By JUDE BAGGO
www.nordis.net

Drinking coffee is a way of life. Life stories are shared while drinking coffee. Laughter can be heard while people are having coffee. Friendships are strengthened when coffee is served. Hot heads can be cooled down with a cup of coffee. Most of all, coffee became a culture of our hospitality especially in our (Cordillera) communities.

Recently, we visited a community in Namal, Asipulo, Ifugao. We were lucky to arrive at the area before the strong rain fell. We enjoyed resting in the front porch of the house we stayed in while watching the rain and the accumulated water passing through man-made canals around the house. While sitting around, we were a recipient to the aroma of coffee being brewed and prepared in the kitchen. The smell also of burning wood reminded me of home in the village.

A few minutes later, mugs of hot and black coffee arrived. The host happily offered “agkape kayu pay” with a smile and thanks, we grabbed our cup and started sipping the hot brew. Then another man came and introduced himself as the barangay captain of Namal. He was also given a mug of coffee.

After savouring the first few sips, we asked if the coffee was locally produced. Our host and the barangay captain confirmed that the coffee we were drinking is grown, harvested and prepared in the community. Asked if it was also being sold in the market, and the people with us said, it depends if the harvest was more than what the farmer can consume then they can sell any surplus in the market.

This time, Peter Litawan, the barangay captain, discussed problems they encountered regarding coffee growing in their community. He said that his fellow coffee growers are now confronting great adversity maintaining their coffee crops due to the unprecedented damage being caused by “coffee-eating-rats”. This term was coined by the coffee growers to define the particular problem.

This problem in Asipulo is experienced also in Hungduan. Lately, I had interviewed a coffee grower in Hungduan who described a similar devastation.

According to my sources from Hungduan and Asipulo, they clearly remember it was in the 1980’s they observed unusual characteristics of damage on their coffee plants. Only young coffee plant shoots were consumed by these rats. This trend continued at an observable increased rate of damage. Furthermore, farmers also observed that aside from the coffee shoots, the coffee-eating-rats started to eat the soft bark of the coffee plants. These conditions heavily affected the survival of the coffee plants. In cases that some coffee plants survived the earlier stages and bear fruits, the coffee-eating-rats are also quick to finish the fruits. This leaves the owner with less or nothing to harvest.

As a result of this problem, local and community coffee harvest is notably decreasing. Dismayed and with no clear intervention from any government agency, farmers stopped planting and cleaning their coffee plantations.

During the coffee interview with Peter Litawan, he stated that his fellow coffee growers in their community observed this trend started when rat-predators decreased in number or they cannot be found in their place. The examples of rat-predators mentioned during the interview are: amki (black fur, long tail, reddish eye and looks like a rabbit), halagma (gray feather, high flying bird, with sharp claws), butbut (brown feather, low flying bird), tilay (monitor lizard), wild cats and snakes among others.

When asked about major reasons on the decline in numbers of rat-predators, he stated: unhampered hunting even in the crucial seasons for these animals such as mating, use and proliferation of air guns and other similar gadgets, and other human activities such as burning of forest areas and their natural habitats.

Interestingly, Litawan also stated that the cultural introduction of pulutan and exotic food to young people is also one of the reasons of the near extinction of rat-predators such as wild cats, amki, and many more. Without rat-predators that help maintain balance in the ecosystem, coffee-eating-rats can multiply at high speed and just like any other species; rats find their ways to survive and it appears that coffee trees are the best choice.

This disturbance and imbalance in the food chain aggravated by human activities brought a massive threat especially to coffee growers. Coffee growing as one major source of income to many families will be affected by this situation.

Like in the food chain, the situation will also result to reduction of coffee supply to local markets while it increases the possibility of depending on coffee being produced outside their communities. This set up will increase their spending on things that are supposedly natural in their environment. If this happens, our way of life, laughter, sharing, friendship and hospitality in our communities will have a price.

The problem started long time ago yet there is no interventions made especially by the Department of Agriculture (DA). This situation is aggravated by the lack of basic support systems and mechanisms such as farm to market roads, post harvest facilities, and available markets. Urgent and appropriate interventions must be carried out to arrest the problem. The DA may conduct research and consultations among the affected coffee growers and communities and come up with concrete actions to help the coffee growers. A stronger partnership and collaboration with other agencies and non-government institutions is another way to come with better solutions to the problem. # nordis.net