A total of 42 professionals, including technical and administrative staff from 12 provinces in Ecuador belonging to the Consortium of Autonomous Provincial Governments of Ecuador (CONGOPE), have acquired technical and methodological knowledge on traceability and geo-referencing in order to adapt the cocoa value chain to the European regulation on deforestation-free products (EUDR).
At an event held on 11 February at CONGOPE's headquarters in Quito, the trained staff received a diploma accrediting them as implementers and consolidating CONGOPE as a strategic partner to extend the territorial scope of the project “Trainer of Trainers II”, The project is an initiative of the Agencia de Regulación y Control Fito y Zoosanitario del Ecuador (Agrocalidad) and AL-INVEST Verde, with the technical support of Trias.
Specifically, the accreditation received qualifies them for accompany cocoa value chain actors in the implementation of EUDR requirements and registration in the Agrocalidad Guidance System. of cocoa operators in the nine provinces where the project is being developed: Guayas, Manabí, Esmeraldas, Los Ríos, Santo Domingo, Orellana, Napo, Sucumbíos and El Oro.
The award ceremony was attended, among others, by Francisco Ureña, attaché of the Cooperation section of the Delegation of the European Union in Ecuador; Lady Cedeño and Liliana Márquez, director of International Cooperation and deputy director of CONGOPE, respectively; Yessenia Echeverría, representative of Agrocalidad; Héctor Ballesteros, regional director of Trias South America; and the vice-prefects of the provinces of Zamora Chinchipe, Víctor Sarango, and Esmeraldas, Diego Zambrano. Representatives of EXPORCAFE and UNOCACE also attended.
In total, in Ecuador, more than 2,000 people in the cocoa sector have had their skills strengthened in EUDR, The aim is to adapt the cocoa value chain to the requirements of Regulation (EU) 2023/1115 on deforestation-free products.
This training process is part of the “Trainer of Trainers II” project, which seeks to strengthen national capacities to ensure compliance with European regulations, promoting responsible and sustainable practices in the sector.
About AL-INVEST Verde
AL-INVEST Verde is a European Union (EU) programme whose main objective is to promote sustainable growth and job creation in Latin America by supporting the transition to a low-carbon, resource-efficient and more circular economy. Through Component 2, led by FIAP in consortium with IILA, the programme provides assistance for strengthening public policies and multi-stakeholder dialogues on sustainable agricultural and value chains, environmental and labour standards, as well as sustainable trade and economic policy and regulatory frameworks.