An initiative already announced in the previous months, the one involving Eurochocolate, on the one hand, and the Asociación de Producción Agropecuaria Protección y Rescate del Cacao Fino de Aroma (Ecuador), on the other; a small but tenacious community of cocoa producers, custodians of an area of approximately 11,000 hectares in the middle of the Amazon forest – reachable only after an hour’s river crossing in a motorized canoe – where the prized fine and aroma cocoa is grown, at risk of extinction due to strong depopulation phenomena and abandonment of cocoa cultivations in favor of a dangerous and incessant process of deforestation.
The two entities signed an agreement which launched the three-year project coordinated by the agronomist and aid worker Pierre Molinari who has been working for years to improve the living conditions of the campesinos. Eurochocolate has decided to support this ambitious project through a three-year loan of 90,000 euros.
“The global crisis in the cocoa market, currently underway – declares Eugenio Guarducci President of Eurochocolate – is well known to all operators in the sector and we believe that our intervention in Ecuador, as well as the Equochocolate project, can be useful in stimulating greater awareness among consumers, but above all among decision makers in this sector, who should intervene concretely in favor of the populations who grow cocoa. Italy can play an important role and we hope that the Mattei Plan for Africa, recently launched by the government in office, can provide support actions in countries where over 60% of global cocoa production is grown”.
Eurochocolate’s intervention will benefit the approximately 400 inhabitants of Playa de Oro, through the purchase of basic and first aid medicines, maintenance work at the school and hiring of a teacher, agronomic training courses, purchase of equipment necessary for processing of cocoa and economic support for the costs of transporting cocoa and goods. Furthermore, this sum will allow the introduction of a rotation fund, useful for the Collection Center to pay the cocoa farmers immediately and not after 15/30 days as unfortunately happens now, with the consequent sell-off of the cocoa to the big players of the Food of the Gods who they use their financial muscle. Thanks to the rotation fund, the Collection Center will have the time necessary to dry, ferment and sell the cocoa beans purchased at a reasonable price.
It took more than 2 months to open a current account in the name of the Association – carrying out banking operations which are commonplace in Italy, in a community like this which lives in conditions of backwardness, is very complex – but finally today, we are pleased to announce that the first tranche of the loan has been repaid.
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Tags: Eurochocolate Playa Oro project underway safeguard cocoa risk extinction
