Cacao Oro

语境

The North Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region (RACCN) is one of two autonomous regions in Nicaragua. 76% of the RACCN consists of indigenous territories with communal property and being geographically isolated has a unique history and culture. The area was originally densely forested, but has experienced severe land degradation caused by cattle ranching, timber harvesting by private companies and illegal loggers, and extreme weather events. Another factor is land conflict, which especially takes place between indigenous communities and Mestizo ‘colonists’ occupying and clearing lands within the
社区的领土。

In 2007, after Hurricane Felix devastated northeastern Nicaragua, the founders of Cacao Oro had the opportunity to purchase 3,000 hectares in the country’s northern Atlantic Caribbean coastal region with the purpose of extracting the fallen timber. This was also the genesis of Cacao Oro’s relationship with the neighboring Awas Tingni community.

Background

Cacao Oro de Nicaragua was subsequently founded in early 2014 to produce sustainable and certified agroforestry-grown cocoa and coffee on those 3.000 hectares of degraded land. The company targets international markets, primarily the United States and Europe. The current farm operations are divided into 5 Productive Units of approximately 400 hectares, each headed by a head technician who is responsible for all operational aspects on their Productive Unit. The idea behind the work in farm units is to instill a sense of teamwork and ownership of the results between all the workers in the Unit.

From the start, the cocoa-farming operation was developed under an agroforestry model to help the restoration of the landscape and promote the diversity of the region’s flora and fauna. With 2,000 hectares planted by the end of 2018 – and approximately 1,000 hectares of the farm are considered natural reserve and protection zones for waterways and will not be developed – , Cacao Oro started to explore expansion options in the region.

通过LDN基金的投资，该公司旨在巩固其当前运营，并扩大其当前生产领域。除了从农场到港口的100公里道路外，一个以小型持有人为中心的扩建项目的设计有可能影响可持续土地管理下的50,000-100,000公顷。此外，该公司正在与Awas Tingni土著社区探索合作伙伴关系。该项目将允许通过可可和咖啡农林业恢复社区退化的土地，支持本地生物多样性的复兴，并通过改善基础设施改善社区的生活机会，并通过改善基础设施改善，从而更好地进入市场。此外，根据立法，该项目可能会间接构成政府在土著社区和殖民者之间解决冲突解决方案的激励措施。

©Nienke Stam

商业模式

Cacao Oo在尼加拉瓜经营着大规模的UTZ认证可可植物，该种植园使用旨在重新恢复严重退化的土地的完整农林业模型开发。运营始于一个3,000公顷的农场，该农场位于大西洋海岸的罗西塔市，迄今为止已种植了2,000多公顷。第一次农作物于2017年收获，预计到2022年，年度总产量将增长到约4,000吨。同时，该公司正在经营一个阳光下的永久托儿所，每年的生产能力为1,500,000株工厂。

Towards the future, Cacao Oro intends to expand its production area through an outgrower program, and is also exploring an innovative partnership with the Awas Tingni indigenous community, to replant part of the degraded and unproductive land owned by them with agroforestry, combining indigenous and commercial tree species with coffee and cocoa crops.

An important condition for this project to be realized is a strong free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) process in place, and confirmed consent of the Awas Tingni community for the project, in accordance with IFC performance standards and the VGGT regarding indigenous peoples and in line with the Nicaraguan government’s FPIC protocols.

资本和服务流

Risk management

Key risks are managed as follows:

Technical assistance

• 最初，LDN TAF支持经验丰富的顾问的范围界定任务，以将项目背景化并帮助确定最紧迫的技术援助需求。基于此，一名独立的第三方顾问被签订合同，以绘制与土著社区和居住在土地上的殖民者和殖民者实现FPIC的潜力。这一初步确认对LDN基金的积极投资决定起了重要作用。
• 向前迈进，LDN TAF将支持可可ORO以及第三方独立专家，通过FPIC流程的准备和计划阶段为土著社区提供支持。根据结果​​，FPIC过程将由LDN TAF进一步开发和支持。
• Finally, an LDN baseline and subsequent monitoring plan will be established.

Theory of change