La innovación en los procesos productivos del cacao ecuatoriano.

Abstract

Cocoa plays a transcendental role in the Ecuadorian economy and history, as it is one of the most important products of the triad of export products, positioning in 2019 in first place as an exporter of cocoa in Latin America and fourth worldwide. In Ecuador, most cocoa production is still carried out using traditional methods, despite the aforementioned, the country has an outstanding participation in cocoa cultivation worldwide. Consequently, the implementation of innovative practices in cocoa production emerges as an essential element to address the present and future challenges of the cocoa industry. Therefore, in this research, the sociodemographic, socioeconomic, geographic and production factors that influence the adoption of new technologies in the production processes of Ecuadorian cocoa are determined. For this purpose, the Survey of Continuous Agricultural Surface and Production (ESPAC) (2019) was used. The results suggest that cocoa farmers with higher educational levels show a greater propensity to innovate, this contributes to improve farmer profitability by implementing innovations that improve the efficiency and quality of cocoa.