Cocoa farming in Peru
15/08/2010Today’s blog comes from Edward Millard, Head of Sustainable Landscapes at the Rainforest Alliance, following a recent trip to Peru to meet cocoa farmers.
José Francisco de San Martín was the liberator of Peru from the Spanish empire in the 1820s and he is of course recognised widely, with a square named after him in the centre of Lima and a whole region in the north east of the country, across the Andes mountains, in the Amazon lowlands. The region of San Martín produces some of Peru’s fine coffee and cocoa. Coffee has for long been a major export of Peru, which is the world’s largest supplier of organic as well as Rainforest Alliance certified coffee. Cocoa is much newer and with some very high quality criollo cocoa trees, as well as newer clonal varieties, the future looks promising for cocoa becoming an important export as well. In July, Peru organised its first ever Salon du Chocolat to showcase this new industry and the event attracted chocolate experts as well as buyers from around the world.
One of the farmers who will benefit from this market growth is Edil Sandoval and his wife Sadit, who manage a six hectare farm close to Tocache in the
Sadit Sandoval
south of San Martín region. Sadit’s father farms on the other side of the narrow road. Edil and Sadit have carefully planted and managed their cocoa and achieved a staggering production of 3,800 kg per hectare. To put this into perspective, the average production across all countries according to the International Cocoa Organisation is 550 kg per hectare. Moreover, they have achieved this while maintaining other trees on their farm, as I experienced talking to them under the shade of an orange tree together with my colleagues Gerardo Medina, Rainforest Alliance’s national coordinator in Peru and Rubén Santibañez, his lead technical officer, and later drinking coconut water from the nearby coconut trees. With cocoa prices at one of the highest levels ever (about US $2.50 per kg at farm gate in Peru) this outstanding productivity is enabling the family to make improvements to their home, which, as usual, is on the farm. At the back of the house is a conservation area of natural forest, with a stream running into their garden and opening up into a large pond. It’s hard to imagine a nicer setting.
True enough, this is a model cocoa farm and an example of what can be achieved in cocoa productivity. It was the first time Rainforest Alliance had visited the family. They had heard of us but had never read the Sustainable Agriculture Standard. One of the characteristics of the Standard is that it deals with a lot more than just the farm and has a lot to say on people’s living and working conditions, as we strive to raise awareness of health and safety and quality of life. For example, we pointed out Principle 2, which requires a vegetative barrier between the farm and the dwelling. The main reason for this criterion is to avoid any drift of agrochemicals into the house but the way that Gerardo presented it was creating an area of separation between work and family life, in which they could plant some flowers to give a pleasant aspect and relax away from the place of work. In the garden, there is a little jetty from the path to the pond and on the jetty detergent and a scrubbing brush. This is where Sadit does the washing, and of course what results is that chemicals from the detergent go into the water. The family can easily incorporate a washing area in the house extensions they are presently undertaking; what is lacking is not the resources; it is realising that this would be a better way to avoid contaminating a precious source of clean water. Pollution of natural water sources by domestic chemicals is dealt with in Principle 4 of the Standard. Sadit agreed it was a very good idea and would cost next to nothing; but nobody had ever suggested it before. Her mother did the washing like this.
Inside the house there were some agrochemicals. The Standard allows farmers to apply these as long as they are not on the list of dangerous and non-approved substances and are properly stored on a cement floor. This is spelt out in Principle 6. The Sandovals store agrochemicals next to the bed. How simple to move them away from the living area and remove the threat to their health each night. Nor is it difficult or expensive to apply Principle 10 and organise waste so that it does not become a health hazard, pollute the farm of their neighbour or look unsightly.
It is making these small changes in the way that families live that represents so much value in applying our Standard and becoming Rainforest Alliance Certified. Our visit demonstrated that the Sustainable Agriculture Standard has much to contribute to the social aspects of sustainability, promoting people’s well being. The biggest change that farmers need to undertake to get certified is often the mental change, realising that they can improve their conditions and get the benefit for themselves and their families of a more peaceful, orderly, healthy lifestyle.
