Investing in Our Planet With Organic Cacao Farming
Equal Exchange, COCABO staff, and friends walk through a cacao farm on a visit in 2019.
At Equal Exchange we think about our environmental impact on a daily basis, in fact, it’s part of our mission to build “environmentally sound” trade relationships. That said, Earth Day gives us a day each year to step back and reflect on our role in the environment. Within the broader theme of ecological sustainability, there is an annual theme set by EarthDay.org. Last year’s theme was “Restore our Earth.” This year’s theme is “Invest in Our Planet.” As a global society, we can no longer separate the bottom line from sustainability. Equal Exchange has been investing in our future by supporting organic agriculture for over 35 years.
Above: Candelaria Peña Villacorta carries cacao seedlings on her way to the cacao farm. ACOPAGRO, Peru.
What does organic agriculture actually mean?
According to the Rodale Institute, “organic is a vision for working and living in harmony with nature.” Nevertheless, over the years, organic products have become more mainstream and some, like Harvard research associate Robert Paarlberg, even argue that further growth in organic agriculture will probably come from investments by consolidated firms and farms that “stay just barely within the rules by devising technical workarounds.” Despite changes in this system and market, Equal Exchange works directly with farmers and co-operatives who ensure that the practices remain “in harmony with nature” and in the best interests of the farmers and their environments.
Perhaps the best way to understand the impact of organic farming in our chocolate supply chains is to consider the alternative. Conventional cacao is a commodity market crop, meaning it is bought and sold through brokers and traders in international exchange offices whose chief concern is the bottom line: turning profits on speculations of supply and demand. The focus on market demands and away from the supply chain results in a lack of transparency and little regard for the social well-being of the farmers and the environmental well-being of the land.
But what does this mean for farmers? Here are a few examples:
Rupilio Abrego, Commercial Manager at Cocabo in Panama, shows us cacao trees growing in the understory alongside other species on a visit in 2019.
Monoculture vs. Agroforestry
In conventional agriculture, crops are typically grown in monocultures. This means that the entire acreage will be dedicated solely to the cacao tree. While maximizing the number of cacao trees on their land may sound like a good idea from a productivity perspective, growing cacao in full-sun monocultures can actually decrease productivity per tree. In its native habitat, cacao grows as a midstory canopy tree. Thus, it thrives best in mixed-use agroforestry systems. Agroforestry is defined by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization as a “dynamic, ecologically based, natural resource management system that, through the integration of trees on farms and in the agricultural landscape, diversifies and sustains production for increased social, economic and environmental benefits for land users at all levels.” According to a recent study in the Dominican Republic, organic, agroforestry cacao systems have healthier soils than their conventional counterparts. Increased soil health leads to greater nutrient availability for the cacao trees themselves and greater climate mitigation by serving as carbon sinks. Socially, agroforestry cacao systems allow a cooler and shadier climate for farmers to work and can even contribute to food sovereignty and income diversification when farmers intercrop their cacao with food and fruit crops such as avocado, bananas, citrus, and cassava. Additionally, agroforestry cacao systems have stronger biodiversity because they offer critical habitats for native pollinators, birds, and animals. For example, our farmer partners in COCABO Co-operative in Panama are located on the outskirts of La Amistad Bioreserve. Their diverse agroforestry cacao farms are crucial to the buffer zone and habitat protection of this vast natural resource.
Chemical Inputs vs. Natural Inputs
In conventional cacao fields, farmers may rely on regular applications of chemical pesticides and chemical fertilizers. According to a study of cocoa farmers in Ghana, the use of these chemical pesticides often goes unregulated and is misused and overused. Not only are the consequences of this negatively impacting the farmer’s health, but these chemicals can also accumulate in the soils and, unable to decompose into non-toxic forms, will disrupt the delicate balance of soil organisms. Through the USAID Cooperative Development Program, Equal Exchange has supported farmers to improve productivity using innovative organic inputs and methods. In our last grant cycle 2010 to 2018, we supported eight model farms at CONACADO co-operative in the Dominican Republic that acted as farmer-to-farmer field schools for organic farming innovations. By implementing a suite of technical organic practices including the application of organic fertilizers and organic pesticides, productivity on these model farms increased by 496% from 2011 to 2017. Access to educational opportunities on these model farms also increased productivity on surrounding farms which saw an increase of 258% in their productivity levels from 2011 to 2017.
Top: Equal Exchange’s Carlos Semedo on a 2019 Staff Delegation stands in front of CONACADO’s finished worm compost destined to be used as organic inputs by CONACADO cacao farmers. Below: Ramon Mosquea, shows off live worms in one of CONACADO’s worm compost facilities.
Manduvira Co-operative’s organic compost facility makes use of sugarcane byproducts.
Pre-Harvest Burning vs. Green Harvest
The second most important ingredient in your chocolate bar is often the one least talked about: sugar. Conventional sugar farmers still widely practice the method of pre-harvest burning. This means that once the sugar cane is ready to be harvested, the whole field is lit on fire to burn the green tops and leaves of the plant, leaving behind only the sucrose-containing stalks. In theory, this burning method makes it easier to harvest and creates less additional green mass. However, in practice, the burning method negatively impacts the health of the air, water, and soil. Community and environmental groups are campaigning to “Stop the Burn” among large growers here in the United States, whose burning practices disproportionately affect Black and Hispanic communities. You can learn more about “Stop the Burn” on the Sierra Club’s website.
The organic sugar farmers that Equal Exchange works with in Paraguay and Costa Rica do not participate in pre-harvest burning. At Manduvira co-operative, farmers use the green leaves and tops of the canes as organic mulch for their fields. The co-operative even reuses the sugarcane fibers, called bagasse, as energy during the sugar manufacturing process in a closed-loop boiler system. Then, the byproducts of the boiler—ash at this point—are mixed with other farm by-products, such as cow and chicken manure, and turned into organic compost which is then distributed back to the farmers to use on their fields.
Equal Exchange’s trade model is investing in our planet
Equal Exchange believes in establishing long-term trade relationships which means paying a higher—and more stable—price for organic fairly traded cacao. Last year, our cacao was purchased at over 30% above the commodity market price.
Growing organic has economic benefits for the farmers too. By organizing themselves into co-operatives, farmers can share the costs and paperwork involved in managing an organic certification. Selling under an organic certification guarantees farmers an additional premium over the market price. For every 1 MT of organic cacao purchased for Equal Exchange’s chocolate and cocoa products, farmers earn $300 in organic premium.
Contrary to the conventional belief that organic agriculture results in lower yields, a recent study reports that Dominican farmers who were organic certified actually had higher yields than those farmers who were not organic certified.
What can you do?
Investing in our planet is not only a task set for companies and governments, it can be a personal challenge for you too as the average consumer. Use your purchasing power to buy food that is organic or supports environmental efforts. Participate in a local earth day event in your community and spread the word about the positive impacts of organic agriculture. Unhinge corporate consolidation by organizing a buying club, signing up for a local CSA, or becoming a member at your nearby grocery co-op.
