The Department of Tourism-Davao (DOT-11) is set to strengthen agri-tourism by promoting cacao and coffee farm tours in the region.

One of the tourism packages offered by DOT-11 is the “Kakaw lakaw” or cacao tour at the five-hectare cacao farm in Barangay Lacson, Calinana, Davao City.

Through the cacao tour, tourists can learn about cacao farming and processing firsthand. They can also taste products like cacao nibs and traditional sikwati (hot chocolate).

“We want  you to meet the farmers who grow the coffee and the cacao and we want you also to immerse sa culture natin of course to our local communities,” DOT-11 Director, Tanya Rabat-Tan, said.

Davao Regional Cacao Industry Council President, Dante Muyco, said Davao has consistently made it to the top 50 best cacao beans in the world since 2017.

“Ang tanong kasi yung mga kwento ba sa mga winner nato meron bang nabibigyan ng focus and I think that concern can be best addressed with this type of activity where the tourism sector will take interest we tell them the story behind,” Muyco added.

Gerome Sumagaysay of the Davao Regional Coffee Council also stressed the importance of educating consumers through the tours.

“It’s an important tour for them to be educated, for the consumers to be educated, and second one is to market Davao Region Coffee. It will give us more investors and more investors means more quailty of production, more production means more livelihood,” Sumagaysay said.

DOT-11 is working closely with the Department of Trade and Industry-Davao (DTI-11) and the Department of Agriculture-Davao (DA-11) in sustaining cacao and coffee production by helping farmers process and market their produce.

“Actually we have an allotment of P17 million for the 2025 alone to cater production support services po ng ating farmers that would include yong distribution of planting materials. We have also the fertilizers also the tools para sa kanila and as well as the capacity building,” DA-11 Technical Director, Mary Anne Constantino, said.

“We have entrepreneur duties and package so that it is more inclusive and sustainable,” DTI-11 Director, Romeo Castanaga, added.