Peruvian cacao cooperative secures first-ever loan

The Reciprocity Fund values additionality - using our capital to make something happen that otherwise wouldn’t. Our loan to COA VRAEM, an indigenous cacao cooperative in the Peruvian Amazon, reflects this principle. Our $30,000 working capital facility is the first loan that COA VRAEM has received in its three years of operating history.

For most people living on the margins, getting paid quickly is more important than getting paid well. The moment a crop is harvested, it is sold to pay off old bills and make purchases that have already been deferred. Even cooperative members often sell a portion of their harvest to intermediaries with ready cash because they can’t afford to wait.

With our loan, 131 farming families will get paid promptly and fairly for their harvest by the cooperative they jointly own . Bills can be paid, investments can be made, and the full value of the cacao will be captured by the growers.

Many COA VRAEM members belong to the Asháninka tribe and have a long history of subsistence agriculture and resistance from their home along the Ene river, a tributary of the Amazon. In the 16th through the 19th century, European colonizers tried to subjugate the tribe while missionaries attempted to convert them. More recently, the Asháninka have found themselves caught in the middle of conflicts between armed groups who are engaged in illegal logging and rubber tapping as well as drug production and trafficking. Supporting COA VRAEM not only enhances incomes, it also builds wealth, acts as an alternative to displacement and a bulwark against further exploitation of the Asháninka’s ancestral lands.

In addition to collecting, processing and selling cacao internationally, COA VRAEM’s membership has used its profits to provide school and first aid kits to its members. The cooperative also sponsors community projects and activities, which helps knit the community together and promote cultural preservation.

Reciprocity Fund has raised $668,000 towards our year-end goal of $2M to continue our work lending to indigenous enterprises. If you would like to support enterprises like COA VRAEM through a recoverable grant, reach out to us.