Mr. Emilio Uquillas, Vice President of Countries and Representative in Mexico of CAF – Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean, spoke next. He outlined the development opportunities open to the Latin American region and reaffirmed CAF’s commitment as a multilateral development bank to boost cocoa productivity, bring the different stakeholders together and raise yields per hectare. He said the bank would help the benefits reach the producers who grow the cocoa, and he recognized cocoa’s ancestral value, which has made it a universal language.
Dr. Rogelio Flores Velázquez, Director of CENID COMEF, presented the objectives of the meeting on behalf of Dr. Alejandro Espinosa Calderón, Director of the National Institute of Forestry, Agricultural and Livestock Research (INIFAP). The objectives were to:
Foster a space for dialogue among all stakeholders in the cocoa–chocolate chain.
Identify and encourage common interests among the representatives of each sector.
Discuss challenges and opportunities with a view to building a network that serves as a sustainable regional platform.
Ms. Elsa Ramírez Cerda, Director of Institutional Support, also addressed the audience. She spoke on behalf of Dr. Rosaura Ruiz Gutiérrez, Head of the Ministry of Science, Humanities, Technology and Innovation, and of Dr. Lorena Amaya Delgado, Director General of CIATEJ.
The official opening was led by Dr. Wilfrido Miguel Contreras Sánchez, Secretary of Research, Graduate Studies and Outreach at the Universidad Juárez Autónoma de Tabasco (UJAT), on behalf of the Rector, Guillermo Narváez Osorio. In his remarks he stressed the importance of working closely with cocoa producers as a strategic sector for regional development. He said this work must be coordinated with science and government to achieve scientific and technological progress.
Joining the Senator on the presiding panel were Tabasco State Representative Gerardo Antonio Hernández Alejandro; Regina Cuéllar, Minister Counselor of the Embassy of El Salvador in Mexico; and Yerlan Kubashev, Counselor for Political and Economic Affairs at the Embassy of Kazakhstan.
Also attending the opening ceremony were:
Ms. Ancuta Caracuta, on behalf of Dr. Diego Montenegro of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA)
Ms. Cori Esquinca, of the National Commission of Natural Protected Areas (CONANP)
Dr. Gustavo Almaguer, of the Universidad Autónoma Chapingo
Dr. Néstor Guerrero, Projects Director at CNOG
Dr. Viviana Carvajal, Chair of the seminar’s Technical Committee
Dr. Ana Laura Reyes, Associate Researcher at INIFAP
The first day began with a keynote lecture by economist José Jiménez Puerta of the International Cocoa Organization (ICCO), who shared his outlook for the sector and the opportunities open to Mexico. With this sixth edition, the seminar has established itself as a regional platform committed to sustainability. One of its main aims is to ensure that cocoa bean producers, the asset on which the entire chain rests, earn a fairer share of income. To achieve this, the seminar relies on continuous dialogue and international cooperation.
The second day opened with a message from Antonio Santos del Valle, President of the Tourism and Society Think Tank (TSTT). He described tourism as an essential complement for raising the income producers earn and for highlighting the culture and identity of cocoa and chocolate. Keynote lectures followed:
State Representative Gerardo Antonio Hernández Alejandro spoke from the experience of Tabasco, Mexico’s largest cocoa-producing state.
Dr. Gladys Cardona Cortés offered her perspective as an expert in climate change and regenerative agriculture.
The Technical Manager of Fedecacao shared the Colombian perspective.
The event closed with a declaration read by Dr. Viviana Carvajal. She explained that the agreement calls on everyone to work toward guidelines that give producers a clear path toward a profitable, competitive and sustainable cocoa value chain.
Carvajal stressed that people working in the field need tools and guidance to help them make better decisions. With these, they can strengthen their productive capacity, improve the quality of their cocoa, reach new markets and get more value for their work.
She added that sustainability must go hand in hand with profitability. A chain cannot be called sustainable if the people who produce cocoa cannot make a decent living from it.
The challenge, she concluded, is to achieve dialogue and real commitment from institutions. Only then will it be possible to arrive at practical, relevant guidelines built with the participation of the entire chain.
The final aspiration was clear: this seminar should be the starting point of a work plan that goes beyond speeches, one that guides decisions, builds capacity and produces policies for the cocoa sector.
