07/01/2023
The Coffee Heritage Project Technical Team’s Community Field Visit – Project Partnership
The CHP technical team headed by its founder and executive director and CEO of SGD Coffee and Culture Center, Inc., Rich Watanabe, with Aklan Trekkers' project leaders conducted courtesy calls to the Office of the Municipal Mayor of LGU Malay and Cogon Barangay Council last November 21, 2022. Prior to this, courtesy calls and communication letters were personally handed to the Malay Ati Tribe Association (MATA) and Municipal Agriculture Office.
Through the efforts of Angelo Jethro Del Rosario, Project Coordinator, the Municipality of Malay is being invited to become part of the Panay Coffee AVPA Project.
The aim of the Panay Coffee AVPA Project is to connect the Coffee Heritage Project to different farms in Panay and explore possible partnership opportunities to win an International AVPA award for Iloilo and Aklan. Since 2017, CHP has helped communities in Sagada, Bukidnon, and Maguindanao bag four AVPA awards for the Philippines, and it is their goal to win one for Panay as well. The project will help improve the quality of coffee, increase production, and link the communities directly to the market.
Last May 28 - 29, 2022, during our eco-cultural hike and camp in Sitio Kurong, Brgy. Cogon, Malay, Aklan, we discovered coffee trees in the area. Hence, the site visit was conceptualized and realized on November 21 - 22, 2022.