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Peruvian Cacao Co-op Assistance

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You're reading this because you make chocolate, have been touched by the power of cacao or fine craft chocolate, or perhaps without knowing it -- have already enjoyed Peruvian chocolate. While there are other aid campaigns in place to alleviate the devastation facing the country and people of Peru and neighboring regions at this time, this specific initiative will support smallholder cacao farmers the Piura and Tumbes regions of northern Peru, which have been devastated by flooding and mudslides.

Initiated by Lauren Heineck, founder of WKND Chocolate & 'Well Tempered' a chocolate podcast and international community of cacao & chocolate professionals, alongside Brian Horsley (president of Marañón Chocolate and a full time resident of northern Peru).  Funds will be collected through this platform by Lauren on 4/5/17, and transferred to Brian, who will personally deliver 100% of the amount raised to the APPROCAP (Asociación De Pequeños Productores De Cacao De Piura) & NORANDINO (Cooperativa Agraria Norandino) cacao cooperatives, and through these entities delivered directly to hundreds of cacao farmers, helping them recover their homes, crops, and assisting where necessary to rebuild their towns/farms and off-set harvest/production loss. 

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The north and central regions of Peru have faced the worst flooding in decades, caused by a seldom seen “coastal” El Niño that has warmed the waters immediately off northern Peru to unprecedented levels. Torrential rains (10x average precipitation levels) are falling both in the Andes and on the arid desert coastal plains, destroying tens of thousands of homes, displacing hundreds of thousands of Peru’s poorest people, and creating a massive shortage of daily necessities (food, water, supplies). The flooding has adversely affected predicted harvests of cacao (estimating a 40% loss), other crops grown by cacao farmers such as banana and mango, as well as cutting off access to bring in supplies or send out cash crops with obstructed or washed-away roads and highways.


These cacao farmers and their families and children will need crop assistance, as well as building supplies to repair their damaged or destroyed homes, most of which are built with adobe (mud bricks) and metal roof sheeting which cannot withstand these torrential rains and floods.

100% of funds donated will be used for farmers, all administrative costs aside from the GoFundMe % will be covered by Marañon Chocolate. In the name of northern Peru’s cacao community, we humbly ask your assistance.

IMPORTANT UPDATE: 3/27/17
Today our worst fears were realized, the flooding in northern Peru got even worse. The Piura and Tumbes Rivers have gone over their banks, the main square of Piura is 5 feet under water, and all highways in or out are closed. Road access up to the farming areas is presumed closed but we have no way of knowing at this present time. We are attempting to continue coordinating planning delivery of relief funds and materials, but as of now no one is online, we suspect phone and internet services are completely out. It will be some days before we can assess how quickly we can move forward. For these reasons we are extending the GoFundMe campaign through the first weekend of April  -- to allow late donors the opportunity to express their generosity, to allow the people on the ground to respond to this new emergency, and to allow time for physical access to be restored. Thank you so much for your interest and support in ensuring a successful campaign.

Organizer

Lauren Heineck
Organizer
Denver, CO

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