Comúnmente se cree que evitar los intermediarios y aumentar el procesamiento local son claves para que pequeños productores puedan mejorar sus ingresos. Extraer el aceite en vez de vender la nuez de donde proviene, procesar fruta en pulpa congelada en vez de vender fruta fresca, elaborar barras de chocolate en vez de granos de […]
What do black outs in 17 historic churches of Quito, Ecuador, Amazonian hot peppers, and conservation have in common? The 2016 Earth Hour in Ecuador, where Amazon products were showcased during the World Wildlife Fund’s iconic event for climate change. The linchpin of this yearly event is an hour of turning off the lights […]
by Jacob Olander The Ecuadorian Amazon is remarkably easy to get to. In no other of the eight countries of the Amazon River basin is the rainforest so accessible. In just a 3-hour drive from the Andean capital city of Quito, where we live, you’re down in the rainforest lowlands. It´s one of my favorite […]
Read More… from In the Native Land of Cacao, Vanilla and Amazon Cinnamon
In our last blog, we explored the important role that bees play in maintaining healthy ecosystems and farms – and the opportunities that honey and beekeeping represent for conservation. This second instalment takes a deeper look at how honey producers around the world are putting into practice the links between economic development and forest […]
Read More… from Bees–uniting economic development and conservation
Created in order to provide a system of trust in which buyers can be confident that their products really are what they claim to be, certifications are powerful incentives for both producers and consumers to commit to best practices. For producers, a certification can open doors to new markets, some of which are willing […]
Read More… from Navigating the World of Certifications and Guarantee Systems
Creadas con el fin de proveer un sistema de confianza que garantice al consumidor que el producto que está adquiriendo es en realidad lo que dice ser, las certificaciones poseen un gran potencial como incentivadores de cambios de prácticas de productores y de consumidores. Una certificación puede abrir nuevas oportunidades de mercados, en algunos […]
Read More… from Navegando el mundo de las certificaciones y sistemas de garantía
There’s been a lot of buzz on bees lately, namely their disappearance. I’ve heard it thrown into conversations as an almost humorous, apologetic footnote to litanies of woeful world situations: “and not to mention whatever’s happening with the bees.” Bees starting showing up in small talk when they started disappearing, and are now more […]
Read More… from Finally, a hopeful look at bees and conservation
As consumers become more focused on the origins of their coffee, the labels and certifications that should help us to identify those which […]
Really? I thought no one lived there” is a somewhat common reaction I’ve gotten upon meeting someone new and telling them that home for me is the Galapagos. To assume that these are uninhabited islands is not a far-fetched misconception—of the 300 islets and islands that constitute the Galapagos archipelago, only 5 have settled populations […]
This article was originally published on the CRS Coffeelands blog on October 23, 2015. In this piece, Jefferson Shriver describes how climate change is affecting coffee production, forcing many farmers to use other (often lower quality) coffee varieties, switch to non-coffee crops, or abandon agriculture altogether. […]
Read More… from Responding to the Climate Crisis through Crop Diversification
