When competitiveness and inclusion reinforce each other: take-aways from the CREA project

Revitalising Ecuador’s agri-food sector towards competitiveness in international markets: that was the ambitious goal set out in the CREA project, initiated in 2022 and led by Rikolto in consortium with the National Association of Food and Beverage Manufacturers (ANFAB), COSPE, the Litoral Higher Polytechnic College (ESPOL) and KU Leuven University, with funding of the European Union.  

This partnership brought innovation, sustainability and inclusion across eight value chains (cocoa, coffee, plantain, banana, quinoa, avocado, guayusa and soursop).

An important take-away from CREA is the value that lies in collective work, with a multitude of perspectives and expertise. This allowed us to drive the initiative towards innovative proposals linked to the circular economy, the inclusion of young people and women or private sector investments. In this article, we reflect on how this was essential to a more cohesive agri-food system.  

Collective approach to connect producer organisations and SMEs to the market

Throughout the project, we improved EU market access for 14 cocoa and coffee producing organisations and 9 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), as well as 34 organisations/SMEs in the other selected chains. We worked together to strengthen their export capacities, marketing skills and entrepreneurship, preparing them for participation in over 20 national and international trade fairs. All in all, they made close to 200 commercial contacts and generated over $2.7 million in business opportunities.  

As a starting point, we conducted a commercial diagnosis with each producer organisation and SME. This shaped a tailored strategy, focused on strengthening the commercial management capabilities, from preparing and following up on proposals and identifying market opportunities, to navigating export processes and concrete negotiations.

The example of cocoa farmer organisation UNOCACE captures this well: following its participation in four trade fairs in Germany, Switzerland and the Netherlands, UNOCACE strengthened its commercial management and consolidated a clear strategy for market and client diversification. These efforts generated $1.1 million in actual and projected sales, generating new income for their members.  

Also, a digital platform https://ecuadoragroalimentario.com, was established as an interactive space for information sharing and training for actors from across the agrifood sector. The platform is linked to the ‘Ecuador Pavilion’ of TRIDGE, an international trade platform, showcasing products of Ecuadorian companies, including 23 SMEs and 7 producer organisations participating in the CREA project.

Along with this, we worked towards fostering an enabling environment through multi-stakeholder spaces. We facilitated the multi-stakeholder's governance model of the Coalición Cacao 2030, a private sector initiative that brings together all segments of Ecuador's cocoa chain, from producers and traders to exporters, processors and chocolatiers. In coffee, we supported the multistakeholder creation of a national plan for the coffee-sector together with GIZ. Facilitating these processes, we learnt how important it is that the private sector, producers and companies alike, take a leading role without depending on government incentives. In both cases, the constant turnover of staff at the ministries slowed progress on previously agreed proposals. The strongest guarantee of continuity is the commitment from within the sector.

Women and youth lead the way

A key aspect of CREA was to promote inclusion for women and young people in Ecuador’s agri-food system, as well as diversifying access to resources. The Gender Agendas are one example of this: together with COSPE, we brought together 160 women from five producer organisations –from different value chains- to develop Gender Agendas. These agendas, created by women producers, identify and address the specific challenges and opportunities women face, and outline priorities and actions for their empowerment. They also serve as a roadmap for integrating their perspectives into public policies.  

The initiatives led by women cocoa farmers in Esmeraldas and women coffee producers in Zamora Chinchipe sparked the interest of local authorities, inviting for stronger action on local problems. Gender-based violence and pollution caused by mining are some of the issues that concern women from organisations such as Asomurchoq and ACRIM. These discussions placed their voices at the centre, reinforcing their role within the community in discussions and initiatives aimed at finding solutions.

Apart from that, CREA supported women and youth through training towards entrepreneurship: 15 initiatives led by young people and women received seed capital of $3,000 each, enabling them to strengthen businesses linked to chocolate production and on-farm processing.  

One of these entrepreneurs is 25-year-old David Esmeraldas, grandson of one of the founders of APROCAM, an organisation that has produced cacao for over two decades. He is determined to keep his community’s agricultural legacy alive and sees it as a way of preventing migration. His perspective led him to found Muyu Chaapi, a purpose-driven chocolate venture. Along the way, he had access to training on business model development, branding and packaging, and participated in trade fairs and sector events to explore trends, spot opportunities and build networks. Personalised coaching helped him sharpen his business proposal.  

The experience with women and young entrepreneurs underlines that mapping their real needs and perspectives should be a mandatory first step to innovate solutions and local public policy. For example, women organised a pioneer community campaign to convince the local government on more action against the contamination of the river by miners and started a “radio magazine” to amplify women’s voices. A young entrepreneur presented a business plan on bioplastic made from cocoa pods, a by-product that is usually discarded. All innovative actions, that came from these women and young entrepreneurs.

When research makes it to the field

Specialists and lecturers at ESPOL and KU Leuven added a strong research backbone to the project, generating scientific evidence to support productive solutions and guide commercial innovations. What did that look like in practice?

• Carbon and water footprint studies on avocado farms produced findings that clearly demonstrated a comparative commercial advantage for Ecuadorian avocado producers and provided producers with concrete tools to reduce water, energy and fuel use, which visibly result in higher productivity and cost savings.  

• Demonstration plots for cadmium mitigation were set up across 12 cocoa farms. This resulted in a set of recommendations for cocoa producers. For example: thorough knowledge of your soil is vital. If cadmium is present, it is recommended to raise the soil pH and use more organic matter, as this helps to increase the uptake of cadmium by soil minerals, instead of it being absorbed in the cocoa. This and other recommendations were shared during a multi-stakeholder workshop, to support producers to prepare for EU food safety standards on cadmium levels.

“At the end of the day, it is the producers who have to comply with all these regulations, which is why it is so important that these findings, actions and trials reach the producers directly.” Cristina Godoy, accountant of the farmer organisation UOPROCAE

A key lesson from the project was that collaboration between academia, producers and the private sector led to more relevant and practical innovations. The progress made was the result of ongoing processes of dialogue, technical support and co-creation of solutions. These alliances are key to address emerging challenges in the market and international regulation.  

“The CREA project made it possible, for the first time, to maintain direct and ongoing contact with producers, who shared their practical knowledge and needs. This gave me a better understanding of their circumstances and enabled us to identify practical, scientifically based solutions, tailored to their specific contexts.” Fabiola Corenjo, lecturer and researcher at ESPOL

A vision worth working towards

Working at the crossroads of innovation, sustainability, research and inclusion translates into commercial opportunities, but also into so much more. CREA has shown us that competitiveness and inclusion are not competing goals and paints us a vision of what a flourishing agri-food sector could look like: fair incomes for the people growing and processing our food, contexts that encourage women and youth to take on these opportunities, knowledge that flows between universities and fields, and markets that reward sustainability. Working towards this should always be collective to achieve improvements across value chains, foster innovation and unlock the sector’s ability to set standards, comply with regulations and sustain processes over time.  

Through integration and collaborations, CREA has established a methodology that includes gender agendas, entrepreneurship, access to markets, environmental footprint measurement, cadmium mitigation and accountability. Part of the legacy of the project relies on the successful application of this inclusive business approach that promotes connections throughout value chains, drives higher incomes for farmers, better profits for SMEs and seasonal employment opportunities for women and young people across Ecuador.