International Cocoa Organization

Duration:

Five years

Location:

BRAZIL,
COLOMBIA,
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC,
ECUADOR,
PERU,
VENEZUELA

Nature of Project:

Development of sustainable cocoa production

Estimated total Cost:

US$ 3,500,000

Financing commited by CFC:

US$ 2,000,000

Project Executing Agency (PEA):

Comissao Executiva do Plano da Lavoura Cacaueira (CEPLAC)

Project Supervisory Body:

International Cocoa Organization (ICCO)

Project Starting Date:

02/07/2007

Completion Date:

29/06/2012

Brief Description

The main objective of the project is to establish a sustainable cocoa cultivation system that enables farmers to increase and maintain farm productivity at levels which are economically viable, ecologically sound and in tune with the cultural practices of the people.

Project Objectives

The objective of the project is to establish environmentally friendly cocoa growing systems suitable for the Latin American conditions, based in the past experiences with the cacau cabruca systems in Brazil. This project will adopt and intensive and diversified cropping system that combines agro-forestry (cacau cabruca) for tree and food crops with the application of the adequate and relative stable income for cocoa farmers.
As a result, the project expects to improve the income for cocoa farmers. Also, the project will improve the biodiversity conservation and contribute to restoring part of the Mata Atlantica Coastal Forest, a predominant resource base for the production of cocoa in Brazil. The same results are expected in forests reserves in Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela and Colombia.

Project Components

In order to achieve the objectives, the project has defined five mayor components. First, the project will identify the different models of agronomic combinations and associations by reviewing the old cacau cabruca system through a participator approach in order to define a modernized system to suit present day economic and environmental conditions. Once defined, multi-location trials of the revised new system will be held in order to investigate the performance of the various factor involved in cocoa growing under different soil and climate conditions so to determine the effectiveness and efficiency of the system. An analysis and evaluation of technical results of the trials will take place in order to determine the economic viability, sustainability and impact on the environment. The project will disseminate the trial results of the sustainable cacau cabruca growing methods in the pilot areas and extend them to all cocoa growers in the countries involved. As a final component, the project will ensure the effective co-ordination and exchange of information among project partners, capacity building and coherent implementation of collaborative activities. The emphasis will be on how farmers can integrate their existing farms with the new cabruca system or establish new farms through the diffusion of the methodological results of farm trials.