Model of sustainable rural associative enterprise: the case of coffee and cocoa production in the municipality of Valledupar (Colombian Caribbean)

The purpose of this work is to show how the rural associative company model is used for the production of Coffee and Cocoa in the Department of Cesar, Colombia, for which it was necessary to identify the factors that led to its creation; the characterization of its organizational structure; the description of its value chain and alliances. The data were taken from the social and participatory interaction through a structured interview with members of the board of directors of 10 associative companies, five cocoa producers and 5 coffee producers who voluntarily agreed to participate in the research. A review of documents provided by each company was also carried out. As a common factor for the creation of the 10 participating associations, the initiative of a group of producers interested in seizing the opportunity of a business stands out. The value chains of the five coffee associative companies are made up of primary and post-harvest production managed by their associates; transformation infrastructure to obtain dry parchment coffee; three companies have roasted and ground threshing infrastructure; and only two companies have coffee-based beverage marketing points managed by the boards of directors. On the other hand, in the value chain of the five cocoa companies, primary and postharvest production is carried out by the associates and the association is responsible for marketing cocoa almonds.