ASCOPCA, Akasya (Accacia)

Accacia is a community inside the commune of St Raphael, which is an agriculturally productive area. Traditionally, the area has grown sugarcane, but was using an old wooden oxen-pulled mill to process the cane and it was an incredibly inefficient system. 

An organization called ASCOPCA (Association of Sugar Cane Producers of Accacia) which was founded in 2000 decided to mobilize to fix this situation. They advocated for their community to be able to receive a more modern mill (which they did from an NGO called Agro-Action Allemagne), and worked together to obtain industrial-sized pots to boil the cane into syrup. They succeeded in purchasing 3, and with this are oble to sell 40-50 drums of cane syrup a day to Port au Prince. They have been so successful at reviving the sugarcane culture in their area, that young people who used to migrate to the Dominican Republic are now staying in the community to farm sugarcane. ASCOPCA's membership has grown to 333 people, and with their profits they've been able to invest in a corn mill, a millet mill, and transforming the old mill into a chicken coop. 

ASCOPCA is able to teach other communities how to revitilize and create productive sugarcane farms in their communities.