DA brews new office to revive coffee sector

Author: DA Press Office | 17 February 2026

Agriculture Secretary Francisco P. Tiu Laurel Jr. has ordered the creation of a dedicated Coffee Industry Development Office (CIDO), signaling a major shift in how the government manages the struggling sector.

Under the Department Order No. 06, the new office will sit under the Department of Agriculture's Office of the Undersecretary for Special Concerns and Official Development Assistance (ODA), now headed by Undersecretary Jerome Oliveros. CIDO will centralize coffee programs, funding and policies that were previously scattered across multiple units, giving the crop its first true headquarters.

The order draws authority from Executive Order No. 292, the Administrative Code of 1987, which empowers the DA to support domestic and export-oriented agriculture. Tiu Laurel made it clear that coffee, long treated as a minor crop, now demands full attention.

The timing is urgent. Coffee consumption is booming both globally and in Philippine cities, yet local production has lagged. Farmers are aging, access to inputs is limited, equipment is outdated, and infrastructure is patchy. The result is declining yields, uneven quality, and rising imports to satisfy local demand.

Until now, coffee programs were managed under the Office of Special Concerns and ODA through Department Order No. 19, Series of 2025. Creating CIDO as a standalone office signals a shift from side-line management to a focused, strategic approach.

CIDO will lead program planning and prioritization, track accomplishments across DA bureaus and regional offices, and ensure all initiatives align with national agricultural priorities and ODA-funded projects. The office will coordinate with local governments, universities, private firms, and farmer groups. It will also recommend reforms to fill gaps in policy or implementation.

Crucially, all coffee development funds, including those under the High Value Crops Development Program and the Office of the Secretary, will now be under CIDO.

Consolidated control aims to boost accountability and speed up project delivery.
Analysts say the move reflects a broader DA trend toward commodity-specific governance. Sectors that lag behind now get dedicated oversight. Success will hinge on execution of modernizing farms, attracting younger farmers, upgrading processing facilities, and linking producers to higher-value markets.

Tiu Laurel framed the initiative as urgent and practical. "We cannot keep talking about the promise of Philippine coffee while farmers grow older, yields stagnate and imports rise," he said.

"By creating CIDO under focused leadership, we are putting strategy, funding and execution in one accountable office. This is about restoring competitiveness and making sure Filipino coffee farmers finally capture the value of a market that is already growing around them," the DA chief said. ### (By DA - OSEC Comms)