making sustainable cocoa the norm
Trias works to make the cocoa industry more sustainable in partnership with farmer organisations in South America and Central Africa.
Location: Ecuador, Peru, Cameroon and DR Congo
Duration: 3 years (2022-2025)
Budget: 120,000 euro
Donor: Provincie West-Vlaanderen
Implementing partners: Kallari, Unocace, Aprocam, Cocama, Conaprocam
cocoa cooperatives joining forces and adopting eco-friendly techniques
Many cocoa producers around the globe earn only a third of what they need to meet their basic needs. And Trias wants to change that with this new project on sustainable cocoa. That way, we aim to improve cocoa quality, make production more sustainable and improve market access for cocoa producers.
What Trias will focus on:
• Ecological agriculture: farmers not only plant cocoa trees in their fields, but also other crops. This ensures that the soil becomes much richer and healthier and their trees are less likely to get sick. Moreover, this improves the quality of the cocoa, which in turn increases the yield.
• New export markets that can guarantee them a decent income, so they earn enough to make ends meet. Now, it’s generally the multinational chocolate companies or supermarkets that get the biggest profit. Trias wants to change that.
• Inclusion of women and youth within the organisations we partner with. Most of all because they still experience many challenges in this industry. For example, they have a hard time to access land or financing.
Trias will provide training to our partners on how to diversify their production and how to adopt climate-friendly agricultural practices. For example, we just started the process of obtaining a Fairtrade certification for cocoa cooperative Cocama in DR Congo. Such a label ensures that producers earn a fair income. Moreover, the main goal is that cocoa cooperatives share tools and best practices among themselves and that way learn from each other.
This project is made possible thanks in part to the support of the Belgian province of West Flanders.
