Kolibri™

Kolibri™ is the second pillar of Picaflores.org and focuses on initiatives concerning sustainable living and production. Three concept areas are distinguished. The first area has to do with forms of harmonious coexistence and sharing, where cohesion is present between those involved while there is also sufficient personal freedom. The second area deals with the sustainable production of crops and derived products. The third area deals with sustainable entrepreneurship and concerns, among other things, supporting underprivileged talented entrepreneurs with setting up their (sustainable) business. Different concepts are currently being worked out and it is the hope and expectation that many variants and new ideas will follow that meet the criteria of the Picaflorestm quality label.

Kolibri-Sustainable coexistence
This area has to do with forms of living together (and sharing) where cohesion is present between those involved while there is also sufficient personal freedom. The first concept that has been elaborated up to a concept business plan is the Socialewoon concept (see: https://www.bol.com/en/f/the-socialewoon-concept/9200000050595380/ in Dutch).
In this concept, energy-neutral homes are realized at competitive costs. The rent is slightly higher than the free-sector norm, but if people provide services to their neighbors in the community, their rent is reduced. These services can consist of care for children, care for the elderly, cooking for others or transportation for others etc.

Kolibri-Sustainable production
The second area deals with the sustainable production of crops and derived products. Two concepts have been developed within this area. The first concept concerns setting up a cooperative model for the sustainable production of organic cocoa and the local (local for local) processing of the produced cocoa. This concept was initially discussed with various parties and with the embassy in Peru. Peru is strongly emerging as a cocoa-producing country and it is important to prevent the soil degradation and social inequality we saw in Africa.
The concept includes organic cultivation in mixed culture, the community aspect, local processing into chocolate, cocoa butter and semi-finished products for the cosmetic and pharmaceutical industry. The production of cocoa and local processing are disconnected and can be developed at different speeds, since the organic cocoa can initially also be obtained from other sources. Currently, about 90% of global trade in cocoa is channeled through Western countries, while cocoa production is carried out by non-Western countries. In many countries, the soil is greatly exacerbated by intensive agriculture without compensation. This concept also creates jobs and a future in sustainability for local families.

Another sustainable production concept concerns the organic cultivation of plants and fruit trees that form the basis for dietary supplements with a beneficial effect on health, supplementation of essential minerals and nutrients, etc. Some dietary supplements also appear to have antitumoral effects and this could be further investigated in a next phase with scientific research and clinical trials.

Kolibri-Sustainable business
The third area concerns concepts for helping underprivileged, talented entrepreneurs to set up their (sustainable) company. This is done with the help of a network of experienced professionals in the field of (small) entrepreneurship, finance, legal aspects and business management. Regular banks are often reluctant to provide investments to this group of entrepreneurs, especially if they have a foreign background and do not comply with education standards. The help from Picaflores is always on a voluntary basis and the assisted entrepreneur chooses if he/she wants to donate to nature conservation and landscape restoration projects.