muscovado farmers as members is being served by the SIF donations gathered during the wake. The SIF was brought about to expand the reach of microfinance to the poorest clients.
Much like its muscovado farmers, the Laua-an Multi-Purpose Cooperative (LMPC) has endured the decline and resurgence of the muscovado industry. The LPMC traces its origins from the Laua-an Cooperative Credit Union of 1965, which was established by Mill Hill Missionaries to fight poverty when the influx of refined sugar was weakening the profits of farmers. The cooperative then was housed in the church. “We dealt with financial challenges with a paluwagan system,” said LPMC general manager Jun Espanola.

The cooperative was reorganized into LPMC in the 90s when muscovado sugar regained profitability with the demand for natural health products. However, though the collaboration and diligence of LPMC members has transformed Laua-an into a hub for muscovado sugar, Espanola said that most of the 6,000 families in the town are still suffering in poverty.

The LPMC works to mend this by providing funds, livelihood opportunities, and marketing services not only to muscovado farmers and their families, but also to “handicraft makers, housewives, and teachers.” LPMC at present has a total membership of 1,168–70% are women while 30% are men.

“Iba’t-ibang klase ang lending windows namin. Nag-lelend kami sa mga farmers and also sa mga micrentrepreneurs,” said Espanola.

Espanola, who received the Dilidhon Ngalauan-on Award for community service during the 2009 Pahinis Festival, started out as technical assistant and rose from the ranks through hard work in LPMC.

Tita Cory’s legacy in Laua-an

The LPMC received from the SIF funds that served as capital for their muscovado sugar trading. These were also used to provide microfinance loans, which brought livelihood opportunities to farmers before harvest time.

“Ang laking tulong. Maliban sa agri-trading, nagkaroon ng pagkakakitaan yung mga members tuwing planting season. Gumagawa sila ng mga handicrafts tulad ng wall décor. Nakapag-propovide kami ng materials tulad ng bamboo. Noong harvest naman, bumili kami sa kanila sa magandang presyo. Kasi napakababa na nga bumili ng mga traders dito, dinadaya pa yung weighing scale,” said Espanola.

He added: “Nagpapasalamat kami dahil donation instead na material ang ibinigay nila kay former president Cory Aquino. Mas maganda kasi maraming natutulungan especially dito sa amin kung saan maraming mahihirap. Dito naman po ay lagi po naming inaalala ang mga Aquino dahil sa mga magagandang ginawa nila. Dito po sa Laua-an, idolo po talaga namin ang mga Aquino at tsaka sana mapagpatuloy pa ang mga ideya tulad nito na nakatutulong sa mga mahihirap na tao tulad namin.”

Those who provided donations to the SIF instead of flowers during the memorial service include: the Info Tech the Association of the Philippines Convergence Alliance, Inc., the Philippine Investment Management, Inc., Social Weather Stations, the Small Business Guarantee & Finance Corp., Ultrex Managers and Consultants, Isla Lipana & Co., the University of the East, the Aldaba-Lim Foundation, the Landbank of the Philippines, as well as several individuals.

The SIF today helps fund the microfinance services and livelihood projects of MFIs and cooperatives in other agricultural areas such as Ilocos and Davao del Norte.

Coco sugar with its low glycemic index has become a hit among the health conscious and people with diabetes.

We in the Philippines share the thoughts of our Asian neighbors on the useful coconut palm. The coconut not only nourishes us with its meat and milk, it provides virgin coconut oil (one of our country’s best exports), copra, nata de coco, and coco jam.

Distillation yields our favorite local wines—tuba and lambanog. Needless to say, delicacies like ginataan, bibinka, pitsi-pitsi, and palitaw would lose their savor without a smidge of its fruit.

But in the picturesque village of Linabu, Misamis Oriental, the coconut not only provides sustenance, it also nourishes the dreams of farmers for more prosperous lives. Since the Linabu Agrarian Multipurpose Cooperative (LAMPCO) started producing coco sugar, earnings have been on the rise. Orders from exporters have even exceeded their processing plant’s capacity.

The operations of LAMPCO have since generated a total of livelihood opportunities for 53 individuals. Fifteen laborers are employed for production while 11 farm owners and 14 sap gathers received the chance to earn for their families.

In an interview with Sun Star Davao, the Philippine Coconut Authority for Northern Mindanao regional manager Luis Cruz said: “Coco sugar has given the coconut farmer literally his daily bread.”

Less boozing, more earnings

Every successful industry calls for sacrifices. In the case of coco sugar industry, it has quite amusingly led to the decreasing population of the drunken farmer. As the sugar is made from tuba, most farmers choose to boil the wine dry to make coco sugar rather than get inebriated.

