ACCESO holds the first Andean Regional Workshop on Cocoa Technical Training
The World Cocoa Foundation (WCF) in association with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Organization of the American States (CICAD/OAS), the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), and key stakeholders form the cocoa sector in Ecuador which include ACDI/VOCA, Anecacao, Aprocafa, and ARD-Pronorte, held the first regional workshop event of the ACCESO (ANDEAN COUNTRIES COCOA EXPORT SUPPORT OPPORTUNITY) program. The "Andean Regional Workshop on Cocoa Technical Training" was held March 6-8, 2006, in Quevedo, Ecuador. The workshop demonstrated new technologies for improving cocoa crop yields and quality to cocoa farmers form Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru.
More than 150 participants, the majority of them farmers dedicated to cocoa cultivation, benefited from technical discussion sessions on themes such as cocoa agronomy, pests and diseases, reproduction, biological control, quality, and markets. These sessions were led by experts and complemented by visits to cocoa farms where the newly learned techniques were reinforced with hands-on application.
During the event, Michael Magan, Deputy Assistant Administrator for USAID Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean, commented, "The message that I would like to send today is that an incremental advance in the productivity and sustainability of cocoa cultivation is possible if we continue with a collective force. Together we will reach our common objectives: for farmers, increased incomes to satisfy family necessities; for the chocolate industry, a better supply of high quality cocoa to make the products to satisfy global demand; and for the international organizations, the fulfillment of plans to help development in the region." José Xavier Venegas Alava, an ACDI/VOCA Ecuador extension agent, spoke on the part of the participants when he said "I am proud to have attended the Regional Andean Workshop, because with technology, implementation and union of our brother countries, we will make a prosperous Latin America and pass a better future on to the next generations."
ACCESO is an alliance among private industry, nations, and international institutions that promotes development focused on the sustainable production of cocoa. ACCESO's principal objective is to encourage and promote sustainable rural development in cocoa growing areas by fostering necessary conditions and support for all the components of the supply chain. The above-mentioned "Andean Regional Workshop on Cocoa Cultivation Technical Training" is exemplary of such activity.
For additional information please contact:
Mr. Marcelo Núñez
Executive Secretary
ACCESO Coordinating Secretariat
IICA / Peru
Lima, Peru
marcelo.nunez@iica.int