Making Organic Ancestral Cacao in the Ecuadorian Amazon: Tsatsayaku Association

The Tsatsayaku Association is made up of 140 Kichwa and mestizo families from 13 different communities within the Amazonian province of Napo, Ecuador. Its mission is to conserve and produce heirloom cacao that provides a fair price for their members. The cacao itself is grown in the traditional Kichwa farming method ‘Chakra’ (that literally translates as field in Kichwa), which has a conscientious respect for the natural environment. This organic approach seeks to preserve biodiversity and natural resources.