We are in the 2nd phase of our Agroforestry Productive Project of Cocoa, Plantain & Abarco (forest native species), starting our 3rd year of implementation. It is 1 of the 4 Productive Projects that we develop within “REDD+ MATAVÉN ACTIVITY 6: DEVELOPMENT OF PRODUCTIVE PROJECTS” to boost Matavén crops (conucos) productivity, promote sustainable agricultural practices (land use), reduce pressure on the forest, guarantee food security & create new opportunities; in order to improve Matavén indigenous quality of life and protect their natural resources.
We work with 100 indigenous families, each one on its 1-hectare parcel/conuco in 10 Matavén communities: Palmarito, Miraluz, Morocoto, Morichal, Yurí, Cumaral, Caño Bocón, Berlín 1, Sejalito 1, San Luis De La Rompida. We have provided each family with supplies (cocoa plants, plantain hills, corn, abarco trees, fertilizers) and tools (shovel, machete, aglime, buckets, barretón, manual pruning shears, pruning shears long reach, pump of sprayer fumigation, wheelbarrow, handsaw, pruning knife and a motor scythe). We grafted the cocoa plants from the nursery with cloned genetic material to improve their quality. We have delivered technical training (good harvest and postharvest practices, planting techniques, crop management, fertilization, and disease control) and made more than 800 visits to the 100 conucos. We built a 1.000 square-meter nursery with an area for bag-filling and substrate preparation, to produce 50.000 cocoa plants every six months for replenishment. We have led activities of phytosanitary control, fertilizer management and weed and pest control; and we did an inventory of the plants and its phytosanitary and production status.
We are currently building 9 benefit centers to ferment and dry the cocoa beans, ensuring the quality of the grain; in order to sell the product in fair markets where environmental & indigenous work is valued.