I first met Lars back in 2010 when his company was focusing on buying and exporting organic honey from Nicaragua (which they still do). Lars is well placed to discuss this issue as his company is working hard to make Nicaragua one of the leading producers of fine flavored cocoa in the region (cacao refers to the bean that comes from the tree, cocoa is what the bean is called once processed). I recently met up with Lars Saquero Møller, General Manager of Ingemann Fine Cocoabased in Nicaragua, to discuss this phenomenon. This is particularly true in areas hard hit by coffee leaf rust where farmers have to decide whether it is worth making the large and long-term investment in coffee once again. What we are seeing more and more of in coffee produced under 1,000 meters in Central America, as well as in other coffee growing regions, is the rise of cacao as complement to, and sometimes replacement of, coffee farm systems. Diversification into other crops such as nuts, plantains and fruit, among others, also helps to ensure that a farmer is generating income at multiple times during the year, not just at the time of the coffee harvest. In previous Coffeelands posts we have written about the importance of diversifying smallholder coffee farms as a hedge against falling coffee prices, low coffee productivity resulting from disease (such as coffee leaf rust) and other factors. Cacao farmer Rubén Darío, Jinotega, Nicaragua.
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