CATIE and AGROSAVIA strengthen practical knowledge in the Cacao Diploma Program

• As part of the International Professional Diploma in Profitable and Resilient Cacao in its 2025 edition, a practical week was held in Bucaramanga, Colombia.

CATIE (Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center) and AGROSAVIA (Colombian Corporation for Agricultural Research) promoted a practical week as a complementary activity to the International Professional Diploma in Profitable and Resilient Cacao implemented in 2025.

This event, which took place on April 7, 8, and 9, is part of a capacity-building strategy included within the DPI proposal and aims to facilitate and strengthen learning on relevant topics for sustainable cacao cultivation through practical field activities. On this occasion, the activity was carried out in Bucaramanga, at AGROSAVIA’s La Suiza Research Center.

During three intensive days, around 10 participants were able to review some of the content delivered in the diploma program, reinforcing their learning, interacting with experts in different areas, and carrying out activities on a producer’s farm under the KoLFACI Cacao project, as well as at the facilities and experimental trials of the La Suiza Research Center. The diverse personal and professional profiles of the participants, along with their backgrounds and experience, enabled the creation of valuable spaces for the exchange of ideas, fostering learning built on collective knowledge. This activity included the participation of two technicians from Ecuador who, together with researcher Mirjam Pullman, were involved in the implementation of the Clima-LoCa Project led by the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT and funded by the European Union, whose objective was to promote low-cadmium and climate-relevant production innovations to improve the resilience and inclusiveness of the cacao value chain in Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru.

The experiences shared by participants reinforce the positive perception of this training activity, demonstrating the impact of the diploma program on their professional development.

“Although attending this practical week was a last-minute decision, it was fantastic! I learned a lot and it has been a very, very pleasant experience.” Mónica María Olarte, independent consultant working in different areas of the cacao value chain.

“It has been a wonderful experience to share a few days of this week with you. To make new friends and share new learnings.” Mirjam Pullman, researcher at the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, Palmira, Colombia.

Building Research Networks for Latin American Cacao

Producer Paola Correa Cuadros, researcher and cacao producer at Finca Naturagua in Meta, highlights the importance of these knowledge exchange spaces for building and strengthening collaboration and research networks in the region, noting the following:

“The practical week of the Profitable and Resilient Cacao Diploma Program, organized by CATIE in partnership with CIRAD, MARS, Bioversity-CIAT, the Fine Cacao and Chocolate Institute (FCCI), and the Agroforestry Scientific Network, allowed technical teams, farm managers, project coordinators, and researchers to update our knowledge and tools to achieve more diversified and sustainable cacao production from agronomy, agroforestry, and quality perspectives.

This would not have been possible without the experience and implementation of projects by regional research centers such as AGROSAVIA’s La Suiza Research Center, who hosted us for three days to provide us with local knowledge in agroforestry, technological innovation in post-harvest processes, grain quality, and cadmium presence—topics that are highly relevant in Colombia, with gaps and challenges that require extensive collaborative work.

All the information we received enables cacao researchers and producers to learn and disseminate this knowledge in our territories. This includes the main challenges in the value chain and, above all, how we will address them through the proper design and implementation of agroforestry systems (AFS), the importance of developing and defining integrated management adapted to each of our regions with diverse climates and environments, understanding the genetics of our clones, their compatibility, and the planting arrangements needed to achieve good productivity, the pressing need to standardize and optimize post-harvest processes to obtain high-quality beans, and finally, a critical issue—how much cadmium is present in our soils and beans, what its implications are for export, and what alternatives we have from a physiological and crop management perspective to mitigate this major problem.

Endless thanks to each person who was part of this wonderful group for sharing knowledge, and may life and cacao continue to bring us together to learn from all our sister countries in Latin America.”

The success of the International Professional Cacao Diploma Program implemented in 2025 made it possible to design a new edition of the DPI, which will begin next month. This training is designed for professionals, technicians, and individuals linked to the agricultural sector who wish to update and strengthen their knowledge in sustainable cacao production, farm management, and quality and traceability standards.

We invite you to be part of this enriching training experience to strengthen your capacities in cacao cultivation!