"Central America has the agro-climatic conditions for cocoa cultivation, where more than a third of the region's surface area is suitable for cocoa cultivation, but only 11% of it is available. Ninety-five per cent of this land is in Nicaragua," said Francisco Lima, secretary-general of the Secretariat for Central American Economic Integration (SIECA), during the strategy launch event held in Guatemala last December.
This information is part of the studies carried out through the project. Agro-climatic maps to better guide farmers on which areas they should start working on mitigation and which areas to move towards.
As part of its knowledge exchange strategy, the project has formed two communities of practice (one on profitable agroforestry systems and one on inclusive business models). This information supports the partnerships to which the project is contributing with private companies and farmers' organisations to learn more about the implementation of agroforestry models. These are then shared throughout the SICACAO network.
In Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua, 47 pilot cocoa plots are being implemented under agroforestry systems (SAF) in partnership with Cacao Verapaz, CLUSA, Chocolats Halba and Exportadora Atlantic EXPASA.