Ecuador

As of 1994, we started working in the country’s cocoa and coffee sectors. In the next two decades, we built our expertise in the professionalisation of farmer organisations and sustainable production. Currently, we are implementing our Cocoa & coffee programme, and our Good Food for Cities programme in the cities of Quito and Manabi. We are also implementing a big EU-funded project called CREA, which supports Ecuadorian producer organisations and MSMEs that care about sustainability to tap into European markets.

Sustainable Cocoa and Coffee programme highlights for 2023

Rikolto is involved in technical discussions with the government on the EU's zero deforestation regulations. In 2023, we partnered with coffee associations (AACRI, APROCANE, REDESCOCPE) to strengthen their business propositions using the LINK methodology. This approach has facilitated the signing of long-term contracts with buying companies, benefiting producers. In the provinces of Imbabura and Carchi, Rikolto held workshops to improve governance and set up technical coffee roundtables. Through the EU-funded CREA project, we assessed 23 producer organisations and 42 small and medium enterprises, resulting in the development of 21 improvement plans. Rikolto also contributed to a collaborative study on the cadmium content and carbon footprint of cocoa. We also supported the governance model of the Cocoa 2030 Coalition and co-designed a national coffee roadmap to improve production and marketing practices.

Good Food for Cities programme highlights for 2023

We launched the Generation Food initiative with partners in Quito! This agri-food incubator programme supported 24 young entrepreneurs with 11 business ideas in two phases: hackathon and start up development. Participants refined business ideas that address key challenges facing the city: making food production more resilient to climate change, improving access to fresh, healthy food, and managing organic waste.