I’ve learned a lot about cacao lately. I learned that it’s pronounced ka-COW. I learned that it’s grown on trees in tropical climates and is the essential ingredient in chocolate, cocoa powder and cocoa butter. I learned that it’s not to be confused with coca, which is an illicit crop and the primary ingredient in cocaine.
I also learned that Colombia, despite having near-perfect growing conditions for the cacao tree, produces a small fraction of the world’s supply. So how might cacao help solidify peace in Colombia after a 52-year armed conflict and, at the same time, enhance the U.S.-Colombia relationship? I discovered how when I visited last month and learned more about USDA’s Cacao for Peace project.
Experts believe that the country’s ideal growing conditions and fine flavor varieties could turn Colombia into a cacao-producing powerhouse. Already, indigenous Arhauco farmers on Colombia's Caribbean Coast produce high quality, fine flavor cacao from a rare variety known as the "jewel" of the Sierra Nevadas. Through a business venture with Cacao Hunters, a Colombian specialty chocolatier, the Arhaucos have sold their beans at a premium, resulting in the region's first single-origin chocolate bar that has won prestigious awards in London and Paris.
I was fortunate to be in Bogota when the Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos signed a ceasefire agreement with the top leader of the FARC, the country's largest guerrilla group. It was also during this visit that USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service formally launched the Cacao for Peace initiative. The project, which combines expertise and resources from a range of stakeholders, is intended to help Colombian communities realize the full economic potential of cacao production.
The project will start with an in-depth supply chain analysis. That may sound boring, but it’s incredibly important to ensure that women, laborers and vulnerable populations benefit from this burgeoning new agricultural sector rather than being exploited by it. Cacao for Peace will also engage in cooperative research and on-the-ground activities to help farmers improve bean quality and increase yields using climate-smart, sustainable practices.
If the project is successful, it will not only help Colombia’s 35,000 small-scale cacao farmers remain on their land and develop vibrant rural communities in post-conflict regions, but it will also provide the United States with a needed supply of sustainably grown cacao.
In addition to being close neighbors, the United States and Colombia are parties to a free trade agreement that helps facilitate cross-border collaboration. American confectioners could become an important source of demand for high-value cacao sustainably grown in nearby Colombia. In addition to benefitting American confectioners and Colombian producers, this would create additional demand for American agricultural products like dairy, nuts and fruits, since every dollar of cacao we import generates an estimated $1-2 of demand for those products by the U.S. confectionary industry.
Cacao production could be a key to maintaining stability in Colombia and deepening economic ties between our two nations. I’m proud that USDA’s Cacao for Peace could play an important role in helping to realize its full potential.
