La Prosperidad, Peru

La Prosperidad’s goal is to strengthen the leadership capacities of female members and generate a culture of gender equality. The Cooperative ‘Prosperidad de Chirinos’ has done an excellent job assesing gender based challenges and forming the activities of this female only produced coffee. The programme heavily focuses on skills training in leadership, farming, improving coffee quality, small scale business management and food farming for self sufficiency, with surpluses sold in the market for additional income. This coffee highlights the hard work of female farmers on the farm, in the household with childcare, food preparation and more. A premium is paid to support this program.

Prosperidad de Chirinos was founded in 1968. Today, they have 817 members, a full quarter of whom are women. In total, the cooperative cultivates about 2,200 hectares in San Ignacio, Cajamarca. The high altitudes of the mountainous San Ignacio region provide ideal conditions for cultivating high-quality coffees.  

The cooperative has an extensive array of programs and opportunities for farming members. In addition to agronomic support and financing, farmers can learn sensory evaluation and how to diversify their incomes through other agricultural projects such as beekeeping and farming avocadoes. They also offer quality awards for outstanding coffees each year. Managers and farmer-leaders are given additional training in management skills, financial literacy and good governance.  

There is also a youth committee that is focused on supporting and empowering young producers. A partnership with the National University of Jaén supports university education for 10 children of cooperative members each year.