Project of Cáritas and Enel improves agricultural productivity of over 200 families from Callahuanca

Published on Monday, 12 March 2018

  • A year after the disaster caused by the ‘Niño Costero’ phenomenon, residents start to apply new techniques that improve local crops of custard apple, avocado and green vegetables.
  • The next step is to connect farmers with large buyers so that they improve their life conditions, explains Cáritas specifying that 56% of beneficiaries are women.

 

Lima, March 12, 2018. The rough times that residents of the district of Callahuanca, in Huarochirí, faced after the ‘Niño Costero’ phenomenon in 2017, attracted the attention of the world, which displayed great solidarity. Enel Group supported them through a fundraising campaign among its team members, managing to raise USD 208,000 that were doubled by Enel Foundation Cuore, amounting to USD 400,000.

These funds were transferred to Cáritas, so that it designs and executes a creating shared value project that allows communities to recover Callahuanca. This is how the project “Value chain improvement of the main agricultural crops of families from the towns of Callahuanca and Barbablanca” was born, which is now able to benefit over 200 families from these districts and Purunhuasi, located in Huarochirí.

The initiative aims at promoting a dignified employment and agricultural competitiveness of farmers affected by landslides during the ‘El Niño Costero’ phenomenon in 2017.

This project seeks to implement activities that promote the sustainable development of affected population, allowing them to improve their income in the short and medium term.

The Agricultural Project

Enel’s project, in alliance with the NGO Cáritas del Perú, involves more than 200 local producers, and promotes the production in 50 hectares of crops and the recovery of the irrigation system in 24 months.

Through this project, Enel promotes the application of the Group’s Creating Shared Value (CSV) model, as the power plant of Callahuanca operates in the town of Barbablanca, while Cáritas’ Network intervenes through the Comprehensive Human Development approach.

Currently, we, Enel and Cáritas del Perú, seek to contribute to the development of the population. In that sense, an optimal agricultural production will allow families to recover employment and their regular income, which they lost due to the ‘Niño Costero’ phenomenon,  and have a wider vision of the market’s articulation”, explained Juan Gil Castro, Head of the Department for the Development of Economic-Productive Projects at Cáritas del Perú.

In line with the Sustainable Development Goal #8 of the United Nations “Decent Work and Economic Growth”, the initiative comprises three lines of action: improving productive capacity and irrigation systems, strengthening entrepreneurship and partnership skills, and involving producers in the commercial articulation.

The project’s goal is the 25% income increase of beneficiaries, based on the sale of optimal products -custard apple, avocado and green vegetables- and the generation of value-added.

We expect to develop the trade of avocado and custard apple, improve the technical quality of crops and look for new markets; we are working on this through technical advice, trainings and demonstration plots”, stated María del Rosario Arrisueño, Head of Sustainability at Enel Peru.

Project’s Activities

The project was officially presented in November 2017, and 90 producers have already registered until today, with an active participation of women. Last January, four workshops on good agricultural practices were conducted with the participation of over 30 residents. In addition, 98 visits for technical advice were made in the last two months. Likewise, the implementation of a more modern irrigation system is being considered in order to improve water use. In this context, the first harvestings of custard apple, avocado and green vegetables are expected to take place from May 2018. 

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