Cocao
SHEAF in partnership with Asocciacion Cristiana de Jovenes (ACJ-YMCA) and with a generous grant from the Gay Lea Foundation initiated a cocoa project in Central Nicaragua, in the municipality of Boaco. Twenty-four farmers were given 500 cocoa plants each the optimum amount for growing on approximately 1 acre. These farmers had been toiling the land, on loan from a land bank, for 10 years. They received title to the land and could begin to think of growing a perennial crop which would help raise them economically from a subsistence level to a more sustainable level. Their crop of choice was cocoa.
Cocoa plant currently is an ideal plant to grow since a cocoa plant takes about tw
o to three years to bear fruit and lasts approximately 25 years. Moreover, there is an emerging market for cocoa. Thus, growing cocoa has three positives: Bears fruit quickly, lasts and is in demand.
The cocoa plant depicted is about three to four years old.
The ACJ-YMCA start plants of a robust variety from seed in a nursery on one of their farms. A 
cocoa plant which is known for yielding more fruit is grafted onto this robust variety. Once th
e graft has taken, the plants are passed onto the farmers.
The gift of cocoa plants to these farmers is an incredible benefit. They had been growing basic grains, (beans and corn) and other vegetables to feed their families and to sell at the market if there was surplus. Now besides growing the basic grains, they can look forward to harvesting a crop in two years that will continue to produce for a long time, allowing them to move financially from a hardscrabble existence to a more sustainable one
Equipment requiring for processing cocoa.
Other farms in the area have grown cocoa for three to four years. These plants are ready for harvesting. Cocoa seeds need to ferment and then be dried before they can be sold. THE ACJ-YMCA with aid from a Spanish NGO built a ‘Secador’ (a dryer). With SHEAF’s aid, who in turn received aid from The Gay Lea Foundation, boxes for fermentation and racks for drying were made.
