Socio-ecological benefits of fine-flavor cacao in its center of origin
Diciembre, 2022
Global
In the tropics, combining food security with biodiversity conservation remains a major challenge. Tropical agroforestry systems are among the most biodiversity friendly and productive land-use systems, and 70% of cocoa is grown by >6 million smallholder farmers living on <2$ per day. In cacao’s main centre of diversification, the western Amazon region, interest is growing to achieve premium prices with the conversion of high-yielding, but mostly bulk-quality cacao to native fine-flavor cacao varieties, culturally important since pre-Columbian times.
To invest responsibly in land, it is important to recognize and respect the land rights of local communities and avoid social and environmental harm.
