Social Issue

There are approximately 12 million people working in the Philippine’s agricultural sector and it is estimated that over 35% live below the country’s poverty threshold. Many farmers are unable to access or afford high-quality farm inputs and training to improve productivity. This results in low annual yields and a perpetual cycle of poverty for millions of rural households.

Our Response

KFI provides farmers in the Mindanao region of the Philippines a comprehensive programme to grow and sell cacao. KFI provides seedlings and on-going technical support that should enable farmers to produce better quality cacao and higher yields. They also facilitate access to grants and financing from various government agencies and rural banks so that farmers can buy required inputs and invest in their farms. KFI enters into purchase agreements with the farmers to buy cacao at a price that is at least 70% that of the world market price.

The aim is to increase farmers’ yields between one to two metric tons/hectare while the average yield in the Philippines today is 0.5 metric ton/hectare. Over a five-year period, this should lead to a doubling or quadrupling of farmers’ incomes, where they are currently earning $900 per annum from their cacao.

Expected Social Impact

Since Netri granted the first loan to KFI, the number of farmers it collaborates with in its Cocoa Growership Program (CGP) has increased: from 4,658 in 2015 to 19,290 in 2018. For this reason, the loan granted in 2014 has been renewed and expanded $500,000.

In the coming years, a five-year-long impact study will be carried out to better understand the project’s impact on farmers’ incomes.