Sulu launches coffee processing center

SULU, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Sept. 20, 2010) - Sulu province has formally launched its coffee processing center and is expected to boost coffee production and eventually helped local cooperatives as part of a massive agricultural program that aims to provide additional livelihoods to farmers.

Governor Sakur Tan said Sulu is one of the major producers of high quality coffee beans - Arabica and Robusta – and is the most sought after not only in the Philippines, but other Asian and European countries as well because of its distinct aroma and flavor.

Tan said the Sulu Coffee Processing Center is a joint project of the Sulu provincial government and the Act for Peace Programme headed by its area manager Suharto Abbas.

The Act for Peace Programme under its industry-based component provided some P999, 300 for the purchase of machineries while the provincial government shouldered the construction of the building that houses the coffee processing center.

The main proponent of the project is the Task Force Kahawa Sug which literally means “Sulu coffee.”

Tan said at least 56 cooperatives will benefit from the project. “We are really working hard to come up with more projects like this coffee processing center and more cooperatives will also benefit from this,” he said.

The governor has urged farmers and fishermen to form themselves into cooperatives and avail of the many various projects of the provincial government. Tan said he would also built a school which would specialize in agriculture and fisheries and offer free education to all in Sulu. (With a report from Jung Francisco)