Cocoa-led Development: Maximizing Opportunities in Coffee and Cacao in the Americas (MOCCA)

Project Overviews

Cocoa-led Development: Maximizing Opportunities in Coffee and Cacao in the Americas (MOCCA)

The Maximizing Opportunities in Coffee and Cacao in the Americas (MOCCA) project is a five-year initiative, funded by USDA’s Food for Progress Program with Technoserve as consortium lead, aimed at helping more than 100,000 farmers overcome the barriers limiting their capacity to effectively rehabilitate and renovate their coffee and cacao plants in Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Ecuador and Peru. Lutheran World Relief (LWR) leads cocoa programming for the MOCCA project, implementing a comprehensive approach to promoting cocoa production that focuses on increasing crop yields through agroforestry systems, improving cocoa quality, enhancing the professional capacity of both farmers and producer organizations, and facilitating linkages between cocoa buyers and sellers.

Through MOCCA, LWR works with trade associations, producer organizations, exporters and research institutions that want to invest in the agricultural and market systems that make cocoa value chain improvements possible for the future, such as higher prices, good genetic material for planting, and more direct, feasible and profitable supply chains for smallholder farmers. Through partnerships with private sector entities, MOCCA has awarded more than $500,000 to strengthen cocoa livelihoods in its matching grant program. Market system actors are selected to pilot business models with the private sector that enhance access to higher-value markets and reward high-quality products with increased prices. These investments also foster a more sustainable supply of cocoa for regional and international markets.

With our cocoa activities across Latin America, LWR advances sustainability, climate-smart agriculture, market transparency and regional strategies that help farmers to implement crop renovation and rehabilitation. By championing co-creation with local and regional partners to strengthen market-based agricultural development in MOCCA, we are committed to supporting cocoa producers and markets through an integrated approach that advances climate and community resilience across the sector.

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