There are currently 23 cacao producers farming the 36 parcels that make up the Cacao Forest project’s Participatory Experimental Network (REP) in the Dominican Republic. This network was set up to test the robustness and capacity for adaptation of the four innovative agroforestry models conceived in Phase I of the project (2017-2019).

 

CIRAD, the organisation providing the scientific coordination of the Cacao Forest project in the Dominican Republic, has teamed up with the producers to spread the word about their involvement on the ground by erecting information boards about the scheme:

 

  • on the edge of each parcel, to explain which model is being tested, how it is being implemented (in a new or rehabilitated parcel), the cacao varieties being grown, the planting density and the names of the other plants being cultivated alongside;



  • at the home of each producer, explaining that they are taking part in the Cacao Forest project and which parcels belong to their farm.


These boards are not just there to provide information. They have been warmly welcomed by our partners on the ground, who see them as recognition of their involvement in the project.