How a project in Peru supports sustainable cocoa – and serves Swiss interests

Cocoa is in high demand and production is booming. In Peru, Switzerland is helping farmers grow cocoa more sustainably, while also ensuring Swiss chocolate producers have easy access to it. But funding for such projects in Latin America is shrinking. Luis Beltrán Vásquez, 78, has spent his entire life farming in Peru, mostly by raising livestock. Six years ago, he ventured into cocoa cultivation. “The price of cocoa is good. No other crop earns you as much money,” he says. Demand for cocoa is constantly on the rise, a fact that has prompted more farmers to specialise in this crop, often regardless of the consequences. Rainforests are being cut down, including in San Martín, Peru’s main cocoa-growing region. And because cocoa is often cultivated as monoculture, farmers rely heavily on pesticides for pest control. But Vásquez wants to do things differently – he’s embraced the principle of agroforestry. The idea behind agroforestry is to preserve as much biodiversity as possible.