Helping Peruvian Coffee Farmers to Reach Their Full Economic Potential
Peru Strengthening the Coffee Value Chain (SCVC) was a 32-month public-private alliance funded by USAID to improve the competitiveness and sustainability of the Peruvian coffee sector. The project increased coffee production and quality to ensure that interested smallholder farmers received the highest premiums for their coffee and are maintained licit economic activities. ACDI/VOCA and implementing partners, Solidaridad, the Coffee Quality Institute (CQI), and Sustainable Harvest, leveraged at least 3.6 million of cash and in-kind USAID resources.
Over 50 percent of Peru’s population lives below the national poverty line, according to the World Bank. ACDI/VOCA knows from experience that specialty coffee markets offer economic opportunities for coffee farmers in developing countries to increase their incomes and live better lives. Higher quality coffees fetch higher prices in the global markets and farmers are able to differentiate their product through origin and flavor.
SCVC addressed the weaknesses in the country’s coffee value chain that prevented the country and its smallholder farmers from reaching their full potential. The project objectives were:
- Enhance productivity and production of coffee farms.
- Improve farmer access to new and profitable markets.
- Increase technical and management capacity of Peruvian coffee organizations and institutions.
SCVC targeted the provinces of Huánuco, San Martin and Ucayali, where large numbers of smallholder farmers suffer from high rates of poverty and endure conflict associated with coca production. By increasing the profitability and sustainability of the coffee sector, farmers were encouraged to abandon coca production and use coffee as a profitable, licit livelihood.
To achieve project goals, ACDI/VOCA adapted several of its signature development approaches to the Peruvian coffee sector, including farmer field school training, Farming as a Business curriculum and value chain analysis tools.
