Tocache is one of the main palm and cacao production zones in Peru. In addition, there is a strong presence of the private sector (cooperatives and companies) implementing supply networks that, in some cases, have the potential to be recognized as deforestation-free. There are also dense networks of local producers in cooperatives, associations and chambers of commerce. It is also an area with a significant presence of interventions by civil society organizations (members of our Coalition such as Earth Innovation, Solidaridad and Earthworm are active in this area); state programs and initiatives at the national (DEVIDA) and subnational levels are part of a social fabric and capital on which to work. This province is adjacent to two important conservation areas (Rio Abiseo National Park and Cordillera Azul National Park) and, to date, they maintain high deforestation rates that need to be reduced.
For all these considerations, Tocache has been selected by the Coalition (with the support of TFA) as a territory to link the deforestation-free production agenda and sectoral commitments (such as the Cocoa, Forests and Diversity Agreement) with a specific landscape approach that serves as an intervention model for other areas. To this end, TFA commissioned the consortium formed by two Coalition members, Earth Innovation Institute and Earthworm, in addition to the organization Helvetas, to carry out a stakeholder engagement strategy, the participatory preparation of a shared vision and a local action plan], as well as the specific identification of investment opportunities for three cocoa organizations (in this case, within the framework of the Cocoa, Forests and Diversity Agreement).
"We are very clear that production must be free of deforestation because it has an impact on climate change and the local water sources in our watershed."Toribio Juárez Trujillo, representative of APPCACAO (Peruvian Association of Cocoa Producers), explains that the cocoa crop was reduced by a recent pest and changes in weather patterns related to climate change, coupled with the lack of technical assistance, which pushed producers to deforest the forest.
Gustavo Suárez de Freitas, Peru Program Coordinator of the Earth Innovation Institute-EII, points out that the production of quality, deforestation-free cocoa that qualifies for access to differentiated markets and generates adequate profitability benefits from a territorial or landscape approach, in which a set of costs can be reduced by sharing them among the various economic and institutional chains and actors. It also indicates that examples of this include the monitoring and verification system required to ensure the commitment to avoid deforestation, as well as the design and provision of public infrastructure to support production -such as passable rural roads, energy supply and other services- and, last but not least, financial instruments and the provision of technical assistance at the jurisdictional level. It is a great challenge and this project is a first step to achieve progress in that direction; to achieve it, collaborative work between the private sector, local producers, authorities at all levels, academia and civil society is fundamental in this process."
