24/03/2018
Thank you RD Myrna Pablo for this story.
"Just after dinner in this big room now almost empty where its 700 pax talked about the state and future prospects of the phil coffee industry for the last 2 full days , a pax reached out and thanked us for the opportunity given him to attend this national coffee event. Guys listen- it is hist FIRST time to ride on a plane , FIRST time to see Manila and first time to see Baguio City as well , so happy despite his throwing up on their way to Baguio , our long and winding road is the culprit. For these, he says -,he treasures and will forever remember the 3rd Phil Coffee Conference. His name is Marcelo Buan, a coffee farmer and his micro coffee farm is located in a very laidback far-flung Mt. Matutum, South Cotabato. He shared that his coffee brought his children to school, has improved their living and now having a life better than when he was not yet into coffee farming. True, he is too far from his market but a national coffee organization, he says, buys his coffee and even provided him with the basic post harvest facilities on depulper and dehuller for better quality of cherries/ beans. He has very positive prospects on his coffee and after listening in 2 full days and interacting with the country’s big and small coffee players,his passion to develop his micro coffee farm
further mounted . He is pinning a lot of hope and expectations for our coffee stakeholders to converge and unite fully for inclusivity of the industry- ‘walang iwanan’
so to speak. I know there are lots of Marcelo Buan in our 700 pax- with simple dreams of making a living enough for a life through the coffee industry. Let us not fail them. For sure , If we all unite in the industry , we can well do it.
"