Regenerative Cacao

Jayaque, El Salvador | Project Manager

Context: Grounded in family heritage and a responsibility to the land, we are in the research phase of collaborating with organic farms moving beyond monoculture toward biodiversity, soil health, and carbon sequestration. Our interest is in producing complex, nutrient-rich cacao amidst thriving ecosystems, while developing education around these practices.

Task: The goal is to increase climate resilience across cacao farms by analyzing site constraints and designing for stormwater infiltration, drought buffering, and on-site compost systems that build soil fertility, water retention, and ecosystem health.

Approach: Moving beyond sustainability, the focus shifted to healing the land and identifying locations for new land patterns that slow, spread and sink stormwater. Mulch infiltration trenches filled with banana leaves and pod husks were created on contour to capture runoff on 15-20% slopes. This approach provides multiple benefits for the farming family, including new irrigation water sources, local waste management of organic material and improved slope stability.