Indonesia is the world’s third biggest cocoa producing country in the world. Most of the cocoa is produced by small-scale farmers but sadly enough they have a hard time to make ends meet. This is mainly because of low productivity due to a lack of knowledge regarding pests and diseases and how to treat them. To deal with this problem a lot of farmers use subsidized chemical pesticide which is destructive for both farmer and nature. Poor post-harvest techniques also lead to low quality fermented beans. Farmers have very limited access to credit to transform their cocoa production into a profitable business. The price a cocoa farmer gets for cocoa is dramatically low.
With the desire to solve the many problems faced by farmers, a collaboration started between farmers, professionals and volunteers. This resulted in Organic Cocoa Project La Galigo.
Project La Galigo aims to improve the livelihood of cocoa farmers in Sulawesi in a sustainable way by setting up a learning centre were training and technical support is provided. This will enable the farmers to make the transition from conventional monocrop farming into organic farming using the innovative principles of agroforestry. Agroforestry can diversify their income and make the cocoa trees less susceptible to pests and diseases. The damaged natural environment will be restored. On the long run we hope to create a successful agroforestry model that can be applied on a larger scale and in other geographic regions.
It all started with that one farmer family
The Galigo project started by supporting a farmer family who was willing to make the transition to organic farming. A former employee of Rainforest Alliance helped them to plant cocoa trees using organic manure and teaching them to make organic compost. Within a few months a major change was noticeable on the farm. The young cocoa and other crops grew very well. Also the family was excited about the improvements. This shows that if farmers get both physical and financial support it is indeed possible to grow chocolate organically in Sulawesi.
Encouraged by these progressions and with the desire to solve the many problems faced by farmers, the founder of La Galigo foundation wrote a projectplan. This resulted in bringing together a group of farmers, professionals and volunteers who all are very excited about the plan. And so Organic Cocoa Project La Galigo started.
A better livelyhood and producing organic cocoa
The main goal of project La Galigo is to improve the livelyhood of cocoafarmers in Luwu, Sulawesi by producing the finest quality fermented and dried beans organically by implementing syntropic farming. With these cocoa beans the farmers can cater single origine/fine flavour chocolatemakers (direct trade) locally but also internationaly.
Step 1: Developing a model farm
At this moment we are working on a model farm which will also operate as an educational center for farmers, students and (eco)tourist. The model farm will serve as an example to show in which way agroforestry would be beneficial for the soil and crops. A very important aspect is that there are crops which can be harvested after one month. In this way the farmers have almost instant income. The farmers who join the project will get fieldtraining at this facility. But also volunteers and students can learn about agroforestry here. The model farm can also be used for research. Last but not least, the facility centre would have an eco tourist facility. This way, students, volunteers but also tourists can visit and work on the farms and more knowledge can be shared.
The following steps towards our goals
The second step would be to implement agroforestry at the farms of about 50 farmers. In this fase the farmers will get (field)training and guidance to manage their farms. Through working by the principle of gotong royong and working with both students and volunteers especially in the beginning it is easier to implement agroforestry. The third step will be the collective production of cacao products like cocoa liquor (mass), cocoa cake (powder) and cocoa butter. We aim to sell our products to the national and international fine flavour chocolate makers and traders. Our final goal is to produce bean-to-bar or fine flavour/artisinal chocolate at the central facility. For more information about the steps follow our blog.
About gotong royong
Gotong royong is a principle which promotes collectivism. In this project it is introduced by the first farmer Mr. Amir of project La Galigo. The known saying equal to gotong royong is “berat sama dipikul, ringan sama dijinjing” (loosely translated as “shouldering the heavy & carrying the light together”), meaning that no matter how big or small the works that need to be done, it’s better to do it with people to finish it. In this project the idea is that a group of farmers work together every morning on one farm so that a lot of work can be finished in one day. In the afternoon all farmers work on their own land as to maintain all farms equally.
With the desire to solve the many problems faced by farmers, a collaboration started between farmers, professionals and volunteers. This resulted in Organic Cocoa Project La Galigo.
Project La Galigo aims to improve the livelihood of cocoa farmers in Sulawesi in a sustainable way by setting up a learning centre were training and technical support is provided. This will enable the farmers to make the transition from conventional monocrop farming into organic farming using the innovative principles of agroforestry. Agroforestry can diversify their income and make the cocoa trees less susceptible to pests and diseases. The damaged natural environment will be restored. On the long run we hope to create a successful agroforestry model that can be applied on a larger scale and in other geographic regions.
It all started with that one farmer family
The Galigo project started by supporting a farmer family who was willing to make the transition to organic farming. A former employee of Rainforest Alliance helped them to plant cocoa trees using organic manure and teaching them to make organic compost. Within a few months a major change was noticeable on the farm. The young cocoa and other crops grew very well. Also the family was excited about the improvements. This shows that if farmers get both physical and financial support it is indeed possible to grow chocolate organically in Sulawesi.
Encouraged by these progressions and with the desire to solve the many problems faced by farmers, the founder of La Galigo foundation wrote a projectplan. This resulted in bringing together a group of farmers, professionals and volunteers who all are very excited about the plan. And so Organic Cocoa Project La Galigo started.
A better livelyhood and producing organic cocoa
The main goal of project La Galigo is to improve the livelyhood of cocoafarmers in Luwu, Sulawesi by producing the finest quality fermented and dried beans organically by implementing syntropic farming. With these cocoa beans the farmers can cater single origine/fine flavour chocolatemakers (direct trade) locally but also internationaly.
Step 1: Developing a model farm
At this moment we are working on a model farm which will also operate as an educational center for farmers, students and (eco)tourist. The model farm will serve as an example to show in which way agroforestry would be beneficial for the soil and crops. A very important aspect is that there are crops which can be harvested after one month. In this way the farmers have almost instant income. The farmers who join the project will get fieldtraining at this facility. But also volunteers and students can learn about agroforestry here. The model farm can also be used for research. Last but not least, the facility centre would have an eco tourist facility. This way, students, volunteers but also tourists can visit and work on the farms and more knowledge can be shared.
The following steps towards our goals
The second step would be to implement agroforestry at the farms of about 50 farmers. In this fase the farmers will get (field)training and guidance to manage their farms. Through working by the principle of gotong royong and working with both students and volunteers especially in the beginning it is easier to implement agroforestry. The third step will be the collective production of cacao products like cocoa liquor (mass), cocoa cake (powder) and cocoa butter. We aim to sell our products to the national and international fine flavour chocolate makers and traders. Our final goal is to produce bean-to-bar or fine flavour/artisinal chocolate at the central facility. For more information about the steps follow our blog.
About gotong royong
Gotong royong is a principle which promotes collectivism. In this project it is introduced by the first farmer Mr. Amir of project La Galigo. The known saying equal to gotong royong is “berat sama dipikul, ringan sama dijinjing” (loosely translated as “shouldering the heavy & carrying the light together”), meaning that no matter how big or small the works that need to be done, it’s better to do it with people to finish it. In this project the idea is that a group of farmers work together every morning on one farm so that a lot of work can be finished in one day. In the afternoon all farmers work on their own land as to maintain all farms equally.
GOTONG ROYONG
"shouldering the heavy & carrying the light together”