Cadmium is a heavy metal with a blue hue, closely associated with zinc. In the Andean region, Ecuador is leading the charge in the mitigation of cadmium in cacao crops due to a national multi-stakeholder research and dissemination agenda. In this field, Rikolto and MOCCA support research to ensure product access to European markets. Access
Located seventy kilometers away from Guatemala City in the department of Chimaltenango, is the municipality of San Martín Jilotepeque, a historic place with a rich ancestral tradition and important archaeological sites, keeper of the legacy of the indigenous Mayan peoples of the highlands of the Central American country. In San Martín, more than 80% of
Audelina Ruiz is a 51-year-old coffee grower from Cubulco, Alta Verapaz, Guatemala. She is the mother of 8 children and started in the coffee growing business with her husband approximately 5 years ago. “In the beginning we had many losses at our coffee farm, we did not know how to control the pests and we
“Now we are better prepared to face the market,” says Abdón Heras, Chairman of Chocoben. The company is preparing its first export to Bolivia and he tells us how the program “Maximizing Opportunities in Coffee and Cacao in the Americas” (MOCCA) helped them make the leap. Chocoben is an Ecuadorian company with more than 20
The municipality of Cubulco, Baja Verapaz, is located at the geographic center of the Republic of Guatemala, surrounded by mountains and lush vegetation and famous for its colorful traditions and folkloric dances. “Have you heard of the “Palo Volador” dance? In this dance, men hang by their feet from ropes attached to a 30-meter-high structure…”
“At the beginning we suffered great hardship. There was no food, we couldn’t take the products to the market due to the license plate restriction imposed, we had to get up very early.” This is how Gabriela Ordoñez, producer of the Aromatic Agricultural Producers Association (ASOAROMATIC), narrates the beginning of 2020. Although it was not
El cacao es el cultivo con más hectáreas sembradas en el Ecuador. La cadena de valor involucra a 180.000 familias, muchas de las cuáles enfrentan el reto de renovar y rehabilitar sus fincas con escasos recursos. Sin embargo, postular a un crédito no es siempre una opción atractiva, por los requisitos que existen y el tiempo que toma su aprobación…
MOCCA and the Ministry of Agriculture signed an agreement to develop a strategy with a short and long term financial focus for coffee farmers. Among other projects, the joint search for financial solutions for coffee farmers, improvements to the training mechanism for farmers; development of standards, requirements and/or certification systems for coffee nurseries; as well
