Producer support, Peru

 CenfroCafe, Peru

CenfroCafe is an association of small coffee producers; it operates in an extremely poor part of northern Peru. CenfroCafe was founded 10 years ago by a group of family producers and meanwhile it has become the fourth largest coffee producers organisation of Peru. 

Website: www.cenfrocafe.com.pe 

Vision and mission

CenfroCafe is active in the Jaén, San Ignacio and Bagua provinces in the Cajamarca and Amazonas regions, two of the poorest regions of the country. Cultivation of rice and coffee form the basis of the economy in these provinces and therefore provide the largest source of income for many families. But the shortcomings or the absence of the basic infrastructure in the countryside, such as roads and water, among other things, undermine the possibility to further develop existing economic activities or to diversify them in the short term.

It is in such an environment that CenfroCafe wants to stimulate economic development of the Cajamarca and Amazonas regions, which explains the logic of the project. 

The project that has been funded

Background

Contrary to interventions under the form of aid to reduce poverty, this project focuses on strengthening and increasing the production capacity of the farmers, so, on the medium to long term, poverty disappears and the agricultural activities ensure stable incomes and independence, which again would have a multiplying effect on other inhabitants of the region. 

For instance, with the development of a chain of cafes, among other things, the project wants to promote organic and high-quality coffee on the national market. Indeed, locally coffee is hardly promoted in Peru; in comparison, in Brazil about 50% of the production is for national consumption. This means that organisations that aim at responsible entrepreneurship, like CenfroCafe, are even more dependent on foreign markets. 

The project benefits 2,091 small producers who are partners of CenfroCafe and who work together within the organisation on the production chain of organic coffee and on the marketing of that coffee through a system of fair trade. 

BTC’s funding amounts to EUR 208,800.

Expected results 

The first objective of the project is to increase incomes and to improve the quality of the coffee that the partners of CenfroCafe produce. The project wants to achieve this with a new plan for technical assistance that focuses on direct training and coaching of the producers.

The second objective is to position the special roasted and ground coffee, which is of high quality and has high added value, on the national market. This way, a slow process can be started that makes them less dependent of sales on international markets.