An Assessment of the Diversification More Choices and Strategies of Coffee Farmers in Lipa City, Batangas, Philippines

Purpose – The volume of local coffee production in the past 10 years has been declining. Despite this, several smallholder coffee farmers are still able to subsist in the industry through various diversification modes and strategies. This study primarily assessed the different diversification mode choices and strategies of coffee farmers in Lipa City, Batangas, Philippines. Design/Methodology/Approach – This study utilized a field survey of 60 respondents and descriptive analysis. Findings - Results revealed that majority of the farmers in Lipa City, Batangas, Philippines already practiced either on-farm diversification (85% of farmers) exclusively or mixed diversification (15% of farmers) in their farms. Specifically, farmers plant several types of crops and practice 34 cropping combinations that would benefit the farming business. The top five of these crop combination choices are (1) Coffee – Banana – Coconut – Guyabano (Soursop), (2) Coffee – Black Pepper – Rambutan – Cacao – Lanzones – Sinturis – Jackfruit – Chico (Sapodilla) – Santol (Cotton Fruit), (3) Coffee-Banana-Coconut-Black Pepper-Lanzones, (4) Coffee – Banana – Coconut – Black Pepper – Rambutan – Lanzones – Ginger, and (5) Coffee – Banana – Coconut – Black Pepper – Ube (Purple Yam) – Ginger. The decision of the farmer to choose the diversification mode (on-farm, off-farm, and/or non-farm diversification) to be implemented in the farm was affected by socio-demographic characteristics (i.e., age and household), farm characteristics, personal and philosophical factors, economic/business factors, and market factors. However, the decision of the farmer to choose the diversification strategy (crop combination) to be implemented was equally affected by the seasonality of the crops, income stream, cash flow, and other market factors. Research Implications – Diversification mode choices and strategies chosen by farmers including crop combination decisions appear to be influenced by a number of factors and thus, since each farm situation is unique, the decision is primarily the farmer’s choice.