Last Coffee Month, Nescafé launched Kape’t Bisig sa Pagbangon, a program to foster enthusiasm for agriculture among the youth. The program intends to assist coffee farmers in achieving their goal of providing higher education to their children through a PHP10M educational assistance fund. The program also features the Kape’t Bisig Music Challenge, a social media campaign that calls on a public outpouring support for Filipino coffee farmers and spurs interest in agriculture among young Filipinos.
NESCAFÉ Kape’t Bisig has partnered with three universities in Mindanao, Sultan Kudarat State University, Central Mindanao University, and University of Southern Mindanao to identify beneficiary students, prioritizing children of farmers in agriculture-related courses. Kape’t Bisig will grant 400 students with PHP 25,000 each to fund their academic requirements.
Photo: NESCAFE
“Education is a cornerstone in securing the future of farmers’ children; and having educated youth in agriculture is essential to ensure the attainment of a food-secure and resilient future,” said Jose T. Uy III, Head of Corporate Affairs, Nestlé Philippines. “Kape’t Bisig aims to help build a new generation of farmers, agriculturists and rural development champions, while continuing in its commitment to transform farmers into agripreneurs through the NESCAFÉ Plan initiatives.”
The NESCAFÉ Plan has succeeded in demonstrating the profitability of coffee farming based on the results of the 3-year pilot of Project Coffee+, its capacity-building program with GIZ that aims to transform smallholder farmers in Mindanao into agripreneurs. Under Project Coffee+, an average increase of 300% in yield and profit was achieved among the first set of 1,500 farmers who were trained on entrepreneurship and regenerative agriculture. Eighty-six percent of beneficiary farmers have crossed the poverty threshold since joining Project Coffee+ in 2018.
Photo: NESCAFE
“The NESCAFÉ Plan has been future-proofing the soil by upskilling farmers on regenerative agriculture. Today, Kape’t Bisig is future-proofing the coffee farming sector by cultivating the mindset of the youth towards a more favorable perception of farming,” added Uy. “Through the NESCAFÉ Plan’s ongoing initiatives, coffee farming is being established as an economically viable profession, one that can be more attractive to youth given its significant earning potential.”
Throughout October, audiences also rallied to celebrate and support farmers by joining NESCAFÉ’s Kape’t Bisig music challenge on Tiktok and Facebook.
“Today’s youth are social media natives so this social media campaign has been an essential part of the project,” said Igi Natanauan, Assistant Brand Manager for Nescafé Classic. “There is a need to find new ways to help Filipino youth become attuned to agriculture, so engaging with them on the social media platforms they are active in, and connecting with them through the content they love – such as music and dance – are positive steps we are taking to help instill a positive inclination towards farming.”
The Kape’t Bisig Music Challenge has generated over a million engagements from young netizens on Facebook and Tiktok, including celebrity acts like Ben & Ben, KZ Tandingan, and Mona lending their voices to raise awareness on the need to motivate the youth to follow agricultural pursuits.
For more information on how to play a part in uplifting the lives of farmers and their children, check out NESCAFÉ’ Kape’t Bisig Music Challenge.
