Finishing Projects and More Cacao

Marilin is delighted to have water running at her house for the first time
No more trips to the spring, carrying water home in buckets !!

The finished spring box with lines to house, village and overflow

We finished up the last bits of construction on the new springbox in Junquito today. The 8 GPM flow will almost double the water going to the village. Plus, some new connections to 2 families that never had water service before.
As Sgt Preston would say, "King, This case is closed !!"

The illegal water line was not well hidden

We may have done TOO good a job of repairing and upgrading the Santos water system. They have such constant water and good pressure that some of the folks across the bridge in Valle Risco got wind of it and have pirated the water.
The good news is that when Simone and Juan confronted a lady about it, everybody just decided that she would now be part of the Santos system. She paid her $1 monthly fee and that was that.

This is how they bake bread, Campo Style. 
Yep, the fire goes on top of the pot.

I think the beer and liquor producers have done a brilliant job of taking the anniversary of an obscure Mexican battle victory and turning it into an international party day.
I went to Playa Estrella (Starfish Beach) , my favorite beach on Isla Colon today, only to discover my quiet little beach had become the scene of party boats, loud music and huge beer tents.
Happy Cinco de Mayo.

Have I mentioned that I LOVE the jungle?  I get to hike through it most every day going to "work" in one of the villages. It still overwhelms me with its giant trees, lush diverse green foliage, bird and insect sounds, rushing waters and the fragrance of abundant oxygen and flowers. My photos never seem to do it justice. Extraordinary beauty. 

I take random photos of the village kids and print them out as gifts. Everyone was delighted. Problem is that now the parents all want me to take and print photos of EVERYONE. 
I may have created a monster......
(Looks like the local barber has made his rounds since the first photos were taken. Around here, you don't go to the barber, the barber comes to you. 50 cent specials !!

The pod starts out as a tiny flower (note little spider at center)

Some photos of cacao fruit from blossom to dead, while you read more about cacao.

Cacao Economics, Panama and Fair Trade (FAIL)

My work on rural water systems in Panama takes me to the jungles that surround many communities, where families often supplement their subsistence and income with the sale of cacao beans. Seeing first-hand the extraordinary amount of work that goes into the sale of their beans for very little compensation, I’ve been pondering ways they might increase their earnings.

The blossoms that are pollinated form tiny fruit

Fair Trade – Cacao that is certified as “Fair Trade” is said to enjoy a 15 to 20% premium in price. This would amount to about $25 extra per 50 kilo bag – the standard sales unit here. To get certified they would have to prove just a few simple practices: 1. No child labor 2. No pesticides or chemicals 3. No GMO plants. Here in Panama, #2 and #3 are a given – the cacao trees all come from other local native trees and nobody even thinks of treating trees because of cost and lack of disease. The trees here are scattered almost at random among the other trees of the rainforest jungle.

Mature cacao pods on the tree

But, when I raised the child labor conversation, I was met with pure laughter. Of course the children help with harvest, drying and bagging – it’s a family affair. Besides, how else would kids learn how it’s done? Working together is quality family time. And who would watch the kids if all the adults are off working? And since cacao sale is mostly just a side-line, the extra money doesn’t seem worth the effort – unlike the African families, whose entire income is based on their cacao.

Cacao pod graveyard after seeds are removed

So, Fair Trade was a non-starter, even before we got to the issues of how to find a certification agent and how the beans would get to market. While there are two certified farms in Panama, total production in all of the country is less than 500 tons – about 0.025 percent of world-wide production – hardly enough to make a viable market.

Unharvested pods make food for birds and lizards

Moreover, the whole Fair Trade scheme is questionable. Many industry people have doubts about how well the separate supply streams are segregated. And Africa, the majority producer of cacao, is basically set up by Nestle, Cargill and Hershey as a feudal share cropping system, where growers are given company trees to plant on the family land. Child labor infractions are said to be common for the same reasons that families give here. In addition, while the Big Three maintain that the trees they supply are not GMO, they have suspiciously high yields and disease resistance.

Value Added – This seems to be a more viable option. Indeed, several other local communities have already discovered that by selling slightly processed cacao, they can net about nine times the amount they would get from selling the raw beans. In Quebrada Cacao, they sell ½ pound pure cacao blocks for $2. The community of Rio Oeste has taken the idea even further by offering “cacao tours” and a wide variety of products – from raw nibs to finished chocolate bars – to the tourist market around Bocas. Both communities were led to their cottage industry by Peace Corps volunteers of the Small Business Development program.

But, this too requires a level of effort and organization that the families I spoke with are unwilling to expend. Perhaps in the future some other PCV or whiz-bang local entrepreneur will lead the charge. But for now, the folks here seem quite willing to stick with the status-quo and just putter along with their casual side income that traditional cacao farming provides.