IÓN DE LA SUSTENTABILIDAD DE FINCAS PRODUCTORAS DE CACAO (Theobroma cacao L.) EN EL CANTÓN PUEBLOVIEJO DE LA PROVINCIA DE LOS RÍOS, ECUADOR

COCOA SUSTAINABILITY

Abstract

This research was carried out in the Puebloviejo canton, Los Ríos province (Ecuador), with the objective of evaluating the sustainability of cocoa-producing farms in this area. According to the methodology proposed by Sarandón et al. (1), we worked with a total population of 417 cocoa producers; Using the method of proportions, a sample of 101 producers was obtained to collect information on the economic, environmental, and sociocultural aspects of the farms. The farms that produce Nacional cocoa obtained a General Sustainability Index (ISG) of 1.89, achieving a value of 3.0 only in the Sociocultural Indicator (ISC). In the sustainability evaluation, the CCN-51 cocoa-producing farms achieved an ISG of 2.26, reaching a value of 3.8 in the ISC. Of the 101 farms studied, 20% are economically sustainable, 4% ecologically sustainable, and 100% socioculturally sustainable; however, only 1% of the farms met all the sustainability requirements and were considered sustainable. The results show that important improvements must be made in the evaluated variables, especially in those that obtained values lower than 2, which will lead to the improvement of the productive units in the Puebloviejo canton.