Strengthening panela production and marketing for small-scale producers in the rural districts of Ayabaca Province.

Smallholder farmers in Peru struggle to earn sufficient income to support their families and create long-term wealth due to low productivity, insufficient land, and lack of access to credit and technical assistance.

At the IAF, we support community-led approaches to expanding economic opportunity, including through sustainable agriculture.

Our grantee partner, the Cooperativa Agraria Ecolgica y Solidaria Piura (CAES), helps members of 11 agricultural cooperatives in Ayabaca province raise family incomes by increasing the production and quality of their sugarcane fields, improving their processing plants, and training farmers in organic and fair trade certification, which gives them access to larger markets.

CAES also contributes to the organizational strengthening of the cooperatives by training women and youth to assume leadership roles.