Cocoa production in the world always carries with collateral damage to the environment, but in Colombia the first deforestation -free cocoa initiative has emerged and it is already an international attraction.
Colombia is not a reference in the world for its great cocoa production, but it is on its way to it thanks to an initiative with which it will begin to be produced in areas affected by the conflict, as a method of replacing illegal crops, thanks to peasant hands and handsdemobilized of war, and above all, in times of climatic crisis, sustainably and without deforesting, as in most cocoa producing countries.
The initiative is 'Cocoa for Life + Forests', a project that arose after international cooperation agencies and farmers sit with the government to think about the potential of the Amazon to produce export cocoa that is launched, with its own brand, this same 2022.
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RCN Radio spoke with Wendy Arenas, director of sustainable alliances, one of the program implementers.She says that when the peace agreement was signed in 2016, this should be implemented in the Pdet municipalities, and the vast majority of these municipalities are where our natural forests are.
"A very big challenge is to see what are the productive initiatives, which are sustainable, that help protect forests, but also help these families to have a better quality of life: cocoa is one of those opportunities and is the bestSecret that this country has, "says Wendy.
The program decided to look towards the Amazon because "Cocoa is Amazon," says Wendy."We disputed Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, and what we are doing in the program will begin to look at this region of the country as the new cocoa region; a cocoa that meets very important requirements of the global market, which is a cocoa thatDo not deforest.
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Is there international interest in Colombian cocoa?
Wendy says yes."All interest, what happens is that we have no volume. If you carry a Amazon Cocoa to any international market where you say that it comes from an area that is not deforested, it is helping the construction of peace, it is strengthening the territories, andHe also knows very well, they want it; they want 20 tons, but we don't have them. "
The program is going, three departments and their PDTE municipalities have been joined, arising from the peace agreement, they are producing cocoa.They are Guaviare, Caquetá and Putumayo.
Today there are about five thousand families in the Colombian Amazon who depend on cocoa production in about 12,000 hectares.The objective of the program is to increase those hectares sown and launch this 2022 a brand for export.
