Connecting indigenous businesses to the green plantain value chain

Warapu Warmi and Ally Wayusa are indigenous farmers' organizations located in the province of Napo in the buffer zone of the Sumaco Napo Galeras National Park. Both organizations work to improve the livelihoods of Kichwa families by commercializing products from the chakra, a traditional system of food production, such as plantain, macamboo, guayusa, cocoa and coffee. These organizations aim to connect with the market through these products and bring economic benefit and reinforce the security and food sovereignty of indigenous families. That said, these organizations still face multiple challenges due to their very isolated geographic location and lack of capacity and networks. 

With the support of Aliados and funding from Re:wild and the IDBLAb, these associations have received technical assistance to strengthen regenerative agriculture, which provides them with improved yields and accurate information necessary for access to markets such as production capacity, production cycles and harvest estimates. This support has led to the creation of a brand new market for green plantain with the anchor client AgroApoyo.

 Since mid-2023, Aliados has carried out negotiations with the company AgroApoyo, an exporter of organic snacks. AgroApoyo has strong market presence and has unmet demand for high quality organic plantain. ALIADOS connected AgroApoyo to Ally Guayusa and Warupa Warmi, and provided TA to both associations to help them produce plantain according to the technical specifications that the company requires. In November the sale of the first 3,000 kg of plantain from the Ally Wayusa and Warapu Warmi associations was successfully transacted. At the end of the year, 10,000 kg of bananas and 1,000 kg of yuca were sold, benefiting 71 families, and opening up a new livelihood option for these farmers and an income stream for these community businesses. The projections for the growth of this market are very strong, and we are optimistic that plantain will be an important market for these communities and others in the region.

Green plantain processed and packaged in Loreto for transport to AgroApoyo