Made Fair Mango comes from Apropmalpi, 170 farmer members of the Asociación de Productores de Mango de Alta Piura who are based in and around the town of Chulacanas in Peru.  Apropmalpi offers technical training to members in productive fields like sewing, and the cooperative has a special emphasis on training the younger generation on issues related to agriculture.

Making a difference

Apromalpi (Association of Mango Producers of Alto Piura) was started in 1996 by a group of small mango producers from the Alto Piura valley in the north of Peru. About 120 families are members of the association, farming around 390 hectares. The organisation is seen as an excellent example for small producers in Peru and Apromalpi has been awarded a prize to this effect by the Peruvian government. The farmers have built a new packing station to build on Apromalpi’s success and cooling houses have been established, to maintain the good quality of the mangoes.

Most of the producers own between 1-3 hectares of land and all producers now either have organic
certification or are in the three year transition period necessary to obtain it.  

Many producers also have other crops for their family’s consumption and to sell to the local market but all rely on the mango harvest for their main income for the year.  Through Apromalpi producers have received better prices and a more secure, long-term market for their mangoes.   A big problem in the region is water shortages. They have been able to afford to irrigate their land, increasing productivity.

A grower’s story

Alberto Alache Carrión is 67 and married, with 4 children and 11 grandchildren living together in a small village in the middle of the desert-like countryside.  Alberto farms 3 hectares of land together with his 3 sons.

Four years ago, they installed a well which was possible thanks to collaboration between Apromalpi and a local NGO to build wells at cost in this very dry, arid region.  Apromalpi extended a low interest loan to Don Alberto which he has paid back steadily over the past 3 years through deducting a set amount from each box of organic Fairtrade mangoes he produces.  The well has made a big difference to the family, increasing production and reducing costs.

Alberto says:
“Apromalpi and Fairtrade are absolutely necessary for us. It turns our hopes into a reality that prices really can be better and that we can improve things.  We have planted 20 Keitt mango trees this year.  We were given them by Apromalpi as part of a project to try to extend the mango season. Keitt trees produce mangoes into March and April and we should be able to export them to the Fairtrade market.”