I finished my master degree in geography at the University of Bonn, Germany in 2020. In the course of her studies, I focused on the field of ‘Development and Globalization’ with particular interest in aspects of socio-ecological transformation, sustainable value chains and participatory project planning and evaluation. In the summer of 2018, I assisted Kalimajari Foundation in implementing the ‘Sustainable Cacao Project’ with its aim to support smallholder cacao farmers in terms of strengthening the agricultural potential and to make the local cacao sector globally competitive and at the same time ecologically and socially sustainable. Due to the close cooperation with Kalimajari, the opportunity arose that I could carry out the research of my master thesis in Bali. That is why, I returned for a two-month period to an intensively professional and personal exchange on the topic of gender equality and societal transformation with the staff of Kalimajari, the cacao farmers on the ground and other actors of the project. Three things I learned to love about kalimajari is first of all, the members of Kalimajari do everything in their power to address the societal needs and economic challenges of small-scale cacao and seaweed farmers as well to improve their livelihood in the long term. Secondly, Kalimajari’s concern is to give voice to the farmers. I could observe how female farmers gained self-confidence to make their needs heard and to demonstrate their knowledge and capabilities on account of the implemented women empowerment and youth engagement programme. Thirdly, Kalimajari family supported me on every step of the master thesis. And not only that. They made Bali a second home with many friends I can and would always happily return to. Read More

My name is Ana Laura Jiménez, I am from Costa Rica and I was part of Kalimajari as an intern from September to December in 2019. My mentor was Auditya Sari but I worked along with all the members as well. I wanted to do my internship in cacao because I really like that crop and also to bolster my studies, I study agricultural science and natural resource management and Kalimajari was the perfect option for me. In my internship I developed two projects; in the main one I worked in an organic fertilizer made from cacao husk that people who belong to the cooperative could use to improve their plantations because Kalimajari has an organic certified so the use of chemical fertilizers are not an option and this was a helpful idea to the farmers because they didn’t knew how to reincorporate nutrients in an organic way. This took like 7 to 8 weeks, the other project was about woman empowerment focused on the women who were part of Kalimajari cooperative. We all create a prototype of a face mask using Jembrana’s soil, specifically clays that are very good for the skin combined with the residues of cacao that are not used anymore so women can have their own income. Apart from that, I was part of different events that Kalimajari cooperative organized and did small tasks like helping some of the students from the school of Negara to learn use an equipment they had to do soil analysis. Kalimajari had a very familiar ambience all the people were very nice, and I had a very special time all the internship. Read More