ON the average, agriculture accounts for 10 percent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP), which may appear to be modest. However, if agro-processing or the agri-industrial sector is taken into account, agriculture and its downstream/processing industries will account for about 30 to 35 percent of the country's GDP.

However, the country's agri-industrial sector still sources much of its raw materials from abroad, like in the case of coffee and cacao. So, just imagine the result if Filipino farmers are able to directly supply close to 100 percent of the raw material needs of big companies that produce coffee products through mutually beneficial contract-growing arrangements — the farmers can be guaranteed a steady and better source of income compared to selling their products to wholesalers or retailers in raw form.

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