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 entirely from their yield. HALBA too has been buying organic and fair-trade quality cocoa beans from the Dominican Republic since 2019. To create further income opportunities for local smallholder cocoa farmers, since 2021 HALBA and selected customers of HALBA, together with the cocoa cooperative Cooproagro and the International Trade Center (ITC), have been implementing a project that promotes sustainable cocoa cultivation through dynamic agroforestry (DAF).
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 120 smallholders are to be trained in this pioneering cultivation method by 2029 and supported with appropriate planting material and tools.
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.
Alongside establishing new DAF plots, the project also focuses on structured pruning of tall shade trees. In the Dominican Republic, many cocoa plantations are poorly maintained, which results in low productivity. As cocoa in the Dominican Republic is already partly grown in mixed systems with shade trees, rehabilitating these existing areas, primarily through pruning of high canopy – and cocoa trees, offers great potential for increasing income. To achieve these objectives, specialized teams are trained, with expertise in cocoa- and high-canopy pruning and in the installation of new DAF systems. The project thus combines new DAF investments with targeted tree care and professional training.
By 2029, the site with an area of 100 hectares is to be divided into 70 hectares of new installations and 30 hectares of rehabilitated plots.
40 small-scale cocoa farmers are cultivating their land under DAF conditions, totaling around 20 hectares.
