Traceability and transparency for cocoa production.
Demonstrating non-deforestation of land and quality and sustainable cocoa production.
Implementation accompanied by a technological solution that meets EU requirements in cocoa production, along with training for families to know how to get the best out of it. Allowing not only to demonstrate the legality of their products and the non-deforestation of their farms, but also to improve the yield and quality of their cocoa.
Detected need:
New EU regulation.
Solution:
implementation of a technological tool that demonstrates non-deforestation of land and traces the cocoa value chain.
Context of the problem.
During the 1980s, 1990s and part of the 2000s, the Peruvian Amazon experienced a period of uncertainty and social upheaval due to the accelerated growth of areas under coca cultivation for drug trafficking. Faced with this situation, the government launched the Alternative Development Program (PDA), with the aim of removing rural families from these illicit crops and incorporating them into the legal and sustainable economy. This is what happened with the 375 families targeted by this project, united in the ALLIMA CACAO agricultural cooperative, thanks to the work of IDSA (Institute for the Sustainable Development of the Amazon) as promoter and accompanier in their training.
In 2021, the European Commission, as part of the European Green Pact, approves a proposal for a regulation that prohibits the marketing on the EU market, as well as the export from the EU, of certain commodities and derived products that contribute to deforestation. This regulation states that raw materials and their products, imported or exported from the EU, must be produced in accordance with all relevant legislation of the producing country and on land that has not been subject to deforestation or forest degradation after December 31, 2020.
To prove that these requirements are met, the agricultural producer must provide thegeolocation of all his parcels with conclusive and verifiable information that the products aredeforestation-free and legal. This implies some adjustments to be made by these producerfamilies before december 2024 (date on which the Regulation will start to apply), if they wishto continue exporting their products to Europe, which is generating a set of challenges andproblems to the more than 100,000 families involved in cocoa cultivation in Peru.
Work done.
In 2024 ITWILLBE joins the project with the aim of investigating, evaluating and proposing a technological solution to cover the new EU requirements.
After months of work, in 2024 a technological tool has been identified that covers all the requirements set, allowing: on-farm monitoring of deforestation, product traceability and advice for quality and competitive production for producer families.
The project is currently seeking funding for the implementation of the tool, as in November 2024 the EU approved the extension to the end of 2025 for production adjustments.
