APROCAM is a non-profit organisation that brings together small coffee and cocoa producers from the districts of La Peca, Copallín and Imaza in the province of Bagua in Peru. Created in 2003, the organisation currently owns 235 hectares of coffee plantations and 495 hectares of cocoa plantations. APROCAM has been Fairtrade certified since 2010 and received organic certification from IMO Control in 2012.
In 2015, a project was set up with the main objective of strengthening the APROCAM organisation through the adoption of sustainable agriculture and better management by improving market access to cocoa beans and processed cocoa beans. The TDC’s contribution was 42,478 euros for two years, from 2015 to 2017.
The reason for this project was that the management skills of the board of directors were limited, as a large part of the cocoa production was sold on the local market. A proposal was then made to hire the professional services of a manager for the administrative and commercial management of the organisation as well as for the transfer of knowledge to managers and producers and the acquisition of accounting software. Inadequate drying facilities also affected the quality of the product demanded by the client. In addition, APROCAM was taking a risk depending on only one customer in Europe for the sale of dried cocoa beans. Therefore, a proposal was made to diversify the client portfolio and guarantee certifications, strengthen the internal control system and renew the organic and fair trade certifications.
