How the RAÍZ Program is Transforming Rural Amazonian Agriculture for a Sustainable Future

By: Mary Dimyan, Program Coordinator Spring ‘25

On February 11, MPI inaugurated the RAÍZ program (Regeneración Agrícola e Innovación en Zonas Rurales), an initiative dedicated to agricultural regeneration, conservation, and economic empowerment. This event brought together community members, local leaders, and partner organizations with aims of creating sustainable change. The launch of RAÍZ marks a significant step, providing communities with the necessary tools and knowledge to create resilient and self-sufficient agricultural practices.

The RAÍZ program plans to address challenges faced by rural Amazonian communities by integrating traditional farming methods with modern farming practices. As illegal mining and deforestation in the area continue to threaten both the local environment and the livelihoods of its residents, RAÍZ attempts to show an alternative path that prioritizes restoration, food security, and economic stability. The program will enhance agricultural productivity while preserving biodiversity by reintroducing native fruit trees, implementing sustainable beekeeping (centered around the endangered Melipona stingless bee), and by providing locals with alternative sources of income. Doing so will reduce reliance on extractive industries, particularly illegal mining, and thereby the toll it takes on the area. 

One of the core objectives of RAÍZ is skill building, ensuring that community members are equipped with the knowledge and skills to independently implement what they have learned. The program involves 30 families from Shandia and neighboring Talag, offering them hands-on workshops, technical training, and resources to improve or create gardens. Manna is working in collaboration with Ikiam University, the Kamana Pacha Foundation, and WorldVision, organizations whose expertise in environmental conservation, agroforestry, and community development will be essential for the success of the program. 

Representatives from Manna Project opened the event with discussions on the program’s long-term vision, emphasizing the importance of environmental stewardship and sustainable economic alternatives, followed by representatives from Kamana Pacha. Community members and local farmers participated in sessions where they shared their prior agricultural experiences and hopes for the program. The discussions showed the need for an approach that includes both modern techniques and the agricultural traditions of the Kichwa people. With unemployment affecting a large portion of the Shandia community and over 80% of residents living below the poverty line, RAÍZ offers a set of steps toward financial stability. The program demonstrates how cooperative farming models, market access strategies, and entrepreneurial training can help farmers maximize the value of their crops. Partnerships with regional and national organizations will provide access to new markets, increasing the profitability of products.

At the conclusion of the inauguration, participants and organizers outlined the next steps for the program. Over the coming months, the first series of hands-on workshops will take place. Participating families will learn about agroforestry techniques, soil conservation methods, and sustainable crop diversification strategies. As it evolves, assessments will be conducted to measure impact, ensuring that it continues to meet the needs of the community effectively. The collaboration inherent to the program will remain central to RAÍZ’s growth, because sustainable development is always most successful when driven by the communities it seeks to serve.

About the Author

Mary joined Manna Project International in January 2025. Originally from New York City, she is studying Environmental and Sustainability Sciences at Northeastern University with a minor in International Affairs. Passionate about environmental research and community engagement, she is excited to contribute to MPI’s mission in Ecuador. On site, she has taken a leadership role on sustainability initiatives, including the inaugural RAÍZ Program.

How to Make Chocolate: Amazon Rainforest Edition

From Chakra to Hershey: How Your Chocolate is Made

We all love chocolate, but in most parts of the world it’s so distanced from where it starts out — a little cacao plant on a (less) little tree in someone’s chakra in Ecuador. Okay, not all chocolate is Ecuadorian chocolate. But many is and maybe it should be! Regardless - chocolate. We want to talk about how one of the most important Kichwa ancestral crops becomes one of the world’s favorite desserts.

1. Harvesting the cacao beans

In the Amazon Rainforest, there is a lot of cacao! In the Kichwa communities, many people are sustenance famers - meaning that they depend on their land for food and life. This can mean everything from yucca and maiz (corn) to medicinal plants and cacao.

The most important for this process, however, are the cacao trees. Cacao trees produce cacao pods (or the fruit), which are harvested by hand always. Each cacao fruit contains between 20 and 50 cacao “beans” which are covered in a sweet, white pulp - think like a lychee!. Shandia farmers usually use machetes to cut the ripe pods from the trees, which needs to be done carefully so that the pods don’t break open or otherwise hurt the more delicate beans inside.

Picture of a cacao pod from Berta’s chakra in Shandia. Presented alonside other delicious fruits and vegetables found in Kichwa chakras.

2. Fermentation stage

Once the pods are off the trees, they are opened to remove the beans and pulp. The pulpy beans are then placed in shallow containers, often covered with banana leaves, to ferment for several days. Although this step is sometimes skipped, it helps deepen the beans' flavor as the process of fermentation allows natural yeasts and bacteria to break down the pulp. It will also result in a much less bitter bean and a more creamy and sweet chocolate. When done, this step typically takes about five to seven days.

3. Drying the beans

After fermentation, the beans are spread out under the sun to dry. In the Amazon Rainforest, this is usually seen on the side of the road. People will allow their beans to dry in the hot Amazonian sun. Even being at the equator, it is a slow process and can take anywhere from one to two weeks. During that time, the cacao farmers have to routinely turn the beans so that they are completely dried. The drying process reduces moisture in the beans, which in turn prevent mold and prepares them for storage and transport.

In the Amazon Rainforest, this is usually the last stage that the farmer would do. After this, the farmer tends to sell the beans to local chocolate companies to be commercially made into chocolate bars. Sometimes the beans that come out of the local chakras can even go globally.

Dried beans, ready to be roasted and prepared.

