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FECCANO is an umbrella organisation comprising eight cocoa producer cooperatives in the north of the country (around Cap Haitien, the country’s second largest city). Heir to the peasant struggles against middlemen, FECCANO centralises and packages the cocoa beans fermented and dried by the cooperatives and exports rare, high-quality cocoa in organic, conventional and fair trade containers.
Haiti, the first independent black republic in the early 19th century, is now the poorest country in Latin America. Its history has been marked by successive colonisations and dictatorships. After being hit by a violent earthquake in 2010 (300,000 dead), the country sank into anarchy and fighting between oligarchs. The capital, Port-au-Prince, is now in the hands of hyper-violent gangs and the state no longer exists.
FECCANO has so far been an oasis of resilient peasant organisation in a destructured context where the state has practically disappeared. Benefiting from strong commitment from Ethiquable (which markets a bar of grand cru dark chocolate from Haiti) and technical support from AVSF, FECCANO, despite its weaknesses and lack of resources, enables small farmers in the ‘Creole garden’ to export cocoa to Europe at a guaranteed price, providing income that is generally invested in education and health.
