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“My first encounter with cocoa was at the age of 15 when my mom and dad moved out to the village which used to collect cocoa at my uncle’s farm and we had to help them by carrying with cocoa harvests with my other brothers and sisters. Sometimes, we would cut pods and extract the pulp - the beans - and we called this ‘cocoa trips’.

I never saw the business in it, as a child I just had fun and even today it is easier to take a piece of land and make it productive, as there are no regulating bodies on this sector, and there is also a law claiming that unproductive lands may be taken for reactivation. The problem is the funds, and with the current situation in the country it is a lot harder to work the land, it is a real shame not having resources when you really want to work. We have realised that having a land plot to yield cocoa is a great business idea, since 2016 one kg of cocoa has increased by 0.80 cents in dollar, yes! Cocoa is sold in $ in a country of Bolívar, and even the cheapest ordinary cocoa can cost up to $1.5 per kilo.

As a father, I thank God for every cocoa tree that grows in my surroundings because it has enabled me to bring food to my family’s table.”