Thursday, 6th February 2025
By Paula Perrelli dos Anjos
During our ground visits to partner cooperatives and enterprises in Peru in the last week, Aldo Soto, Pajani Singah and Nelson Torres invested their time to meet and connect with one of our farmers from the province of Satipo, a city located in the region of Junín, in the central part of the country.
Carlos Candioti once lived in the big city working in retail. Twenty years ago, he changed his life when he bought a plot of land to be a farmer in the Amazon Rainforest. He shares the grounds with his wife, 2 children and his brother, and they are part of 100 organic certified producers of ginger, cacao and passionfruit working for La Campiña, AIV’s partner since 2022.
Carlos is passionate about the forest and maintains an intact reserve within his farm, where the biodiversity of small animals and birds is protected. To go to school, his two children walk daily 5km, and cross a river to access Marankiari town.
He also adopts agroforestry techniques on his land, innovating with a crop that has a strong reputation for contributing to deforestation. Instead of cutting trees for sun-exposing crops, La Campiña members experimented with planting ginger under the canopy of forestry trees and intercropping with coffee.
DEMETER
Due to the challenge of sustainably cultivating ginger, turmeric and cacao in the Amazon Forest, La Campiña has earned various certifications. Not only is all their produce organic and fairtrade, but they also hold the Demeter certification, awarded by the Biodynamic Federation, for meeting the principles of regeneration and health in all levels of agriculture.
Named after the Greek goddess of grain and fertility, the Demeter certification is only awarded to farmers who nourish their soil, protect the planet, and produce nutrient-dense food. La Campiña is one of the few enterprises in Peru that employs these sustainable agriculture techniques.
Considered a medium enterprise, La Campiña began its partnership with Amazonia Impact Ventures (AIV) in 2022, receiving its first impact-linked loan of USD 200K and an additional USD 250K financing last year. Singah and Soto mentioned that there will be new impact-linked rounds of investments with them.
AIV intends to continue supporting them in exporting to European countries, particularly Italy and the Netherlands, allowing diversification into other products such as cacao and ginger derivatives, like powder and juice.
We take seriously who we partner with and are proud of contributing to people, organisations and companies who are dedicated to protecting the most important forest we have on the planet: the Amazon.
We will continue to seek out and collaborate with forest people committed to this vital cause.
#PartnershipEngagement #BeingPresentMatters #InLoco #ImpactLinked #Innovation #Agroforestry #Ginger #Cocoa #Turmeric #SavetheForest
Which of these products do you buy?
Ginger
Turmeric
Cacao
Passion fruit
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