Lima, Peru, December 9, 2014. Visiting a Peruvian Farming and Crafts Fair, UNDP Administrator Helen Clark and Global Environment Facility Head of External Affairs William Ehlers saw how grantee partners from the GEF Small Grants Programme managed to create sustainable livelihoods from local resources. The Fair, which was organized as a side event for the COP20, brought together 40 community-based organizations from various regions in Peru. Visitors found a wide variety of artisanal and food products, including organic honey and Tara-fruit based delicacies; indigenous crops and plants; and alpaca-based apparel.
Emphasizing the special role that community-based projects and women empowerment play in sustainable development, Helen Clark noted that "[t]hese initiatives show how to conserve biodiversity, improve income and empower women while often boosting climate resilience".
Joining Helen Clark in her welcome address for the fair visitors, William Ehlers of the GEF further supported her argument, noting that "[t]he SGP is important because the communities learn to change their behaviour and use their creativity so as to contribute to protecting the global environment while improving their families' standards of living. This is a worthy example for the rest of society."
Touring the stands, visitors learned about the producers' experiences of creating resilient ecosystems that also support sustainable livelihoods. In addition, the CBOs Suri Paq´ocha, Choba Choba, Red de Acción de Agricultura Alternativa (RAAA), Fundación para el Desarrollo Agrario (FDA), and Asociación de Protección del Bosque Seco del Caserío el Choloque, how they improved their incomes with conserving alpaca, native beans, dry forests, and agrobiodiversity. The presentations were enriched with two art shows performed by the SGP grantee partners Native Cotton Project and Caylloma, Arequipa.
Acknowledging her tremendous support for the GEF Small Grants Programme, Paola Bustamante, Minister of Development and Social Inclusion of Peru stated that "[o]ne key aspect of the GEF SGP projects is that they increase crop diversification, fortify nutrition and help women invest in their children, [thus] improving their education and quality of life".
The community-based organizations were supported by grants of up to USD $50,000 from the UNDP implemented GEF Small Grants Programme. The Peru SGP portfolio is one of the most diverse in the world, addressing critical issues that respond to the unique circumstances posed by Peru's rich biodiversity, development trajectory and vulnerability to climate impacts. Since 1998, SGP Peru has worked with over 270 community-based organizations helping them to build ecosystem resilience, recover ancestral knowledge and build sustainable practices. These initiatives have been sustained through linkages to sustainable livelihoods and human development.
A Big Thank You to All of Our Participating Grantee Partners! (List of All Participants is provided below)
Participating Organizations at the Fair
Asociación de productores ganaderos Tuti–llacta - ASPROGATU.
Asociación de Apicultores de Pasaje Norte
Asociación de Apicultores Rurales de Olmos – AAPROL
Asociación de Artesanas de Arbolsol y Huaca de Barro del distrito de Mórrope- Lambayeque
Asociación de Artesanía Suri Paqocha -Nuñoa
Asociación de Artesanos Cuna de Kajelos - ASARCUK
Asociación de Criadores de Alpacas del Distrito de Sibayo.
Asociación de Criadores de Camélidos Andinos "Illa" - ACRICAN ILLA
Asociación de Criadores de Camélidos de Tisco Allin Pacocha - ASOCAT
Asociación de Criadores de Camélidos y Piscicultores San Pedro Alpaca -Alpaca
Asociación de Discapacitados Señor Cautivo de Ayavaca - ADISCAYA
Asociación de Mujeres Musuq Illari
Asociación de Producotres Pecuarios y Artesanos Pumnacanchi Condurini - APROPAREP
Asociación de Productores Agropecuarios "Planta Hermoza de Ayanpi" Comunidad de Marccani
Asociación de Productores Agropecuarios Chincaycocha, Junín - APROACHIJ
Asociación de Productores Agropecuarios de Olmos- Lambayeque – Perú - APROAGRO
Asociación de Productores Agropecuarios Ecológicos Cruz de Plata - AGROECOTUTI
Asociación de Productores Agropecuarios Ecológicos Nueve de Julio
Asociación de Productores Orgánicos ASPOR -Huamanguilla
Asociación de Protección de los Bosque Seco del Caserío el Choloque – Sector El Cardo-Tongorrape – Motupe- ASPROBOS.
Asociación Distrital de Productores de Camélidos y Artesanos del Distrito de Tisco - ASDIPROCAT
Asociación Ecológica Recuperar - ECOREC
Asociación Ecologista Zaranda
Asociación Especializada para el Desarrollo Sostenible - AEDES
Asociación No Gubernamental Rural Amazónica Choba Choba
Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo Integral de la Comunidad - CIDIC
Centro de Servicios Agropecuarios - CESA
Comité de Pequeños Ganaderos del Papayo Algarrobo.
Cooperativa Agraria de Usuarios, Malingas Alto, Tambogrande - Piura.
Cooperativa de Servicios Especiales Yurac Qori Tisco
Empresa Comunal "Santa María de Locuto SRL"
Equipo Regional de Promoción de la Mujer "EPRAM".
Fundación para el Desarrollo Agrario -FDA
Instituto del Medio Ambiente y Género para el Desarrollo -IMAGEN
Instituto para el Desarrollo y la Paz Amazónica -IDPA
La Central Distrital de Bancos Comunales de los Distrito de El Agustino y Santa Anita.
Red de Acción de Agricultura Alternativa - RAAA.
Servicio de Promoción Integral del Campesinado - SEPRICA
For more information please contact:
Emilia Bustamente, National Coordinator, GEF Small Grants Programme, Peru, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., http://www.sgpperu.org
Katharina Davis, Knowledge Managment & Communications Consultant, GEF Small Grants Programme, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., www.sgp.undp.org
Patrizia Cocca, Communications and KM Officer, GEF, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., www.theGEF.org