Owning a Farm in Another Country
Tim Hammerich
News Reporter
Running a 50-acre cacao farm on the other side of the world is not easy. Just ask first-generation farmers, Patrick and Mara Tcheuhou, who live in Colorado yet own and operate a farm in Cameroon.
Patrick… “We knew it would not be an easy task so naturally we just start learning and we connected with people in the field of agriculture like it could be helpful so we hired a mentor from the school of agriculture at Colorado State University, who was really helpful in helping us build our farming plan and telling us everything we needed to know and people in Cameroon who were in the field. We learned from both sides to come up with a plan that adapted to the realities in Cameroon.”
Because they are thousands of miles away from their operation, Mara says they’ve put immense trust in the local farmers who manage their farm day-to-day.
Mara… “I think there was a lot of trust with the people in Cameroon, and I think we just did a lot of research here and just knowing what are the best practices, you know, and how we can implement that there. If we’re really going to start a farm from scratch, what is the best way to lay it out so we can reduce water usage and make sure things are safe for the surrounding community.”
With the product harvested on their farm, Patrick and Mara make fine artisan chocolate under their brand, Bibamba.
