Healthy plantlife? Healthy ecosystems? It all starts with healthy soils. And, when done right, the circle of life feeds itself.
In Comalcalco, Tabasco, a new generation of cocoa farmers is growing more than just cacao, they’re building a future rooted in care, sustainability, and resilience. One of them is Alma Hema, the force behind Finca Las Delias.
At The Cocoa Circle, our micro-projects are one way we show up for smallholder farmers: by listening, learning how they work, and co-creating solutions that make sense on the ground. Each project is a small, practical step toward stronger farms, healthier ecosystems, and thriving farmer communities.
With Alma, it’s not just about yields, it’s about purpose. Finca Las Delias reflects her vision for farming that regenerates the land and honours the people behind the beans. It all starts with better soils.
What’s the challenge?
Alma is a fifth-generation farmer and leads Finca Las Delias, a farm created in memory of her grandfather.
Thirteen years in, Alma has built a thriving agroforestry system rooted in criollo cacao. Her trees are nourished by grafted roots and rich biodiversity. But beneath the trees, the soil has its own struggles.
Due to drought and years of compaction, the soil at Las Delias has become cracked, dry, and tight. This leaves little oxygen for microbial life to flourish. Due to this, the trees struggle to absorb nutrients, productivity drops, and harvests shrink. In fact, out of 2,400 cacao trees, Alma’s most recent harvest yielded just 5,000 pods—many of which couldn’t even be used due to damage or quality concerns.
Harvesting pods by hand is already a physically demanding task, especially when sorting by quality, variety, and maturity. Improving soil health has become a clear priority to boost yields, enhance pod quality, and help make the labor-intensive harvest process more manageable.
When we met Alma, she already knew what she needed: a way to loosen the soil, enrich it naturally, and increase productivity of the harvests.
How are we supporting Alma?
Together, we co-created a composting initiative focused on long-term soil regeneration. At the heart of this micro-project is a humble but mighty tool: an industrial shredder.
The shredder allows Alma to process branches, leaves, and other dry organic matter into sawdust. The resulting high-carbon “brown” material forms the backbone of compost bins. When mixed with wetter “green” material, the composting process kicks into gear faster and more efficiently. This allows Ana to make rich, oxygenated compost that helps loosen the soil, improve microbial life, and reduce waste on the farm.
The best part? The shredder doesn’t just benefit Alma. It’s being shared among neighboring farms in Comalcalco, building community resilience while cutting costs for everyone involved. Less waste. Better soil. More cocoa. That’s the kind of circular economy we’re proud to support.
Capturing Cocoa
Our micro-projects aren’t only about farming, they’re about storytelling, too.
That’s why, during our time at Finca Las Delias, we also teamed up with Abner, a talented local content creator and cocoa advocate. With a camera in hand, Abner is capturing the real stories of cocoa farmers across Tabasco: their challenges, their wisdom, and their daily commitment to climate resilience.
We want to amplify local voices, so more people can understand what cocoa farming really looks like behind the scenes.
This micro-project at Finca Las Delias is a small step toward healthier soil, stronger harvests, and prosperous cocoa communities. And we’re just getting started.
Watch Alma’s micro-project story — now live in Episode 4.
