Ermelinda Vargas Paye, owner of Hostel Mary in the city of Moquegua, Peru, won’t let COVID-19 steal her spirit – or her livelihood. A lifelong attitude of determination, and business training from TechnoServe, prepared her to lead her enterprise through the pandemic.
Editor’s note: This story originally appeared in Agrilinks on October 12, 2021. The female members of the Asociación de Productores Selva Nororiental (APROSELVANOR) cooperative had many ingredients for success: a strong desire to make their farms productive and profitable, a cooperative organization that supported…
In 2019, Kyle and Katina Connaughton, owners/operators of SingleThread Farms, traveled to Peru through the Chefs for Change initiative – a program that connects the world’s best chefs to smallholder farmers in developing countries.
The last year has been a whirlwind of uncontrollable events for Peruvians. We talked to Sergio López Zapata, project director of the Alianza CAFE project, about how TechnoServe is helping coffee farmers take control of their own futures.
In this series, we check back with TechnoServe program participants previously featured on our blog, documenting how their lives have changed and progressed. In our previous story on Juliana Solís Barón, an entrepreneur and café owner in Peru, she was learning how to reinvent her business in response to strict lockdown restrictions. Find out how she is doing now, five months later.
In San Martín, Peru, coca used to dominate the landscape. Now, through the Coffee Alliance for Excellence (CAFE) program, farmers in former coca-growing regions are learning how to improve their livelihoods through coffee.
When Juliana Solís Barón first opened her coffee shop in Peru’s San Martín region, she had no idea what to expect. Even before the coronavirus pandemic, running a coffee shop for the first time presented many challenges. But building a stable, prosperous coffee sector in this once-dangerous area is helping farmers and entrepreneurs like Juliana to improve their incomes and lives.
For farming families in central Peru, coca production brought income but also a constant threat of violence. Back then, these regions were dominated by the drug trade. Today, families in former coca-growing areas are learning how to improve their livelihoods through an alternative crop: coffee.
After 12 years with TechnoServe, Victor Ganoza, country director in Peru, will be retiring next month. We sat down with him to reflect on his time with the organization, the biggest challenges he has faced along the way, and what has been the most rewarding part of his work.
Chocolate is one of the world’s most popular foods, but who actually grows the cocoa that serves as the base for this delicious treat? Meet a few of the farmers who are changing their lives using income from cocoa.
