Grupo Nutresa was recognized with Colombia’s 2023 National Exports Award highlighting the sustainable vision and commitment of its Cordillera Chocolate brand
- 11-Sep-2023
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Publication date: 19-Jul-2023
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It has been said many times over that cocoa is the ‘food of the gods.’ In that case, women are its nurturing spirit, representing its beauty and bounty, and this wonderful and joyous fruit’s diversity, industry, and essence.
The importance of female farmers to the cocoa sector has been increasingly recognized in the past decade with the introduction of specific support for female-led Fairtrade cooperatives in West Africa, along with initiatives from other actors in different regions of the cocoa-growing world. Most of these schemes concentrate on providing financial and entrepreneurial support to give women the business acumen to be independent and gain parity with men in what has been a traditionally patriarchal industry.
This month, WCF members Cordillera Chocolates (the B2B business of Colombia’s Compañía Nacional de Chocolates) launched a hugely ambitious program that aims to generate a long-term transformation for women cocoa producers, enabling a more just, thriving, equitable and inclusive value chain. ‘ATENEA – Women Who Transcend’ is a sustainability initiative with a ‘higher purpose,’ developing the capacities of rural cocoa-growing women to improve their quality of life and that of their families and communities while maintaining Colombia’s unique ecosystem.
At the event launch in Apartadó, in Antioquia, Juan Fernando Valenzuela, Cocoa Purchasing and Agricultural Development Director at Compañía Nacional de Chocolates, told the 115 women from the area’s cocoa-growing community: “Women are cocoa. Women are Colombia, Women are Cordillera”.
After the launch, Valenzuela told me: “All the families involved in the cocoa sector have a woman [in the family]; for us, it is very important to recognize the women’s responsibility for the family. They have the conscience to manage the money and the incomes from their cocoa business.” He said women and young people “are so important for this program; we want to encourage young people not to leave for the cities but to stay on the farms and develop the cocoa industry.”
The ATENEA program consists of 3 training modules and has the support of two strategic allies: SENA (National Apprenticeship Service) and DID Development International Desjardins (DID), the Canadian Cooperative Financing Group. The program will last one year, and its three modules consist of the following:
