Coffee Project

ABOUT THE ASOCIACIÓN CAFÉ DEL FUTURO

PERHUSA is a Peruvian family-owned company founded in 1963. PERHUSA specializes in picking, sorting, processing, and exporting Peruvian coffee and works with producers from all coffee-growing regions of Peru.

Through PERHUSA, we were introduced to the Asociación Café del Futuro, which we visited in 2019 and have been sourcing coffee from ever since. Established in 2007, the cooperative is renowned for its exceptional coffee, featuring carefully selected varieties and a strong commitment to certified production. The farmers predominantly grow varieties such as Caturra, Bourbon, and Mundo Novo, which flourish in the high-altitude regions of Jaén and San Ignacio.

To deepen our close partnership with the Asociación Café del Futuro, it was an obvious choice for us to implement our first project in Peru with them.

BACKGROUND TO OUR INITIATIVE

In recent decades, Jaén, a region in Peru, has shifted toward coffee monoculture, resulting in a heavy dependence on food supplies from other regions to meet the local population's needs.

During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021, government restrictions caused transportation costs and food prices to increase dramatically, leaving many small farming families struggling with food security. This challenge also impacted numerous farmers of the Asociación Café del Futuro.

The challenges continued into 2022, as Peru faced high inflation, a fertilizer shortage, and a sharp rise in natural gas costs due to the Russia-Ukraine war, further destabilizing the agricultural sector.

Sustainable nutrition from homegrown products

With a clear mission to enhance food security and encourage diversified agricultural practices, we launched an initiative in 2021 to establish 105 "Sustainable Vegetable Home Gardens."

Each family received 10 raised beds along with seeds of regional vegetables, including radish, chili, cabbage, carrot, pumpkin, onion, spinach, beets, lettuce, and cucumber. Families were also provided with essential tools such as rakes and fertilizers, as well as training and informational materials on how to set up and maintain their gardens. By August 2021, the soils were prepared, seeds were sown in September, and by December, the families were already harvesting fresh vegetables. Throughout the year, farmers received seasonal seeds and ongoing training.

To expand the impact of this initiative, we increased the number of participating smallholder families from 105 to 206 in 2022.

Compost modules for coffee farmers

In 2023, we advanced our efforts by equipping 206 farming families with composting modules and efficient microorganisms to accelerate the breakdown of coffee pulp and organic waste.

This initiative empowered the coffee-producing families to maintain safe and sustainable coffee and food production while improving their financial stability by eliminating the need for chemical fertilizers or external inputs. All minerals and microorganisms used were certified by national authorities for organic products.

Sustainable fertilization methods for healthy soils

In 2024, we embarked on an exciting new stage of our project aimed at enhancing sustainable coffee production and strengthening the economic resilience of 435 coffee-producing families in Jaen, Peru. This phase introduces several key initiatives:

Enhanced Food Security and Income: Seeds are being distributed to the existing 206 home vegetable gardens, empowering families to produce 70% of their own food and create an additional income stream through surplus vegetables and promote diversified farming practices.

Environmental Protection: We are installing 206 Vetiver pools to treat and purify wastewater from the coffee honey process on farms. Vetiver is a plant that, thanks to its deep root system, has the capacity to filter the honey water, preventing it from reaching clean sources of organic matter and becoming a source of contamination or disease.

Agroecological Practices: The construction of additional 229 composting modules enriched with efficient microorganisms, provided free to farmers to supports nutrient recycling and encourages sustainable farming practices. With the composting modules built in recent years, a total of 435 farming families are benefitting from it. 

Soil Regeneration: Chelated minerals produced at a PERHUSA-managed biofactory, are provided to 435 farmers promoting soil regeneration and enhancing crop nutrition through sustainable fertilization practices. The process involves creating an indigenous Effective Microorganisms solution that is usable for bokashi, fungal prevention, or diluted for foliar applications. It is mixed according to the specific nutritional needs of each stage of coffee cultivation and distributed to producers at the recommended dosage.