Sustainable production of coffee and cocoa production chains is strengthened in the Amazon

On January 26, 2021, in the province of Zamora Chinchipe, the training and technical assistance program began for more than 3,000 farmers in the six Amazonian provinces in the cocoa and coffee sectors, with the aim of consolidating the transition of these production chains towards sustainable and deforestation-free production systems.

This cooperation, which has an investment amount of one million dollars, funds provided by the Green Climate Fund (GCF), will be in force until June 2022 and includes the implementation of Farmer Field Schools, an instrument that aims to train agricultural producers in sustainable and environmentally friendly practices for efficient soil management. In addition, technical supplies have been provided to strengthen planting and harvesting tasks and thus improve their working conditions.

These actions are supported by the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), an organization that supports agricultural issues in the region, with the objective of improving agricultural competitiveness and food production systems. In this case, producers’ capacities will be strengthened to apply good agricultural practices and comply with standards in line with market requirements.

PROAmazonía, an initiative led by the Ministry of Environment and Water (MAAE) and the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAG), with support from UNDP, will implement actions under this agreement with IICA to strengthen the cocoa and coffee production chains, improve the quality of life of producers and their communities, generate opportunities and promote the use of natural resources in a sustainable and technical manner. All this is done in order to avoid the expansion of the agricultural frontier in the forests.

The event was attended by the Minister of Environment and Water, Paulo Proaño; the Minister of Agriculture and Livestock, Xavier Lazo; the Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), Matilde Mordt; the representative in Ecuador of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA Director), Rodolfo Campos; and the manager of PROAmazonía, Patricia Serrano.

The meeting was also attended by representatives of the area, and independent producers of coffee and cocoa chains from the following provinces: Sucumbíos, Orellana, Napo, Pastaza, Morona Santiago and Zamora Chinchipe.