Under the Shadow of the Tree

This year the expedition was made up of six students : Ella, Garance, Gwenaël, Louis, Margot and Sophie. We come from different backgrounds, three from AgroParisTech, one from Agro Campus-Ouest and two audiovisual students from Sup de Pub Bordeaux.

 

We went for 3 and a half months to meet those who are working to deploy agroforestry in the Caribbean islands: farmers, researchers, human and agricultural development NGOs, or institutions from Cuba and some Dominican Republic. We were mainly interested in two cultures which are part of our daily lives in the West but which are only possible in tropical countries: coffee and Cocoa.

 

These countries are relatively little known for their agricultural production in France, while the Dominican Republic has a significant weight in global organic cocoa production. In addition, the history of these nations was strongly influenced by French choices at the time when they were European colonies, although these subjects are little discussed in Europe. Another interest which motivated our choice: to compare Cuban socialism to Dominican liberalism between neighboring islands and to use these two Manichean examples to abandon preconceived ideas.

 

Our goal at the end of the trip is to create a long format documentary to give a voice to the farmers and agroforestry stakeholders met during the trip and to organize round tables in order to discuss agriculture and the place of the tree in its future. The documentary is currently being edited with a release planned for September 2024.