Urabá, a region in Antioquia, Colombia, has been known to the world mainly for two things: Armed conflict and banana cultivations. High quality cacao, although it has great potential, is grown to a lesser extent. The existing supply is currently bought by two major companies who keep prices low.
With an unemployment rate of close to 30%, there aren't many alternatives for the people in this region than to sell at what is offered. Other statistics are equally troublesome: According to the United Nations, a staggering 50% of school-age children, for example, haven’t attended school in many years.
Nicolas Gutierrez, Industrial Engineer and Leader of Organizational Development for Fruandes has been leading the project since he joined the company a few months ago. As Colombian and part of the field team, he is familiar with the complicated social context of the region.
¨Urabá is a conflict zone,¨ Gutierrez said. ¨You will find individuals who demobilized from the Paramilitary, from the Guerilla; many displaced people.¨
A social worker and two agricultural engineers joined the company's core team earlier this year, specifically to support this project. Working directly in the region, they are aiding community development, the understanding of organic agriculture, and post-harvest processes.
¨We have to help them create a new reality,¨ Gutierrez said. ¨This is what the project is all about – help these small-scale farmers reach the potential to become part of an international market.¨
Fruandes hopes to reach this goal by strengthening select small-scale farmer associations, helping them achieve organic certification, buying the product at fair prices, and distributing the product internationally, thereby creating a sustainable ecosystem for cacao cultivation and international trade in the region.
The project's goal is to have 50 hectares of Certified Organic cacao by July 2018. Javier Vasquez, Business Manager at Fruandes, admits that this is quite an ambitious goal, but is confident that with the right people anything is possible: ¨No one believes that we can certify 50 hectares of cacao in less than one year. No one. But if you work with people who share the same values and objectives, anything is possible. This is why we are taking so long to select our partners.¨
Because of the remoteness of this region, the influence of conventional practices has been low and soils are relatively clean, which makes the certification process easier than in areas where the use of pesticides has spoilt soils for many years. Still, certification is complex process.
Fruandes has many years of experience leading farmers through the hoops of organic certification and its business model involves many factors, all of which need to be met in order to ensure a successful, long-term collaboration. In Urabá the company started out talking to over one thousand farmers. Currently, 160 farmers of six different associations are part of the conversation. In the end, Vasquez estimates, no more than 50 will meet the criteria.
Magnolia López Oquendo, mother of three, has great hopes for her future with the project. She currently lives off a small plantain production and her work in the cacao business, splitting her time between household and trying to feed her family. But despite of all of her work, the quality of life for her and her family isn't great. She has a lot of expenses and often has to deny basic needs to her children.
¨We have children in school and I often have to tell them that we don't have enough for a better life. If you eat well, then there isn't enough money for clothes,¨ López said. ¨The situation and the money one earns in agriculture simply isn't enough.¨
Many of the families in the region, she says, live in bad conditions. Many houses don't have sewer systems, the school building is in dire need of repairs, the roads are sub-par. One of the first things López hopes to invest in is a car. In case of emergency it's currently very difficult to get help.
¨We are very happy to be part of this project,¨ she said ¨We will have more money, more ability to help ourselves economically. We can fix the housing, help our neighbours. I want to start making savings, so I can leave something to my family.¨
The associations and its members receive training in organizational strengthening, process improvement, business enhancement, financial education, and technical assistance, among other knowledge-based support. Fruandes' business model is about empowerment; helping people to help themselves and creating development through sustainable business.
¨The farmers in this region don't want anything given to them¨, says Germán Betancourt, Leader of Organic Development for Fruandes. ¨They simply want an opportunity to have dignified work, and this is the type of environment we are trying to create.¨
