Traceability for cocoa cultivation in the Cordillera Nariñense region

Pasto, Nariño. June 14, 2023. On May 24, a workshop was held in the corregimiento (township) El Ejido, located in the municipality of Policarpa, located in the Cordillera Nariñense region, with the aim of implementing a traceability system that allows strengthening the cocoa production system in the region. Producers, students, and parents of Institución Educativa Agropecuaria El Ejido and technicians of Fedecacao and Ayuda en Acción participated in the workshop. Researchers of the Palmira and Tibaitatá Research Centers of AGROSAVIA led the direction of the workshop.

The mobile application called "Cacao App" was presented during the event. This App is designed for Android devices and allows capturing information throughout the production process of each plant in the cacao plantation by generating and reading a QR code, which is printed, laminated, and installed in the plants that comprise the plantation. The development of this App facilitates traceability and ensures cocoa production quality in a practical, safe, and economical way.

In the workshop, both young people and adults exchanged knowledge and had the opportunity to interact with the App, resolving their doubts with the help of the orientation team. In this way, the methodology proposed contributed to reducing the digital gap between the generations that participated in the event.

Dubert Cañar, MSc. Associate Researcher highlighted the importance of this type of event since it encourages producers and producer associations to make decisions based on information. In addition, it seeks to raise awareness in the community about the existence of easily accessible technological solutions that facilitate the work of producers, taking advantage of the digital skills of the new generations and encouraging young people to choose the agricultural sector as a profitable life option.

The workshop was held within the framework of the project "Development of a low-cadmium cocoa production model for the sub-region of the Cordillera nariñense region," specifically under the 1980 Agreement. This project was funded by La Agencia Española of Cooperación Internacional para el Desarrollo (AECID), Ayuda en Acción, and executed by AGROSAVIA since the year 2020.