GIZ, ofi and Rikolto expand low carbon agriculture in Ecuador to boost cocoa farmer incomes and cut emissions
ofi, a global leader in food and beverage ingredients and solutions, international NGO Rikolto, and the German Development Agency GIZ (Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit), commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), have today announced a low-carbon agriculture project in Ecuador, which aims to support farmers to mitigate against and adapt to the impacts of climate change on cocoa production.
The consortium is co-funded by BMZ and ofi, with Rikolto leading the implementation for ofi’s sustainability programs, including those it delivers for its customers over a three-year period. It seeks to address the impact of unpredictable weather conditions on growing cocoa by training 2,800 farmers in climate-smart agriculture.
Climate change poses a significant threat to 1.7 million Ecuadorians dependent on cocoa, with approximately 60% of cocoa farmers relying on cocoa as their main source of income.1
The low-carbon agriculture project aims to help support farmers in creating more resilient livelihoods and increasing the efficiency of their cocoa production. By implementing agroforestry, a regenerative farming approach, cocoa can grow alongside other plant species. The technique can help farmers to improve cocoa yields and provide additional income from other planted crops, while sequestering carbon and promoting biodiversity.
The training will be delivered through 600 tailored coaching sessions or 'field schools'. Farmers, at least 20% of whom will be women, will be taught to integrate sustainability principles and agricultural standards into existing farming approaches, helping them to boost cocoa productivity and build climate resilience. The project will also produce 40,000 plants of the rare and native Nacional cocoa variety for distribution, housed within an organic cocoa production community nursery.
Insights from the project will be generated by leveraging ofi’s award-winning AtSource sustainability management system with best practices and learnings shared with national authorities, including the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment to help inform national climate policy. The project is aligned with Ecuador's REDD+ Action Plan "Forests for Good Living" 2016-2025.
1 Ecuadorian Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock. 2019. Report on cocoa yields
