Alongside sugar, coffee and tobacco, cocoa is one of the Dominican Republic’s main exports. However, the plots of most cocoa farmers are at present too small for them to be able to live from their yield. HALBA too has been buying organic and fair-trade quality cocoa beans from the Dominican Republic since 2019. In order to enable further income opportunities for small-scale local cocoa farmers, since 2021 HALBA has been implementing a project along with its partners Cooproagro and the International Trade Center (ITC) to promote sustainable cocoa cultivation through dynamic agroforestry (DAF).
In order to improve the income situation in the Duarte and María Trinidad Sánchez provinces while protecting the endangered forests on the Caribbean island, farmers are supported in using dynamic agroforestry (DAF). To this end, around 200 small-scale farmers are to be trained in this ground-breaking cultivation method and supported with the necessary plants and tools by 2025.
The project places a special focus on the integration of coconut trees into cocoa plantations. There is major demand for palm oil in the Dominican Republic, which can currently only be covered through imports from Asia. The coconuts grown in the project not only provide the farmers with additional income, but also reduce expensive coconut imports and transportation harmful to the environment.
15 small-scale cocoa farmers are cultivating their land under DAF conditions, totalling around 3 hectares.
