To ensure these producers would have a fair shot and the ability to access outside resources, Microsoft joined forces with the US Agency for International Development (USAID), the Ideas for Peace Foundation and the National Chocolates Company to create Cacao Conecta, a global development partnership aimed at benefiting cocoa farmers, women and young people.
Some of the benefits for the producers in the program to help improve cocoa development included soil analysis, technical visits to expert growers, and kits with cocoa processing tools. Another major component of the program was the installation of connectivity points in strategic locations and the provision of digital skills training to cocoa producers.
“One opportunity that was identified was how to promote the importance and use of technology and then, obviously, how to solve the connectivity issues that we know are very complicated,” Natalia López, director of Cacao Conecta, said. “For example, we have an indigenous community that is about a three-hour walk from a cell phone signal.”
To help address the problem, in 2021 Microsoft and its partner ANDITEL installed 26 points of connectivity throughout rural Colombian regions near the municipalities of Turbo, Apartadó and Dabeiba through its Airband Initiative, which was launched to bring transformative connectivity to unserved and underserved communities around the world.
Microsoft used different technologies, depending on the difficulties of the points. Some points were connected with satellite technology, while others used a technology called TV White Spaces. The project invested in infrastructure, like towers and electricity, to mount the radios and antennas to help close links and produce connectivity.
Since the project was launched three years ago, the impact has been groundbreaking, helping to even the playing field and increase profits for more than 300 producers, according to Cacao Conecta.
“Now, it’s very easy to know the prices, almost instantaneously,” Cartagena said. “We can see the price changes and we can take advantage of it because the communication is very fast. That generates a lot of profit for us, both in time and economics. (Connectivity) is a tool that, for us, has a lot of value.”
The ability to access the internet has also improved educational opportunities throughout these regions, with schools now able to broaden learning through virtual classrooms and online programs.
“It has been very satisfying that Cacao Conecta arrived because it has benefitted many children,” Yuliana Campo Páez, a young cocoa producer from Manuel Cuello, a village of Turbo, in Antioquia, said. “Young people now have the possibility of carrying out tasks as well. They don’t have to travel to other places or municipalities. We feel very grateful.”
Part of Cacao Conecta’s mission is opening doors for more producers to succeed in the cocoa field, especially women. Their contributions to the growth of the industry have often been overlooked. Now, with connectivity, training and added resources of the alliance, these producers are helping make an impact.
“This component is born from that need to first balance the burdens in families, because we know that women are usually the ones who assume the tasks and the roles of care within the home,” López said. “That equal distribution of burdens also identifies those women’s skills that have suddenly not been recognized and that are important to take into account. The message for men and women is, if we are co-responsible in all the activities, both of the home and the crop, can we have even higher yields and higher productivity as well?”
For Luz Adriana Campo Páez, a cocoa producer in the Quebrada de Los Indios region, connectivity allowed her to get important training and maintenance lessons to help improve her crops.
