Organic agriculture: the healthy food option that employs 110,000 producers

In the farm of Alicia Gonzáles, in pachacamac, there is an avocado plant that was planted 60 years ago and produces half a ton of fruit during each campaign. It is in the center of the plot and is the largest tree in the fields. It is surrounded by dozens of crops distributed in small rectangular areas. They exist from lucumas, raspberries and lemons, to lettuce, chia, mint and chili peppers. The heterogeneity of the site is dissolved by a common factor: all the crops that grow here are organic.

Alicia began organic farming in 2002. She opted for this alternative to offer healthier products than those produced conventionally using chemical fertilizers.

At the national level, the growth rate of this type of agriculture since the year 2000 is on average 10% year-on-year, according to the Ministry of Agrarian Development and Irrigation (Midagri).

Thus, at the end of 2022, 110,000 small organic agricultural producers were reached. The same ones that together manage close to 50,000 hectares in 23 regions of the country and are grouped in more than 500 organizations, such as agricultural cooperatives, associations, peasant communities and native communities.

According to data from the National Agrarian Health Service of Peru (Senasa), the Cajamarca region, with 29,177 producers, It is the place where the largest number of organic farmers are found, followed by Junín with 20,451 producers, San Martín (15,357), Piura (11,006) and Amazonas (7,474). In Lima, 350 producers are registered, cultivating a total of more than 1,000 hectares (See infographic).

In the case of the country’s capital, most of them are located in the valleys of the Lurín River and the Chillón River; and they are mainly dedicated to planting fruit and vegetables, says Juan Sánchez, executive director of the Network of Agroecological Farmers (RAE-Perú).

lack of markets

The problems faced by agroecological farmers are different from those of conventional agriculture. They have not been affected by the crisis caused by the increase in fertilizers because they prepare their own fertilizers or by the scarcity of seeds because they produce them. Their difficulties are rather associated with water pollution, says Segundo de los Santos, from the Association of Agroecological Producers Network of Peru (Arepa-Peru).

The farmer denounces that the new constructions that rise in the agricultural areas of Lurín direct their drains to irrigation canalswhich directly affects their crops.

“There should be a platform made up of the Ministry of the Environment, Midagri, the environmental management of the municipalities and the user boards that provide technical assistance to the field and control it,” he suggests.

For his part, Kelinda Martinez, a farmer from the district of Pachacámac and president of the Association of Agroecological Producers of the Lima Region (APARL), indicates that another of the obstacles that prevents the development of small organic farmers is the absence of a stable market for the sale of their products . Added to this is the lack of technical support from the municipal or national authorities to carry out the procedures that allow them to enter fairs that take place in other districts of Lima.

“We wanted to have a fair in San Isidro. The municipality gave us the entire letter, but we got stuck in the documentation; We didn’t know how to do it. We need someone to tell us what to do ”, he mentions.

Meanwhile, Juan Sánchez, from RAE-Perumentions that another difficulty is low productivity because the majority of small farmers lack the resources to invest in tools, such as a technical irrigation system or water management to increase their production levels, so it is necessary that the Government, at its different levels, support these producers, mainly in water issues.

Improving irrigation infrastructures through drip systems, and improving the planting and harvesting of water, would help to double the yield of crops for small farmers, Sánchez emphasizes. He adds that 80 million cubic meters of water pass through the Lurín river a year, of which only 5% is used.

Value added

Most of the farmers agroecológicos still maintains the old scheme that consists of harvesting and selling its products without any type of added value; however, some have already left this tradition aside.

Alicia Gonzáles has abandoned this pattern and for more than 10 years she has been using the fruits she harvests on her farm to prepare artisan ice creams.
The desserts that are sold as Helados Gourmet Casa Blanca are of various flavors, there are lemon, lucuma, soursop, prickly pear and passion fruit. “We differ (from traditional ice creams) because we put more fruit and we don’t use coloring or flavoring,” he says.

He underlines that his business goes beyond economic interest. “We don’t sell a product, we sell health”, she remarks.

healthy option

The indiscriminate use of agrochemicals in conventional agriculture generates highly toxic products. Foods with these substances reach the main commercial showcases such as supermarkets. Thus, they end up harming consumers who look for a healthy diet in fruits and vegetables, warn from RAE-Peru.

An aggravating factor, this civil association specifies, is that this type of food even affects the child population. This occurs because the government buys for qaliwarma industrialized products that are then distributed to public schools.

For this reason, this year, the organic farmers of the Chillón river valley will begin to supply their products to some schools in the Carabayllo district.

In the pilot, which already has the approval of the mayor, 12 certified farmers will participate, selling eight products to the program. The initial stage of the project will reach 20 schools in the commune. The benefited population will be 17,000 boys and girls.

The first delivery of food will be made in June. Subsequently, it is planned to extend this same initiative to Pachacámac.

80% of organic exports go to Europe

Peruvian exports of organic products exceed US$300 million a year, according to Midagri. By 2030, the goal is to increase this figure to US$469 million.

The portfolio affirms that the European Union is the main market and receives 80% of the agroecological dispatches in our country.

In the Old Continent, Peru has achieved an important status as a supplier of organic food by occupying the 1st place in unroasted organic coffee exports, 2nd place in organic cocoa, 3rd in tropical fruits, such as organic bananas, and 5th place in quinoa.

Users who wish to purchase Casa Blanca products can do so through 963 969 844. Soon, RAE Peru will publish an Ecodirectory on its website (https://raeperu.org) with the main points to purchase organic products in Lima and some regions.

reactions

Juan Sánchez, Director of RAE-Peru

“Before the pandemic, the market for agroecological products was closely linked to fairs, but the mayors panicked and closed them down. Now, the producers have organized themselves and deliver by contacting their customers via WhatsApp”.

Kelinda Martínez, President of APARI

“Organic farmers are implementing organic gardens in crates in common pots so that they themselves have their production. We will plant radishes, chard, lettuce, celery and other varieties. We will implement them from this month”.

Organic agriculture in Peru