TİKA Supports Cocoa Production for Women’s Cooperative in the Philippines

Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA) has provided modern equipment to the Daine Women’s Agricultural Union in the Philippines, significantly enhancing the quality and capacity of cocoa bean production for the 50-member cooperative.

With TİKA’s support, the cooperative can now process larger quantities of cocoa beans and transform them into a diverse range of products.

After harvesting the cocoa fruit, cooperative members meticulously carry out fermentation and drying processes. Subsequently, production stages such as roasting, mixing, tempering and molding are efficiently completed using the machines supplied by TİKA.

Empowering Women Entrepreneurs

TİKA’s support extended beyond enhancing production capacity, the women were also trained in packaging and labeling techniques. Nerissa Dela Cruz, Secretary of the Daine Women’s Agricultural Union, highlighted that the variety of products has expanded significantly thanks to TİKA’s assistance. She also emphasized that the income generated from this initiative provides financial support to the families of the cooperative’s female members.

“We Contribute to Rural Development”

TİKA’s Coordinator in Manila, İbrahim Katırcı emphasized that cocoa is a high-value agricultural product in the Philippines, and this project enhances the production processes of women entrepreneurs. He explained that through TİKA’s agricultural support, the initiative aims to empower women entrepreneurs in rural areas while increasing the cooperative’s production capacity.

The project, supported by the Philippines Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Agrarian Reform, enables women members to sell their handmade, additive-free products, branded with their own logos, in local markets and on online platforms.