Diario Libre reports that Dominican cacao exports continued to gain market value in 2002. Reportedly, the country exported 5.3 million kilos, equaling US$9.9 million — three times more than the year before.
Isidoro de la Rosa, president of the Confederacion de Cacaocultores Dominicanos (Conacado), says that the demand for organic chocolate is increasing at an approximate rate of 20 percent in places such as Belgium, Holland, Germany, Switzerland, the United States and Japan.
Organic farming management relies on biological diversity in the fields to disrupt the habitats of pest organisms, and the unwavering maintenance and replenishment of soil fertility. Organic farmers are not allowed to use synthetic pesticides or fertilizers.
The Conacado effort began in 1990 with the cooperation of the German cooperation agency, GTZ. Today the organization groups 9,000 farmers who would otherwise have had to abandon their crops due to the low prices of conventionally grown cacao on international commodity markets and the successful development of synthetic chocolate-tasting substitutes.
The increase in organic cacao exports parallels that of other organic products. The Dominican Republic is also the leading exporter of organic bananas to the European Union, supplying 80 percent of its total consumption there.
Producers are now lobbying for Congress to pass a regarding organic farming. Jose Rafael Espaillat, at the reputable Instituto Dominicano de Investigaciones Agropecuarias y Forestales (Idiaf), explains that efforts are underway to support further organic farming endeavors. He says that while consumers worldwide are willing to pay more for the perceived high quality of organic produce, costs could be as much as 20 percent lower once the initial investment to convert to organic production has been made. ?It is not the same thing to eat a banana harvested with chemicals than one that is free of those elements,? he explained.
