Young coffee farmer uses earnings to buy land, continue his studies

Last week, I wrote about Elizabeth Javier, one of 3,000 coffee farmers who were part of Project Coffee++, a three-year program under Nestle Philippines and German agency for cooperation GIZ that aimed to help coffee farmers in Bukidnon and Sultan Kudarat “improve productivity, uplift their economic situation and achieve climate resiliency.”

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Another farmer is April Jay Sorongon, 23, from Brgy, Tinalon in Senator Ninoy Aquino, Sultan Kudarat, who is currently taking up Bachelor of Technology in Livelihood Education major in Industrial Arts at Senator Ninoy Aquino College Foundation.

Sorongon began farming in 2021, after graduating from Grade 12. “I stopped studying for two years and started farming coffee. I returned to school because I had something to [pay] for my studies,” he said in Tagalog.

AVANT GARDENER

YVETTE TAN

Both Sorongon parents are coffee farmers, and he inherited an interest in cultivation. His childhood was spent accompanying his father in the fields and later, helping him with chores. “It’s really something I’m interested in,” he said. “I can’t explain why I like this work. Other people say it’s heavy work, or it’s hot or tiring, but I enjoy it.”

The family also grows corn, but they’re really focused on coffee. There was a time when they concentrated on corn, but low market prices discouraged them from pursuing the crop. Now, the corn they grow is fed to the hogs they also keep on the farm.