A Map to Understand Cadmium Variability in Andean Cacao Soils and Beans
The Clima-LoCa project launched a map of cadmium levels in cacao-growing soils and cacao beans across Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. Developed through a regional partnership, the tool helps users understand cadmium variability and informs decision-making across the cacao sector.
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A Map to Understand Cadmium Variability in Andean Cacao Soils and Beans
The Clima-LoCa project launched a map of cadmium levels in cacao-growing soils and cacao beans across Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. Developed through a regional partnership, the tool helps users understand cadmium variability and informs decision-making across the cacao sector.
In the cacao-growing regions of Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru, cadmium has become an increasingly familiar term. For many farming families, it has also become a real concern: a laboratory result can influence their ability to sell their cacao, access higher-value markets, or maintain commercial relationships built over many years. The Clima-LoCa project was established with support from the European Commission (EC) and its DeSIRA platform, specifically to address this challenge by promoting low-cadmium, climate-relevant innovations that strengthen the resilience and inclusiveness of cacao value chains across the three Andean countries.
Clima-LoCa has worked through an interdisciplinary approach that integrates soil and climate, cacao genetics, socioeconomics, dissemination, and decision-making support. This combination is essential because the presence and socioeconomic impacts of cadmium in cacao beans do not depend on a single variable—nor do the solutions. Its accumulation is associated with soil characteristics, genetic material, and climatic conditions, while the impacts on producers’ and exporters’ incomes also depend on the final product and its market. Therefore, solutions require technical information, dialogue with producers, and coordination among supply chain stakeholders, as well as actions by decision-makers regarding planning policies and mitigation measures.
In this context, on June 17, Clima-LoCa held the virtual launch of the Map of Cadmium in Cacao Soils and Beans in Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru, a product that synthesizes years of field sampling, data modeling, capacity building, and regional collaboration across the three countries. The event introduced a tool designed to better understand the spatial variability of cadmium in cacao-growing regions and to spark discussions on how to use that information to make better decisions in the field, within local organizations, in the industry, and in public institutions.