Cocoa in the central range of Trinidad was once a very lucrative and key national economic activity but it has declined significantly since the middle of the 20th century with the huge rise in global oil prices in 1973 and the rapid expansion of the petroleum sector. The Santa Maria estate was in fact a large, thriving cocoa estate consisting of over 200 hectares of cultivated cocoa plants. The crippling effects of the Dutch Disease from the high wages in the Oil Sector led to the abandonment of the cocoa production and it is only in the last 20 years or so the estate has been sold off into parcels whose owners have since joined together into a management company.

That management company wishing to restore to some extent the farming activity, to provide some stimulation to the district?s economy, has decided to contribute some portions of their holdings to this project aimed at rehabilitating the cocoa cultivation and expanding the natural local timber forests and cocoa shade trees using sustainable, eco-friendly methods of cultivation. Concurrent with the cocoa production the management company will also co plant for commercial sales, local vegetables and provisions, to provide ongoing cash injections to support the cocoa production in the initial phase of the project.

This project wishes to avoid some of the typical farming methods and other land degradation activities currently carried out in Trinidad and Tobago:
? The heavy use of herbicides in order to save on labour/material costs and preserve the rich plant and animal diversity of the area.
? Farmers employing improper farming practices (such as poor pruning and shading management which causes fungal build?up on trees)
? Inappropriate application of fungicides and pesticides due to poorly trained estate workers.
? The consequent build-up of heavy and trace metals into the food chain as they are washed downstream into the rivers and larger marine environment.
? The production of poor quality cocoa as farmers tend to cure beans prematurely in an effort to earn income quickly, thereby reducing the income received due to the production of a poor quality crop.
? Reduction of flora and fauna diversity through bush fires and illegal hunting. Farmers employing slash and burn practices on the hillsides to plant short crops instead of rehabilitating the cocoa and intercropping. This has resulted in land erosion and slippage and ultimately the silting up of water courses.

The project, once executed, seeks to promote the cultivation of a high quality cocoa crop using sustainable eco-friendly cocoa cultivation, harvesting and post production processing techniques that will significantly increase the income per hectare, and improve the employment generation and quality of life in the community. In the longer term we expect the project model to be expanded, and provide export income and opportunities for downstream value chain activity including the processing of the cocoa bean to produce bespoke artisanal chocolates with local dried fruits that will benefit the national economy as a whole in the longer term.
As a secondary activity to the project, large shade, fruit and timber trees will be planted to promote sustainable forest cultivation, preserve animal and plant diversity and prevent land erosion in the district, and short term cash crops will be planted to provide a more continuous income stream.