Cocoa is an up-and-coming agricultural product in Haiti. In November of last year, we wrote about a new project the MIF started in the two main cocoa-growing regions in Haiti - the Grande Anse and the North department. 7,000 small cocoa farmers will raise their incomes by 25% by improving their growing practices, increasing yields per acre and cocoa quality, as well as transitioning to higher-value and quality beans.
As I highlighted in this previous post, the sustainability and results of the project cannot be reached without the need for strong partners. As such, the MIF is working in partnership with a wide variety of groups from the private and public sectors, as well as NGOs and co-ops. The project is executed by Catholic Relief Services in Grande Anse and Lutheran World Relief in the North Department. Other partners include FECCANO (Fédération des coopératives cacaoyères du Nord), SOGEPA (Société générale de production agro, a company specializing in exporting cocoa), SELECTO, the MARNDR (Ministère de l’agriculture des ressources naturelles et du développement rural), CATIE (Centro Agronómico Tropical de Investigación y Exportación) from Costa Rica, and Root Capital.
This week we bring you the voices of two of our partners participating in the project: COPCOD and CAUD (Coopérative Agricole Union Développement, a leading cooperative which is also a small exporter). COPCOD is based in the Grande Anse department in the commune of Chambellan, an area where coffee and cocoa are the main drivers of the local economy. We recently interviewed Florence Dolcé Daniel, COPCOD Treasurer, and asked her what she thought about the initiative:
“For me, this is one of the best initiatives in the Chambellan zone, where my 250-member cooperative is based. With this project, we will benefit from training and reforestation. Right now, we’re preparing the seedlings while training members for the rejuvenation of the cocoa plantations. This initiative has already had an impact on the price of cocoa, which is now between 100 and 125 gourdes per pound. We’re sure we’ll soon get an increase in cocoa production in Chambellan zone.”
Echoing her perspective was Brother Gesnert, the President of CAUD, another co-op in the Grande Anse: “Project activities began slowly, but there are already clear signs of the positive impact of the project. During the main harvest, CAUD was forced to stop buying cocoa from farmers because they all wanted to sell to CAUD - due to CAUD’s price transparency. Our problem is that we have limited space for stocking, drying and fermentation. Thanks to the project, we are going to strengthen the fermentation infrastructure and build more space for drying. Contracts are already signed with CRS, and we believe that our capacity to do business outside of Haiti is going to increase considerably in the coming 3 years.”
Gesnert also said that he had noticed an increase in the number of active people at the cooperative and an increase in newly subscribed members: “The cooperative is now about to exceed 1,000 members.”
The project is still in its early phase, but these insights show the partners’ buy-in and commitment to its objectives. We believe these encouraging signs are only the beginning!
We’ll soon bring you more testimonials from our partners for this exciting project.
In the meantime, if you’d like to know more about the challenges and the potential of the cocoa sector in Haiti, read our previous blog post here.