CAPEMA began its activities in 2007 under the name Asociación Central Agropecuaria Perla del Mayo. It was in 2012 that CAPEMA really became a cooperative formed by small coffee producers who had already received organic and fair trade certification in 2009. The main activity of the cooperative is the production and commercialisation of coffee.
CAPEMA has 255 partners in the provinces of Moyobamba and Rioja in Peru. Their goal is to improve the quality of life for its members, their families and the community in general.
The Alto Mayo Valley, located in the provinces of Rioja and Moyobamba, benefits from suitable conditions for the cultivation of coffee and cocoa. That is why, in 2014, CAPEMA worked together with producers to install cocoa plots. The goal was to obtain a cocoa with a fine aroma, with the aim of diversifying production and the economic income of the coffee producers.
Through this project, supported by TDC for 2 years from 2015 to 2017 with an amount of 49,197 euros, 74 families were converted to cocoa production under an agroforestry system that represents an excellent alternative for economic, social and environmental development for rural communities.
At a regional level, the project provided the opportunity to open up the value chain of fine and aromatic cocoa in Alto Mayo, given that cocoa production is geographically linked to the Bajo Mayo area in the localities of Juanjui, where cocoa is grown, mainly CCN-51.
Results:
-74 hectares of cocoa grafted with fine aroma clones installed in the CAPEMA cooperative;
-98 producers trained in agroforestry management of cocoa cultivation and complying with organic certification standards – Fairtrade;
-98 individual cocoa wet milling modules and 98 families trained in post-harvest management and quality;
-2 leading producers trained in physical quality and harvesting of fine, aromatic cocoa;
-98 hectares of cocoa are certified organic – Fairtrade.
