Future of two coco institutions serving farmers in limbo

Two institutions once credited with helping thousands of coconut farmers escape poverty are now “shadows of their previous robust selves,” said Leonardo Montemayor, a former Department of Agriculture (DA) secretary. Montemayor, now chairman of the Federation of Free Farmers, said the United Coconut Planters Bank-Coconut Industry Investment Fund’s (UCPB-CIIF) Finance and Development Corp. (CocoFinance) and UCPB-CIIF Foundation (CocoFoundation) have been on a downturn. He traced the slide to years when the coco levy fund remained unresolved — when its ownership had yet to be settled by the Supreme Court — leaving 3.5 million Filipino coconut farmers “deprived of much-needed support,” […]…

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المصدر: Inquirer (PH)