The Agence Française de Développement (AFD) is one of the Cacao Forest project’s contributing partners. It is a French public financial institution that works to combat poverty and promote sustainable development. A member of the AFD came to visit the plantations to get to know the local stakeholders and assess the progress of the work on the ground.
This visit gave the AFD representative the opportunity to:
- Meet the producers involved in the Participatory Experimental Network (REP) and talk about the research process.
- See parcels hosting different models predefined by the Cacao Forest project.
- Visit the postharvest processing and storage plant run by COOPROAGRO.
- Meet representatives of FUPAROCA. This foundation, established in 2001, supports small cacao farms, helping them improve their yield and the quality of their production. Its objective is to help these farmers transition to organic farming.
- Meet the agroforestry students. The visit took place during their work on invertebrates.
This visit enabled the AFD to complete a practical appraisal of the agricultural, social and environmental scope of the project. The issues involved represent considerable challenges, and we are very honoured to have a partner like the AFD working by our side.