A whole night of drinking usually goes to coco sugar production as two gallons of tuba is needed to make a kilo of coco sugar. One can sell it for 160 to 200 pesos per kilo at the plant or at cooperative stores. If the farmer has 20 to 30 coconut trees, and extracts up to around 10 gallons a day, he or she earns at least 1000 pesos a day. The coco sugar producer’s monthly income of 30,000 pesos a month then matches what the copra farmer earns for an entire year.

Diabetic-friendly

The Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI) of the Department of Science and Technology also has good news for people suffering diabetes—coco sugar is also safe for consumption even for people with high blood sugars.
FNRI notes that coco sugar has a low glycemic index (GI) of 35 plus/minus 5 and hence does not induce high blood sugar. The GI measures how fast carbohydrates convert to glucose in the blood.

The FNRI even collected blood samples from 10 non-diabetics before and after eating coco sugar. The experiment showed that intake of the sugar did not significantly increase blood glucose levels.

Studies showed that coco sugar also helps lower cholesterol, and is rich in nutrients such as potassium, phosphorus, magnesium, sulfur, cal¬cium, and vitamin C.

A partnership for the future of coco sugar

This year marks the beginning of a partnership between PinoyME and LAMPCO. PinoyME will provide the cooperative with funds that will help expand its coco sugar production so that it can meet the demand of exporters and generate more income and employment for the residents of Linabu.

“If said expansion were to happen, current employment, both for the processing site and farmer level will be doubled,” said Andres Ruba, Jr., credit and investment officer of PinoyME.

”This will greatly benefit the community as it provides a monthly income for people who usually earn just two to four times a year from conventional coconut farming. It also helps a lot since most people involved in the coco sugar production are breadwinners of their respective families.”

“Such project will also bring a sense of empowerment not only to the people involved in the production and enterprise but the whole community as well. The area’s recognition as a quality supplier of coco sugar among others can and will eventually put Linabu in the map so to speak,” he added.

Adela Adapo's family was among those whose lives were transformed by the partnership of PinoyME and KPMFI.

“Above all, they are vehicles for restoring the dignity and self-worth of the downtrodden. They are strengthening the fabric of our society by restoring spirituality, national pride and core family values in thousands of humble homes,” she said.

The PinoyME Foundation (PMEF)—a social investment entity, which she established to catalyze the growth of microfinance—continues her legacy by striving to achieve these by sharing financial knowledge and capacity building services from experts, creating a market for microenterprises by promoting collaboration between fledgling businesses and corporations, and by providing funds to MFIs so that they may sustain the undertakings of microentrepreneurs.

PMEF was established to act on funding for MFIs, which is most critical, especially for those operating in agricultural areas where challenges are engendered by a “cycle of poverty”. In Mindanao, Ariel “Ayi” Hernandez and the Katilingbanong Pamahandi sa Mindanao Foundation, Inc. (KPMFI) brave these challenges with PinoyME as they exhaust all efforts to transform poor families into successful microentrepreneurs.

Rural poverty and the social investment fund

Fighting poverty in agricultural areas is a task fraught with challenges. The microfinance practitioner already confronts a frustrating dearth of access to resources—from potable water to medical services. But this is even exacerbated by the glaring mismatch between farmers’ seasonal incomes with expenses that need to be met every day.

Farmers only earn income during harvest time, and yet they must spend every day for food, children’s tuition, and other school expenses. To make ends meet, they borrow from loan sharks, and hence are already mired in debt long before they harvest their crops.

KPMFI addresses this challenge by bringing about opportunities for farmers to earn for their daily expenses. Ayi Hernandez says, “KPMFI intervenes, and breaks the cycle of poverty by introducing daily, weekly or monthly income for farmers.”

PinoyME also contributes to this effort through the social investment fund (SIF), which is pooled from public donations. The SIF allows PinoyME to support microfinance initiatives in higher-risk areas like in rural communities where stormy weather threatens harvests, and may affect the settlement of loans.

The livelihood opportunities brought about by the partnership of PinoyME and KPMFI include backyard broiler businesses for farmers in Gingoog City and the Municipalities of Claveria and Magsaysay, Misamis Oriental. This allow the farmers to earn an average additional income of P3,500 a month, which they can now use for everyday expenditure.

The more industrious and enterprising ones can bring in more as they receive an average of P4,000 per 1,000 chickens. KPMFI also ensures profit by linking the farmers with Sr. Pedro, one of the biggest lechon manok franchises in the country with over 250 branches nationwide.

“We fight the cycle of poverty by simply providing them opportunity,” said Hernandez. “If the farmer would have a monthly seasonal income, this will now be a surplus that one can save up or set aside for the education of the children.”

Transformation goes beyond income

Hernandez shares the belief of Tita Cory and PinoyME that transformation should be goal of microfinance. He explains, “Profit is important, but more important is how the beneficiary of the project was transformed along the way.

