[T]echnoServe, an international non-profit organization that helps to alieve poverty through enterprising farm management, announced a new $36.4 million project to boost Latin America’s coffee and cocoa sectors.
The initiative, called “Maximizing Opportunities in Coffee and Cocoa in the Americas” (MOCCA), is funded by the Department of Agriculture, and will be implemented with principal partner Lutheran World Relief.
Organizers intend for the project to improve the lives of 120,000 coffee and cocoa farmers throughout Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Ecuador, and Peru over the next five years. It aims to help farmers and their families by training them in climate-resilient agronomic practices, facilitating access to financing, making it easier to access high-quality genetic material for planting, and helping research focused on developing more resilient plants. MOCCA will also connect farmers to higher-value markets, helping them to earn higher incomes that can be reinvested into their farms.
To achieve these goals, TechnoServe is also partnering with organizations around the world including Rikolto, World Coffee Research, Bioversity International, The Initiative for Smallholder Finance, Conservation International, and the J. M. Smucker Company.
