Third Millennium Alliance’s (TMA) Regenerative Agroforestry Program works with smallholder farmers in coastal Ecuador to transform degraded farmland into biodiverse cacao-based agroforestry systems that restore tropical forest ecosystems while improving rural livelihoods and food security. Operating within the Capuchin Corridor—a 40,000-hectare landscape restoration initiative in one of the world’s most threatened tropical forest ecosystems—the program aligns conservation, climate resilience, and economic opportunity by helping farmers adopt productive land-use systems that increase tree cover, biodiversity, and long-term farm income.
Since launching in 2020, the program has partnered with 124 farming families across nine communities, establishing approximately 131–135 hectares of agroforestry systems that integrate fine-flavor cacao with native timber trees, fruit trees, plantains, and other food crops. Farmers receive technical assistance, planting material, start-up support, and access to premium cacao markets. The program is unique in its use of Ecuador’s rare Ancient Nacional cacao, an endangered heirloom variety that commands exceptionally high prices in specialty chocolate markets. TMA’s nurseries are currently the only nurseries in Ecuador actively reproducing 100% pure Ancient Nacional cacao.
The program has evolved through two successful phases. Phase 1 focused on helping farmers convert degraded land into diversified agroforestry systems by providing materials, direct support during the transition period, and premium market access. Phase 2 expanded support to farmers who already cultivated cacao but needed assistance improving productivity, biodiversity, farm management practices, and market access. Through rehabilitation, improved genetics, and technical training, the program grew from 29 farms in three communities to 124 farms in nine communities.
The next phase (2026–2028) represents a major strategic transition from an NGO-led model to a community-led model. Rather than relying primarily on TMA staff, the program will build local capacity by training community leaders, nursery managers, and agroforestry technicians to manage nurseries, propagate grafted cacao, train farmers, and provide ongoing technical support. During this phase, the program will expand from 124 to approximately 400 farming families across 20 communities and increase the area under agroforestry management to roughly 500 hectares.
To achieve this scale, TMA will establish more than 25 community clonal gardens and demonstration sites that preserve elite cacao genetics and provide training opportunities for farmers. The program will also establish at least eight community-managed nurseries capable of producing thousands of grafted cacao seedlings and companion agroforestry species annually. A train-the-trainers approach will develop a network of local agroforestry technicians who can support farm design, nursery management, grafting, pruning, irrigation, and integrated pest management.
Market development is another key component of the strategy. Building on partnerships with premium chocolate companies such as To’ak Chocolate and Mindo Chocolate, TMA will expand buyer relationships to ensure stable demand and premium pricing for participating farmers. The program aims to maintain a price floor significantly above conventional cacao markets while organizing farmers into associations that can coordinate production, manage shared infrastructure, and strengthen bargaining power. In communities where needed, TMA will support the construction of shared fermentation and drying facilities to improve quality control and meet premium market standards.
The program’s theory of change is straightforward: provide farmers with high-quality planting material, technical expertise, training, and market access; equip communities with nurseries, clonal gardens, and local institutions; and enable farmers to establish productive agroforestry systems that generate income while restoring ecological function. As farmers gain long-term revenue from premium cacao production, incentives become aligned with biodiversity conservation, forest restoration, and sustainable land stewardship.
By 2028, the program is expected to support approximately 400 farming families, establish or rehabilitate 500 hectares of cacao-based agroforestry systems, strengthen habitat connectivity across the landscape, increase biodiversity and carbon sequestration, improve food security, and create a self-sustaining regional agroforestry economy led increasingly by farmers and community institutions. Ultimately, the initiative seeks to transform degraded farmland into productive, forest-like landscapes that support both rural prosperity and long-term conservation of Ecuador’s Pacific Forest.