TONGORRAPE APPT

MANGO AND BANANA GROWERS SMALL FARMERS' ASSOCIATION

PERU
Geographical situation
Early history
TheAssociation was established in 1999, and as of
today unites 103 small scale farmers in the rural
zone of Tongorrape, near Motupe, situated in
NorthernPerusome 900kmfromPeru's capital city
Lima.
These small family farms had been producing
mangoes, limes andpassionfruitas aprincipal crops
since several years back, and since the year 2003
are exporting mangoes to markets in Germany,
Switzerland, Holland, CanadaandtheUSA.
Withgreateffortthegrowers havestartedproducing
bananas in2004, exportingtheir first fruit in2005to
the East and West Coast of the USA and later to
GermanyviaTheNetherlands.
Passionfruit is processed to juices by the co-owned
FRUTOSA (Frutos Tongorrape S.A.) processing
plant. Mango and passionfruit frozen juice in drums
isexportedtoEuropeandUSA.
BeforetheAssociationexisted, small producers had
to sell their fruit to intermediaries for large expoters
who oftenpaidverylowprices for their produce-and
sometimesdidnotpayatall.
In March 1999, a group of growers decided to get
organized and founded the Mango and Banana
Growers Small Farmers' Association of Tongorrape
APTT; in alliance with PRONATUR (Promoter of
Natural Agriculture), they are nowworking together
to attain higher proficiency in concepts of organic
production (IMO Control certification, USDA/NOP,
Globalgap, RA and FT), with an aimto protect their
surroundings and also to receive better prices for
their produce; PRONATUR is their exclusive export
channel for access to international markets. They
also decided to join the basis organization
APROECO (Ecological Producers' Association)
which groups together organic coffee producing
smallholders from the lower and Upper Amazon
region of Peru, who also export in alliance with
PRONATUR and with IMO certified Fair Trade
labelling.
Produce:
Mangoes:
Kent, Haden, Tommy, Keitt, Edwards
December - March
Varieties:
: Availability
Asociacin de Pequeos Productores de
Mango, Banano y otros
e-mail: app.tongorrape@gmail.com
Canal Exportador:
trading@pronatur.com.pe
www.pronatur.com.pe
TONGORRAPE - APPT
PRONATUR
Telf. 051.74.219090
Bananas
Passionfruit
:
Cavendish
All year round
:
All year round
Varieties:
:
:
Availability
Availability
Fair Trade
Training
Potential anddifficulties
In 2002, Tongorrape Farmers Association APPT
managed to obtain Fair Trade FLO International
certification, which opened this market to part of their
produce. With ensuing better prices, the farmers have
seen a rise in income which has translated to
improvements on the farmand at home. Taking care of
surroundings means higher quality of life; diverse
community infrastructure proyects are continuously
carried out, such as Electrical Power lines, Drinking
Water assurance, Pre-School buildings and teachers
availability, Landfill for recycled plastic &metals, among
other direct impact development. I n 2010
APPTongorrape has voluntarily resigned to the FLO
systemandregisteredwithIMOSocial &FairTradeaudit
and certification system. This newscheme allows even
greater Impact and traceability for the farmers in the
community, since it is directly linked with 100%Organic
Productiontraceabilityoneachfarmandits environment
inthereachesofthetotal productionareasurroundings.
Through the alliance with PRONATUR, periodical
instruction courses are organized: soil and crop
management, pest and disease control in mangoes as
well as bananas are discussed and demonstrated, and
the necessary organic preparations are supplied to the
growers. Soil analisis and planning is reinforced under
permanentupdatingofdata.
Thegrowers of Tongorrapeliveinaregionwithexcellent
climate andnatural conditions forthegrowingof tropical
fruit. They use irrigation by channeled river water in
summertimeandintherainyseason- if itis available; but
there is a period when superficial irrigation water is very
scarceor inexistent, andthealternativeis tousesubsoil,
or well water. Butas thereis noelectricityavailableinthe
region, water has to be pumped by stationary Diesel
engines: high prices for fuel make this very expensive.
This is why a rural electrification project has been
executed and finalized after 4 years of work and
investment. Electricity is now available for pumping
water, thereby providing water to all the population, and
forcrops.
The funds obtained from customers who join the IMO
Social & Fairtrade systemare destinated, according to
the general assemblies decision, to a series of identified
priorities on local basic infrastructure in the communitiy:
Health Care, Nutrition, School system, Electricity,
Irrigation and Potable water sources. The maintenance
work and cleaning of the important Huallabamba Canal,
therebypermittingmoreefficientcaptureanddistribution
of water whichflows downfromthePeruvianAndes, and
so, albeitonlytemporarily, offeringasolutiontothewater
problem. This useof specific Premiums for development
(IMO Fairforlife, Social & Fairtrade, ProTrade-
ProOrganics, etc) is voted on democratically and
acceptedpracticesby themembersoftheAssociation.
UsingSocial &Fairtrade Premium