Finca Chimelb will employ approximately 400 workers across all crops on average. As in all 12Tree farms, Chimelb complies with the national laws and pays social security for all employees. Finca Chimelb has an exceptionally diverse clonal garden to evaluate heirloom cacaos and new clones, monitor tree productivity and compatibility, and use these data to increase yields. The farm espouses environmentally friendly cultivation, planting shade crops like rubber trees to control soil erosion, planting cover crops like Brachiaria grass, and reproducing beneficial fungi to naturally restore less fertile areas. As part of the “One by One” program, Finca Chimelb has hosted multiple trainings for local smallholder farmers in collaboration with Operagro CH, and takes its social responsibility seriously in contributing to the Guatemalan cacao industry through a combination of trainings, employment, clonal development, and research into best practices for the local conditions.

FARM FACTS

REGION: Lanquín, Alta Verapaz, Guatemala

SIZE: 4,751 ha

FARM TYPE: Mixed

COCOA CLONES: CATIE R1, R4, R6, PMCT58, ICS 95, CCN 51, FHIA 706, FHIA 707, CAP 34, Chimelb 11, 13, 14, 15, Theobroma Bicolor, some UF’s

OTHER CROPS: lemon, rubber, coffee, cardamom

RAINFALL: 2,720 mm/year

ALTITUDE: 350 - 1200 masl

SOIL: rocks of sedimentary origin mainly limestone; clayey, acid and deep soils of moderate to low fertility

APPROACH: integrated farming, regenerative and diverse farming

KEY FARMING PRACTICES:

• Agroforestry

• Multicrop

• Habitat protection