San Juan del Oro
Formed in 1961 by 40 members San Juan del Oro is the oldest cooperative in Peru. Members of San Juan del Oro are based in the two valleys of Inambari and Tambopata, on the eastern side of the Andes in southern Peru (in the province of Sandia and state of Puno).
The Tambopata and Inambari valleys are almost forgotten valleys by the government, and there are few public services. The nearest commercial centre for banking is Juliaca which is a 10-12 hour drive and the nearest hospital is over 4 hours drive in Sandia.
The population (est. 20,000) of the two valleys is made up of two indigenous tribes; the Quechua people in the Inambari valley, and the Aymara people in the Tambopata valley. The origins of both people are from the Peruvian Altiplano who migrated to the jungle to find a better quality of life. Primarily due to the inaccessibility of the region the people have maintained many of their local customs and language. Spanish is generally used as a second language with the native languages of Quechua and Aymara prevail.
Objectives
San Juan del Oro aims to contribute to the social economic development of members and their families by means of providing competitive and professional services for the production, trading and processing of members’ products such as coffee, cocoa and others, and promoting integral development and strengthening of members’ managerial capacity.
The co-operative has an ambitious organic programme and aims for all members to be involved in it by 2007. To reach this aim, it has a technical assistance team with 10 technicians. They run a training programme which includes improved soil conservation practices, separation of inorganic and organic residues, and recycling coffee pulp for compost.
San Juan del Oro has three grocery shops in Putina Punco, Yanamaya and San Juan del Oro which provide the main outlet for basic household products within these towns. Between January and March, when there is shortage of cash after the end of the coffee season, goods are sold on credit to members and then debited from coffee sales in the next year. The cooperative is also able to offer pre-harvest credit to members.
Motivation and Training
There is a women’s committee in the cooperative which holds workshops in leadership, self-esteem, gender and quality of life and cooperativism. They are also working on family kitchen gardens, nutritional advice and handicrafts.
The cooperative has supported the local tertiary college through donation of tables and chairs for classrooms.
Fairtrade Benefits
95% of the FT premium differential is returned to members of the cooperative through higher prices, and the remaining 5% is allocated to a fund for different projects. Recent projects have included:
- assembling the coffee tasting laboratory,
- modernising the SJO offices in Putina Punco and San Juan del Oro,
- repairing roads in the community,
- supporting the local schools.