4. Roasting the beans

But now comes the good part - the part that gets closer to eating and happens with Manna’s team not infrequently!

So once the beans are completely dried, they are roasted to bring out their rich, chocolatey flavor. Roasting temperatures and times can vary depending on the desired flavor profile, but typically range from 250 to 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 30 minutes. When we do this, we will start a big (not that big) bonfire in the Shandia Ecolodge and take turns stirring until the cacao smells delicious.

The point of roasting is to not only enhance the beans' flavor but also makes it easier to separate the outer shell from the inner nib, the next step.

The ever serious art of roasting the beans.

5. Cracking and Winnowing

After roasting, it’s time to crack open the beans and remove the outer shells, leaving behind the cacao nibs. Technically, this process is called winnowing. The nibs are the edible part of the cacao bean and are packed with the final taste of the chocolate.

Winnowing those beans

6. Grinding

The cacao nibs are then ground into a thick paste called cocoa mass or cocoa liquor. This can be done using stone grinders, crank grinders, or even fancy modern machines. At Manna, we don’t have anything fancy, but we have a really nice simple machine that the lodge lets us use that grinds the nibs into the past. The grinding process is important because it releases the fat within the nibs, known as cocoa butter. This is usually where we stop at this stage when we’re doing a chocolate demonstration because we usually make fondue and it’s very yummy, but keep going to see how the bean goes from the paste to a bar!

The mixture of cocoa solids and cocoa butter is then refined further in a process called conching (for those taking notes at home), which involves continuous mixing and aeration to develop a smooth texture and enhance the flavor. This step can take several hours to days, depending on the desired quality of the chocolate.

Grinding is usually a two person job

7. Tempering

Tempering is a crucial step in chocolate bar or chocolate solids making because it ensures the chocolate has a smooth, glossy finish and a satisfying snap when broken — although, again, this depends on the culture that the chocolate comes from and the desired texture (Mexican stone ground chocolate, for example has a very different texture — the process might be slightly different!) Tempering involves carefully heating and cooling the chocolate to stabilize the cocoa butter crystals. The tempered chocolate is then poured into molds to create bars or other shapes.

8. Cooling

Finally, the chocolate is cooled and solidified in molds. Once it has hardened, it is removed from the molds and is ready to be enjoyed as a solid. Our good friend at the lodge, Enrique, who leads many demonstrations and other neighbors in Shandia are avid chocolatiers who will go on to this step to make delicious truffles and other chocolates for consumption!

Or if you don’t want to wait to temper and and cool, just eat it fresh like fondue with a bit of milk stirred in. You can’t go wrong!

Making a Home in Shandia

Making a Home in Shandia: A Program Director’s Homestay with Berta

By: Patrick Maluwa, Program Director ‘24-’25

When volunteering abroad or interning abroad, communication is so important to understanding the host culture. Manna Project International's long term volunteer from Malawi shares a bit about his time spent in a homestay in a Kichwa family in the Amazon Rainforest and how it improved Spanish, Kichwa, and his understanding of the community he was in.

When I was leaving my home to come to Ecuador, I was feeling very sad as I was thinking about leaving my family, friends, and my country for the first time in my life. This was hard to swallow for me. The day came when my family and friends gathered to escort me to the airport. Seeing my mother cry as I checked into my flight hit me very hard as the knowledge that I would be away from home for a long period of time finally landed. She hugged me and whispered in my ear, "I am happy for you, my son. Seeing you grow and have the passion to serve communities and be one of the responsible members of society is one thing that I desired for you and now I am witnessing your growth, however I will miss you and please work hard". The journey began. It was a very long trip full of unanswered questions as it was my first time to go to Ecuador and leave Malawi, so I didn't know about the way of life of the people, or even the place, weather, or the food.

Fast forward 6 months to now and the way people have welcomed me in this community and made me feel comfortable and feel like I'm home. Despite being welcomed in the community I had one barrier which was communication as I had zero knowledge about Spanish speaking and most of the people in this community not only speak Spanish, but they also speak Kichwa language which is an indigenous language in South America, part of the Quechua family. Because of this, I was having problems communicating. Therefore Manna Project International  helped me organize a homestay as a way to practice more Spanish and learn more about the community’s culture. I now write to share my experience of my home stay and the second home that I’ve built in Shandia.

I spent my 2 weeks living with my mother, Berta Andi. Berta Andi is a Shandian woman whom I came to know through the programs that we have here at Manna Project International,  especially through the agriculture project. We have gotten close through this program as I get to go with her to her chakra and help her there. Berta is 56 years old and she lives alone with her dog, Blanca. She has a son who is a student in the University of Ambatta and is unable to visit frequently because of the workload and the 6 hour bus journey. During my homestay I learnt a lot from her and experienced motherly love from her. She taught me how to prepare local food such as maito de tilapia,a local tea called guayusa, chicha de yuca, and jugo de naranja (orange juice). She always made sure that I slept well and that I was under the mosquito net. She is so caring and acted like a mother to me. Some days we would make dinner together and chat as a way to teach me a lot of words in Kichwa and Spanish as well as what she learnt from her parents as a child, such as cooking, working hard, being strong and fishing.

It was really a life changing period for me as she was teaching me things that can be helpful for me to have a better understanding of the Shandia community and Kichwa culture. She introduced me to many of her relatives such as her brothers and nephews and nieces. One of her nephews is named Limber and he also became a good brother of mine. I am so grateful for making this connection. Limber taught me how to fish as we used to go fishing together and catch different fish like kala chasma.In addition to the cooking I learnt from Berta, Limber also taught me how to prepare a local dish meal by the name chontaduro.