“It’s not just the income that you’re transforming; it’s the person. Kasi may nangyayaring ang laki ng income pero wala naman na-save. I think that’s understandable for people who live in poverty or a hand-to-mouth existence all their lives. When they get the money, they just spend it.”

KPMFI inculcates the values of discipline and an entrepreneurial attitude through “forced savings and strict monitoring of their performance.”

“Transformation is what will keep them going even after the intermediaries have left,” said Hernandez. “If we fail to transform then we have failed as intermediaries.”

“We will work until those we are helping have felt what it is to be disciplined growers, to have that vision to see that they can fight poverty.”

We are marking today the second anniversary of the passing of our beloved former Philippine president and PinoyME founder. For many of us, Tita Cory Aquino has been a guiding light in our nation’s darkest epochs, our beacon in personal instances of weakness and confusion. To say we miss her is an understatement.

Our only source of comfort is that her life has provided us with examples that make her absence less difficult to bear. We in PinoyME feel as if somehow we are standing next to her again whenever a farmer who used to tire himself, harvesting food for others, can now provide food for the family. We feel like she is guiding us again whenever a handicraft maker who did not get the chance to sit inside a classroom is coming closer each day to seeing her child graduate.

For Tita Cory showed us that the simple act of caring for others can yield a revolution. She taught us that every Filipino empowered and lifted from poverty is worth all the sacrifice and hard work. She shared her entire life, giving more than she can give for the opportunity to lift our lives. Whenever we follow her example, it is as if we are striving to keep the light of her spirit alive.

It is of notable coincidence that the commemoration of her passing comes days after the Fourth Anniversary of the PinoyME Foundation (PMEF), which Tita Cory brought about to make microfinance a more potent tool for investing in the abilities of others. Please allow us to take this opportunity to introduce the new trustees of PMEF—Nestor V. Tan, Banco De Oro president; Sanjiv Vohra, Citybank country officer and country head; and Roberto Calingo, executive director of the Peace and Equity Foundation. Thank you for working with us to keep Tita Cory’s spirit alive.

We also wish to express our gratitude to Ambassador Albert Del Rosario, Juan Miguel Luz, and Veronica Villavicencio. Thank you so much for the times you have shared with us, for the victories we have pulled off, and most of all for the people we have been able to serve through your efforts.

It is regretful that Tita Cory is no longer with us to see the seeds she sowed blossom into trees that now impact different microfinance areas. PMEF today is bringing about more linkages between microentrepreneurs and private corporations through the People-Powered Markets. More support and volunteers are emerging as evidenced by the Accenture employees who are working pro bono to automate microfinance institutions. Academic institutions are also casting their lots on microenterprise as they offer Microfinance programs to ensure there are more talented Filipinos who can contribute their skills to microfinance.

These developments inspire us as these not only show that the microfinance industry continues to grow and reach out to more poverty-stricken Filipinos—these show that we are not alone in efforts to fight poverty, that more Filipinos care about what others eat, what futures they can provide their children. Most importantly, these developments tell us that our founder is still guiding us. Tita Cory lives on through your work in microfinance.

[PinoyME is honoring the life and legacy of former President Corazon Aquino with the I Love ME contest. Please join by answering the question “How does Tita Cory inspire you in your microfinance/ microenterprise work?"]

What’s not to love about microenterprises? They provide enterprising Pinoys with the chance to earn more prosperous lives for their families. They are our source for our favorite products—from yummy chicharon and bibingka to cuddly teddy bears and nifty bags and baskets. Moreover, microenterprises are a prime contributor to the national economy, making up 92% of Philippine business.

To celebrate its 4th Year Anniversary, the PinoyME Foundation invites you to show your love and gratitude for our hardworking microentrepreneurs through the I Love ME (Microenterprises) Contest. The prize: gift certificates for Rags to Riches, Gifts and Graces, and I am Ninoy/ I am Cory items.

All you have to do is answer either of the two questions “Why do you love microenterprises?” and “How does Tita Cory inspire you in your microfinance/ microenterprise work?” Post your answer in the PinoyME Facebook page, and if it gets the most likes, you win!

Here are the mechanics for the I Love ME Contest:

1. Like our page.

2. Post your answer in the PinoyME status line. Don’t forget to tag microentrepreneurs or microfinance practitioners you admire with your answers. Let them know their efforts are valuable to you.

3. Get your friends to like your post. The answer with the most likes wins. First place gets a P2500 gift certificate; seconds gets P1500; while the third placer gets P1000.

So show your wit and love for microenterprises. Post on Facebook now. The winners will be announced on August 1, our celebration for the life of beloved PinoyME founder and former president Tita Cory Aquino.