Success Story: Naranjito Farmers - Working Together to Improve Quality and Increase Price
Smallholder cocoa farmers in Ecuador identify marketing as one of the most pressing issues.
Their small farm sizes and relatively low levels of production (300-500 lbs/ha) do not create the most favorable marketing conditions and limit the price they receive for their cocoa.
Farmers often sell their cocoa individually to local middlemen who then sell larger volumes of cocoa to exporters in Guayaquil.
To address these issues, SUCCESS Alliance’s Associative Marketing Program has been working to organize Farmer Field School graduates into informal working groups and more formalized associations.
In January 2007, SUCCESS Alliance began working with four farmer groups in the Naranjito area of Guayas Province. Over the first five months of 2007, the organizations learned to work together. They began to harvest their cocoa at the same time and bring the fresh beans to a central collection point. There the cocoa was weighed and registered before undergoing fermentation and drying, using the group’s solar dryer.
From May to December 2007, the Naranjito groups marketed over 57 tons of quality cocoa earning US$ 25,000 more than they did previously. The groups sold their cocoa to several different buyers before beginning a relationship with WCF-member Nestlé in August/September 2007.
“This process has been difficult for all of us. We were not used to selling directly to exporters and the exporters did not have much experience either with small cocoa producers. It has been a mutual learning process,” says Mr. Emilio Jara of the Ines Maria community.
“Now we know how to sell our cocoa and we are receiving better qualifications on our product. I would like that all the producers of my community work together, so they also can receive a better price for their product.”
Participation in the group selling arrangement increased over time and by January 2008 a total of 188 producers representing 8 farmer groups were actively involved.
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