Diseño de un plan de manejo ambiental para el proceso productivo del cacao (Theobroma cacao L.) a nivel de fincas en Santander

Abstract

Cocoa is positioned in third place as a highly nutritious food in the world market, demanded by the main chocolate companies in America and Europe (Superintendencia, 2011). In Colombia, it is necessary to improve the conditions of the production process in order to bring Colombian cocoa as a first-class raw material for export. To this end, an environmental management plan was designed for the cocoa production process in Santander. In order to correct, compensate, prevent, and mitigate the environmental impacts generated by the cocoa farms studied, improvements were proposed in order to generate an environmentally sustainable process. The objectives that were proposed are presented in a methodology that has three stages, which are described as follows. In stage 1, information will be gathered, and a baseline will be constructed, considering the quality of the water, soil, and biota; in stage 2, the environmental impacts will be evaluated; and in stage 3, the environmental management plan will be designed. As a result of the project, six environmental management programs were proposed, which are focused on improving negative impacts that affect the environment; these environmental management programs are part of the result obtained to obtain the degree of environmental engineer.