Components - MOCCA

Strategic Priorities

We focus on seven strategic components aimed at applying market solutions to help coffee and cacao farmers overcome the barriers that limit their ability to renovate and rehabilitate their farms, boosting their yields, and improving their marketing outcomes, incomes, and livelihoods.

MOCCA collaborates with other organizations to train farmers to adopt agricultural and business practices that will increase their productivity, quality, sustainability and profitability.

Farmer training

Higher-value business relationships

MOCCA works with shared value-minded buyers with shared values, implementing strategies allowing farmers in their supply chain to obtain higher value when commercializing their coffee or cacao. Strategies include direct purchasing, rewarding quality with higher prices, facilitating certification, as well as facilitating more desirable financing terms and access to high quality planting material. Buyers co-invest in training farmers, fostering a more sustainable supply of coffee and cacao for the United States, and other regional and international markets.

Increasing research and its dissemination

MOCCA supports coffee and cacao research institutes and works to improve farmers’ access to relevant findings. In coffee, MOCCA supports regional efforts to develop new varieties adapted to diverse growing conditions, analyze results of different varieties and agronomic treatments, and will co-invest in research and dissemination efforts with research institutions in MOCCA target countries.
In cacao, MOCCA supports institutions to develop cadmium mitigation trials and techniques to ensure more sustainable production and trade.

Strengthening suppliers of genetic material

MOCCA provides technical assistance to coffee and cacao nurseries and clonal gardens, helping them to more profitably offer farmers higher quality planting material, which in turn helps lower their risk when making important renovation investments.

Facilitating access to financing

We collaborate with public and private stakeholders to design short-, medium- and long-term financing mechanisms. Through our financial models, we facilitate more favorable terms that strengthen farmers’ profitability and ability to repay their loans, allowing them to invest more in their coffee and cacao operations.

Improving the services provided by trade associations

MOCCA strengthens the capacity of these institutions to offer better services to farmers, including: technical assistance, marketing, research, access to genetic materials and the facilitation of financing models. All of these services are aimed at boosting efforts to renovate and rehabilitate coffee and cacao farms.

Support national and regional platforms

MOCCA supports regional platforms, to more effectively conduct research and facilitate improved regulatory frameworks that positively impact the supply of services that help farmers to renovate and rehabilitate their farms.

What needs to happen for farmers to rehabilitate and renovate their farms more effectively?

Farmers need to obtain higher profitability, allowing them to reinvest in their farms. In order for them to obtain greater profits, they need to:

“USDA is proud to support this program, which aims to improve the lives of coffee and cacao farmers.”.

Rachel Nelson
Rachel Nelson, Regional Agricultural Advisor for Guatemala,
USDA Foreign Agricultural Service.