Pantoja, co-founder of Coffee for Peace, who has worked with several farmers in conflict-hit areas, won alongside American Marc Benioff, chairperson, chief executive officer, and co-founder of Salesforce; and Kenyan Dr. James Mwangi, managing director and chief executive officer of Equity Group Holdings.
“This recognition brings hope. It affirms the dreams and aspirations of our small farming partners, micro-enterprise partners, impact investors, and employees that there are respectable people in the business world who believe in and serve as ‘cheerleaders’ for us who struggle for economic justice,” Pantoja said in a release published on the website of Business For Peace Foundation.
The local company focuses on “sustainable agriculture, peace and reconciliation between religious groups, environmental protection and entrepreneurship.” She said the sudden plunge of the coffee prices in the world market in the 1980s nearly wiped out the coffee trees. Coffee for Peace is training farmers in Alamada town, North Cotabato on the production of premium specialty Arabica beans to fill the coffee supply shortage in the country, she said.