Peru and the Dominican Republic share experiences and best practices for successful women-led cacao cooperatives

During the meeting, participants of the Peruvian cooperative, Oro Verde, shared their own experiences and successes in obtaining certifications.

Ottawa, 26 August 2016 (IICA). Support from commodity associations, cooperatives and government institutions, cemented by close interactions among small rural producers, is essential for small cooperatives and producers. This is the case of CHOCAL, a rural cooperative managed by women in Altamira, Dominican Republic.

This was one of the main conclusions of a mission with small scale producers, organized by the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) through its delegations in Canada, Peru and the Dominican Republic.

The mission held an informative session with representatives of the Centro de Exportación e Inversiones de la República Dominicana (CEI-RD). This organization promotes and encourages exports and investment in order make the country more competitive in the international markets.

The CEI-RD is one of the local agencies that helped CHOCAL. This took the form of technical training, access to financial resources and direct support through the commercialization process. Such assistance was key for CHOCAL, which comprises homestay women who had the strong desire of becoming entrepreneurs in the area of chocolate.

During the meeting, participants of the Peruvian cooperative, Oro Verde, shared their own experiences and successes in obtaining certifications, as well as their views on the importance of reaching international markets.

The initiative is part of an IICA project: “Enhancing value-added opportunities of small scale cacao producers in Peru and the Dominican Republic”.

More information: audia.barnett@iica.int frank.lam@iica.int