Technical-economic analysis of the Theobroma Cacao L. production system in the department of Sucre, Colombia

Abstract

A review of the literature shows that the technical and economic characterization of the cocoa production system in the department of Sucre is not documented. The objective of this work was to characterize the production system from the technical and economic point of view, establishing the relationship between the technical production coefficients and economic returns. The information was obtained from a structured survey applied to 23 farmers, selected through the deterministic sampling method. The economic returns were calculated with a pattern of production costs built by the consensus method. The results allow us to appreciate sociodemographic variables for this region where 77 % are male with an average age of 54 years and 30.4 % of the total reached high school. The productive model is family farming, the production techniques are agroforestry systems with some degree of modernization, such as sustainable soil preparation practices and certified planting material. The production of a year on average generates income of 4 320 000 COP that allow costs to be recovered. The internal rate of return is 24 %, higher than the opportunity cost of capital. It is concluded that cocoa agroforestry systems contribute to food security and are sustainable over time because the income is higher than the cost, since the equivalent annual cost of 670 211 COP is much lower than the income generated per year, therefore, it is feasible to recover the investment and generate profits.