IFAD News

Figure: The Allima cooperative brings together and supports small-scale farmers in the Peruvian Amazon. © Factstory.

“Quality is not an act. It’s a habit.”  This sign greets Carlos Angulo Gonzáles as he walks into the premises of the Allima Cacao Cooperative. It perfectly captures the approach he and the members of the cooperative take to their work.

The Allima cooperative brings together 400 small-scale farming families in Chazuta, a district in the Peruvian Amazon. Most of them are Kichwa Indigenous Peoples and recently switched from cultivating coca leaves to cocoa beans, with support from the local government.

As the general manager of the cooperative, Carlos Angulo helps farmers produce, process and market cocoa beans, and connects them to technical assistance, especially around the fermentation, drying and marketing of the product.

When COVID-19 struck, restrictions on movement meant the members of the cooperative were unable to access the markets or vital technical assistance needed to improve their products.

This is when AGRIdigitalización was implemented by Agriterra as part of IFAD’s RPSF programme. The initiative helped small-scale farmers and their producer organizations in Bolivia, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras and Peru find innovative ways to preserve their livelihoods during the pandemic.

See https://www.ifad.org/en/web/latest/-/from-coca-leaves-to-cocoa-beans-how-farmers-in-the-peruvian-amazon-are-innovating-using-digital-tools