MALAYBALAY CITY (BukidnonNews.net/ 24 August 2025)—The Inhandig Tribal Multi-Purpose Cooperative is set to expand its coffee production after receiving a Php 15.2-million grant from the Department of Agriculture.
This enterprise aims to boost the community’s capacity to produce and market green coffee beans—both specialty and commercial grades—and packaged ground coffee. Last May, Inhandig’s heirloom Arabica bagged the 2nd place in the Philippine Coffee Quality Competition.
ITMPC Manager Merly O. Suday said the grant marks a milestone for their community, which has long dreamed of developing its own large-scale enterprise.
“Gina damgo ra namo sauna nga adunay project musulod sa Daraghuyan ug sa pagpa-abot, finally na approve na jud among enterprise. Sa pagtinabangay ug panaghiusa, walay imposible sa damgo para sa kaayuhan ug pagpauswag sa kinabuhian sa komunidad,” Suday shared.
(We have long dreamt of this project in Daraghuyan and after waiting, this enterprise has been finally approved. Through cooperation and unity, there’s nothing impossible in our dream of improving our community’s livelihood.)
The grant is under DA’s Mindanao Inclusive Agriculture Development Project, a World Bank-supported initiative that aims to improve the quality of life for Indigenous Cultural Communities/Indigenous Peoples (ICC/IPs) through agriculture.
The cooperative will implement a three-year capacity development plan for officers and coffee farmers and acquire working animals such as horses and carabaos, post-harvest and processing facility, and a delivery vehicle. The fund will also be used as a working capital for coffee cherry consolidation.
The grant deliberation was presided over by DA-10 Executive Director Jose Apollo Y. Pacamalan. This is the second MIADP-funded project of the Daraghuyan.
In the province, MIADP works with several identified Ancestral Domains, including that of the Daraghuyan, home of the province’s Bukidnon tribe. Known for their rich cultural heritage and close ties to the land, the Daraghuyan people have maintained coffee farming traditions for generations, cultivating beans in the cool, fertile highlands of Bukidnon.