March 5, 2008

New Project Won: Ecuador – USDA P.L. 480 Bridge Funding

ACDI/VOCA has received an additional $440,000 in funding from USDA to continue its highly successful cocoa development project in Ecuador until 2009. Begun in 2004 as a four-year, $5 million Food for Progress project, ACDI/VOCA’s SUCCESS Alliance program in Ecuador promotes increased cocoa production through farmer training, tree rehabilitation and the development and strengthening of farmer associations. The program partners ACDI/VOCA, USDA and the World Cocoa Foundation to provide technical assistance to smallholder cocoa growers from around the world.

The additional funding will enable the program to continue activities to increase cocoa farm productivity by training smallholder producers in association organization, cocoa quality, post-harvest management and marketing. The SUCCESS Alliance will continue its current efforts in Guayas, Los Rios, Manabi and Esmeraldas provinces as well as in the additional nearby zones of Pichincha, Bolivar, Cotopaxi, Cabar, Azuay and el Oro. The main objectives of the new award are

• training 5,000 smallholder producers
• strengthening 32 farmer associations
• strengthening the knowledge of 5,000 farmer field school graduates
• monitoring 16 clonal gardens and 27 nurseries
• marketing and working with a minimum of 8 organized groups to establish stable commercial relations with at least 4 cocoa buyers

To learn more about the SUCCESS Alliance program in Ecuador, click here.