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OUR COMPANY AND SPAMAST ARE NOW PARTNERS IN INCLUSIVE DEVELOPMENT

ByLakan Sumulong
CFP CEO Joji Pantoja (L, Front) and SPAMAST Research Director Augie Fuentes (R, Front) sign the Memorandum of Agreement formalizing our partnership. CFP staff Wanay Baluyan, Sihaya Ansibod and myself stand as witnesses.

Coffee For Peace (CFP) and the Southern Philippines Agri-Business and Marine and Aquatic School of Technology (SPAMAST) are working together to generate new knowledge on environmental protection and social transformation.

SPAMAST, as an academic institution, is committed to develop significant researches which help uplift the lives of small farmers in the province of Davao del Sur. They are offering programs such as Bachelor of Science in Agribusiness, Bachelor of Science in Agriculture and other related courses that need exposure to social enterprise, environmental conservation and coffee farming. SPAMAST has established a Coffee Cupping Laboratory which aims to provide and assess the quality of coffee bean harvest in the coffee growing areas of Davao del Sur and neighboring provinces.

CFP is a social enterprise that underscores its business for people, peace, progress and partnership. We are committed to environmental preservation and improving the lives of farmers. As a social entrepreneurial group, CFP has already established partner communities that are possible venues for academic studies and social laboratory for inclusive development.

In this partnership, CFP

  • Shall develop and conduct a proper orientation about coffee farming and industry;
  • Shall assist the researchers from the academe and provide the venue for study;
  • Shall accommodate and orient the on-the-job trainees for exposure on community development, coffee farming and peace reconciliations;
  • Shall provide necessary trainings, lectures and seminars on social enterprise, coffee industry, peace-building, community immersion and environmental protection;
  • Shall notify SPAMAST in their plan to conduct activity that has the involvement of the academe to settle the over-all logistics with the approval of the school’s president.

SPAMAST, on the other hand, shall:

  • Conduct researches that are significant to coffee farmers and coffee industry in Davao del Sur and beyond;
  • Acknowledge the contribution of CFP on any publications resulting from the research;
  • Provide accurate documentations of coffee farming and processes as well as proper dissemination of research findings in ways that are understandable and beneficial to the community;
  • Secure a list of students undergoing their on-the-job training to be exposed in the laboratory facilities and partner communities of CFP;
  • Monitor and visit the students once a month until the end of their training.

Both CFP and SPAMAST

  • Shall assure at all times that each party is carrying out its respective responsibilities mentioned above;
  • Shall actively participate in all undertakings that are jointly organized by the two parties;
  • Shall ensure a harmonious relationship and on-going communication between two parties regularly.