For the first time the small producers Peruvians will be able to sell carbon credits to large corporations, as announced by Max Berkelmans, financial business consultant at Rabobank, a Dutch bank that, together with the Solidaridad organization, presented the Acorn platform, a program that enables small coffee growers to access the carbon market. carbon bonds.
Acorn (Agroforestry for Carbon Capture and Nature Restoration) was launched with the idea of meeting market demand for nature-based carbon credits. In alliance with Solidaridad, the initiative was presented during an event last Friday with leaders of the sector and it was indicated that initially more than five thousand coffee producers will be reached, assisting them in agroforestry practices.
This effort also seeks to be a great contribution to the reduction of deforestation in the San Martín region in accordance with the improvement of the production and quality of its coffee.
It is worth mentioning that Peru is the sixth country in the world with the largest area of natural forests and with a high potential for mitigating climate change, but, at the same time, it is one of the most vulnerable to this phenomenon, endangering its food security.
Project progress
The initiative plans to pay almost 1,000 coffee producers this year and hopes to reach 5,000 by 2025 through the Amazonia Connect project that has USAID as a strategic partner. The project with USAID will be developed in the San Martín region where it has been working with 11 coffee associations.
“For me it is an opportunity to reach more markets and grow with my family. We are happy to have this facility that gives us the platform to protect our forests and produce more”, comments Eusebia López, a producer from the town center of San José del Altomayo, invited to the event, who shared her testimony as an Acorn beneficiary.
