Fair Trade = a better world

Sales of Fair Trade goods have shown a 30% increase over the last 10 years. For the many farmers around the world a buy-in to this market would make a huge difference to their livelihoods, bringing in extra income.

In the remote Chinchipe River basin, on the border between Peru and Ecuador at the source of the Amazon River, some 172,000 peasant farmers make their living through the small-scale production of coffee and timber. But many of these farmers kept on abandoning their plots as the soil quality decreased, and then had to clear new areas of forest. This was having a terrible impact on fragile environment of this richly bio-diverse area.

Practical Action has been working with these poor farmers since 2005 helping them produce higher yields of better quality coffee and to ensure they took care of native plants and animals. The farmers were encouraged to consider the forest as their most valuable resource - the source of the productivity. 

For years, Enrique Santos heard about the great benefits of producing coffee for special markets. However, it seemed a prospect that was too difficult to achieve. So Enrique, along with 21 other farmers, began to investigate how they could take advantage of opportunities for organic and fair trade coffee.

With encouragement from Practical Action they produced seedlings of cedar, laurel and eucalyptus trees to plant which would provide them with valuable timber in the long term and also help maintain the soil structure. Looking back, Enrique recalls: “The engineers of the project and the municipality started training us. They would say that the only way for us to increase our production was through the technological improvement of our farms, planting trees, conserving water, getting our farms certified. In the medium term, we would harvest wood that would help us improve our incomes and raise our children. Some were still reluctant and did not want to plant trees, because they take too long to grow. As for me, it was clear that by planting trees I would get the certification for my farm and that, in the not too distant future, I would be harvesting wood for selling, thereby ensuring my children’s education.”

Like Enrique, all the farmers who adopted this agro-forestry system obtained the Organic and Fair Trade Certification that they desired.

Enrique is very happy. “In April 2009, my farm obtained the organic and fair trade certificates. My farm was renewed. I used to harvest 10 quintales (1,000 kg) of coffee per hectare/ha, now I harvest an average of 25 quintales (2,500 kg) a hectare. I can now sell my coffee at a better price because my association sells the coffee directly to the foreign markets. We are now 50 organic producers. The value of my land has increased as well, but it’s not for sale! I will keep on planting trees to secure my future and my family’s future. I planted 450 trees, mostly laurel, but also cedar and eucalyptus, 14 months ago and they are almost three metres high now. To produce more coffee, we don’t have to destroy our forests anymore.”

Learn more about our work in Peru:

 

Earthquake-resistant housing 'Improved quincha' – a timber and lattice frame design with an earth infill – based on traditional technologies, are better placed to withstand earthquakes. InfoDes telecentres Community telecentres give many their first taste of how modern communications technologies can be used to improve their livelihoods. Micro-hydro power Micro-hydro plants can be used to mechanise crucial tasks like grain milling, and to power small businesses, as well as to bring community and household light.

Podcasting Practical Action is testing the potential of podcasting to disseminate knowledge for poverty reduction, using a mixture of new and old technology. Freak freeze conditions We work with remote indigenous Andean communities to help protect their alpacas and potato varieties to reduce vulnerability to climate change. Wind power Life after dark in Peruvian villages has been transformed after Practical Action harnessed the power of wind to produce electricity and charge batteries.

There's more about our work in Peru on the Practical Action Latin America website

Practical Action Latin America also has a Spanish-language website, Soluciones Prácticas, with the latest news on our projects in Peru and Bolivia, plus videos and technical information in Spanish.