MJE – AEQUUM

The Aequum team is composed of students from an engineering school in agronomy and international development (ISTOM), and aims to focus on the themes of fair trade and solidarity in developing countries. It is under the aegis of the association Expert’Co, which since 2011 carries out development projects in the fields of tropical agriculture, as part of a Young Expert Mission.

The members of the association have several experiences of projects in tropical countries and / or projects related to cocoa cultivation: standardization of the quality of cocoa beans, in Peru; socio-economic study to improve the internal management of a cocoa production company in Ecuador.

These different experiences allow the team to understand the problems of sometimes complicated local contexts, to understand the issues faced by small producers in southern countries and to strengthen the adaptability of the members of the AEQUUM team.

The team activities under the RECAVACA project are divided into three parts. The first two take place in Haiti and the last one in Guadeloupe:

In Haiti (Grand’Anse region, Jérémie, Abricot, Anse d’Hinault):

  • Support for obtaining organic and equitable certifications: Technical assistance through a feasibility study for the implementation of organic certification on cooperatives in the Grand’Anse region (1200 planters). Accompaniment to obtaining a fair certification will be done by a diagnosis of the functioning of cooperatives and proposals for protocol to be applied for the acquisition of the fair label “Symbol of peasant producers” (SPP). This labeling will help implement new guidelines to apprehend and stop child labor within cultures.
  • Support to the internal organization of cooperatives: The objective of this axis is to strengthen organizational capacities and local governance. This will involve raising producers’ awareness of data acquisition, capitalizing on them, as well as enhancing the internal management of cooperatives.

In Guadeloupe (Basse-Terre region):

Support for the recognition of a cocoa of quality: Feasibility study for the establishment of a quality label of the “Paysans d’ici” type, developed with local producers. This component includes the identification of new players in the sector in Guadeloupe and a proposal for a marketing strategy promoting this cocoa. This work involves taking into account the ecological values and the Social and Solidarity Economy (ESS) in the development of the sector.