Cocoa is a major agricultural commodity that grows well in many parts of the tropics. Unfortunately, much cocoa production pays little attention to environmental or social impact, and in fact, cocoa has driven deforestation in nearly every country where it is produced, as rainforests are cut down to make way for cocoa monoculture.

We work with the Chachi indigenous smallholder cocoa farmers in the Chocó cloud forest on the Western Andes slopes in Ecuador to produce and process exceptional cacao beans, applying regenerative bird-friendly agriculture, and supporting territorial defense and conservation goals. With support from the American Bird Conservancy (ABC) and WorldCentric, Aliados is supporting farmers improve farm productivity and profitability and set up community enterprise capacity and infrastructure.