To help
boost the Philippine coffee industry, GCash, the Philippines’ no. 1 finance
super app, partners with The Philippine Coffee Board Inc. (PCBI) to employ a
science-based approach to plant 200,000 coffee trees across the country through
GForest, its digital tree-planting movement.
The
local coffee industry has been facing many challenges, with only 33% of coffee
beans in the market produced locally due to various reasons, such as lack of
capital, limited knowledge on tree cultivation, and pest control among small
and backyard farmers. Even after the coffee beans are harvested, farmers must
also face competitive pricing from international exporters.
GCash
and PCBI aim to educate and encourage Filipinos to support local products and
at the same time provide opportunities for women, which compose 50% of the
farmers.
“Using
GCash not only allows our users to reduce their carbon emission by going
digital, but also allows them to take an active role in our reforestation
efforts via GForest. Through this partnership with PCBI, we envision to build
agroforests that will not only help fight climate change, but also provide
sustainable livelihoods to farmers and support the Philippine Coffee industry,”
said Martha Sazon, GCash President and CEO.
The
Philippine Coffee Board is a private sector-led group established in 2002 by
coffee experts to develop and promote quality Filipino coffee through technical
assistance and credit programs to farmers and help them market and promote
local coffee for domestic and export markets.
This
project will provide much-needed long-term support to local farmers in Cavite,
Benguet, Iloilo, Davao, and Basilan, enabling them to start their own backyard
farms. This program will also educate them on how to plant local coffee
seedlings, learn the science of natural coffee farming, and experience local
brewing.
PCBI
president Chit Juan shared that the Philippine coffee industry's demand is
roughly around 133 million kilograms, which translates to each person now
consuming 3 kilograms per capita. According to her, this makes the Philippines
the highest in ASEAN and the second in Asia markets in per capita consumption,
as of the recent report of the Department of Trade and Industry.
“I’d
like to thank GCash for really appreciating this good cause in planting coffee
because although it's still a far target to self-sufficiency with us only
producing 41,000 metric tons out of 133,000; we would definitely be moving the
needle with our partnership,” said Juan.
By the
end of 2023, PCBI, on behalf of GCash, will begin planting 50,000 seedlings in
identified areas such as Cavite and Benguet. In the next two years, the project
will expand to meet the goal of planting over 200,000 coffee trees.
Shade
trees will also be planted to protect the coffee trees. Shade-grown coffee
plantations will help mitigate carbon emissions by capturing and storing carbon
through photosynthesis and incorporating it into the plant system. The entire
coffee agroforestry ecosystem will act as a carbon sink that can help combat
global warming and rising temperatures.
This
collaborative project is part of GCash’s GForest initiative, the biggest
digital tree-planting movement in the country, which allows GCash users to
plant a tree for free by collecting “green energy points” earned from using the
app’s various services. These points will be used to plant a virtual tree, and
in turn, GCash, together with its local and international partners, will plant
an actual tree.
Since
its launch in 2019, 14 million users have already joined GForest and planted
three million virtual trees. To date, GCash has already planted a total of 2.5
million actual trees on their behalf.
Take part in the green movement by joining GForest. To become a ‘Green Hero’, tap GForest in the GCash app; read the user agreement, and click ‘I want to help! ’ then allow access to your contacts and health app. Once accomplished, you can now start collecting energy points.
