Origins of the Chocco Community Project

The community of Chocco, located in Cusco, Peru has been rooted in agriculture for as long as they have existed (since before the Spanish colonization began in South America in the 16th century). However, families in this community struggle to make it through each month because their livelihoods are dependent on circumstances they cannot control, circumstances that can positively or negatively impact crop production. The Chocco Community project (Comunidad de Chocco), was started in order to develop sustainable ways to improve agricultural products and diversify Chocco’s economic practices. Students from the United States are able to contribute their diverse perspectives to this cause through the International Study Abroad program in Cusco, and engage in hands-on efforts to fulfill the objectives of the project. This past summer, I was able to engage in this project as a part of my study abroad program.

Project Objectives & Actions

The Chocco Community Project was started in September of 2023 by an ISA Cusco professor, Alberto Chara, and was centered around the introduction of raspberry production and sale in Chocco. After having visited the community multiple times, Professor Chara learned about their problems with making agriculture a sustainable source of financial gain, and created the project as a way to involve students in the efforts to provide solutions for Chocco. The main issue that was identified by the first group of students was a lack of diversity in the products sold by the community members. While they produced various types of fruits and vegetables, they were simply selling the fruits and vegetables as they were. The students proposed the idea of using their fruit to produce even more profitable items, such as juices, jam, and other fruit flavored products that were in higher demand. After researching the profitability of various fruits, they settled on introducing raspberries as Chocco’s new object of production. Raspberries are sold for more money than other fruits in Peru, and they are also able to grow in many types of soil conditions.

My team joined the project in June of 2024, and worked to continue and improve the work done by the first group. While the ideas around raspberry production were very innovative, there were many issues hindering the community from achieving efficient raspberry production. We identified that:

• the soil the community was using wasn't ideal because it wasn't properly fertilized, and fertilizer was too expensive for the community to purchase on their own.
  • many of the fruits and vegetables they were growing were rotting and dying from the harsh climate conditions. Leaves and stems were being ruined by the switch from extreme hot to extreme cold conditions at night (“helada” or “friaje”). The tarps being used for the greenhouses were much too weak to protect the plants from the helada.
  • the community didn't have a way to promote their products online and reach a wider scope of customers.

• 1 large bag of fertilizer to use in the greenhouse where the raspberries would be grown.

• 2 large rolls of polyethylene tarp to recover the greenhouse and protect the plants from the helada.

We also created an official branded website for the community to manage their businesses, and an Instagram and TikTok dedicated to the Chocco Raspberries sector of our project. Our aim in creating the website was to have a centralized place where people can learn about the history of the community, and how sacredly they hold the practice of agriculture. We worked closely with the community leader of the project, Miguel, in the designing of the website and project logo because we wanted to make sure that it accurately represented the people of Chocco and that there would be members of the community who understood how to navigate and operate the website. Over the course of 5 weeks, we visited the community 3 times as a group to collect personal stories from some of the community members, and to engage in the implementation of some of the products that were purchased.

My Role

I contributed to this project as a part of the class I was taking through ISA Cusco, called People and Cultures of Peru, which was taught by the ISA professor leading the project. I was in charge of creating the GoFundMe and writing the pitch for the site. I, along with one other student, was responsible for ensuring the money was withdrawn properly after we closed the GoFundMe page. I also was in charge of editing and posting the first video on the TikTok page, and creating the logo for the website. All members of our team worked together to develop questions to use in our one-on-one interviews with the community members, and we all delivered the materials we purchased together.

Financial & Social Advancement for Chocco

The Chocco Community Project was designed as a way to provide an opportunity for the people of Chocco to work with those outside of their community in efforts to improve their methods of financial growth. It also serves as an opportunity for students from the United States to form a true connection to a community with such deep roots in the country they're studying abroad in. While working on this initiative, we made sure to center the wants, needs, and perspectives of the 4 community leaders we worked most closely with, as they represented the voice of Chocco. We also were careful to not do all of the work related to the project, so that we wouldn't create a “savior-victim” dynamic in our relationship with the people of Chocco.

Everything we did was done in collaboration with our 4 primary sources of contact so that there would be continuity established in the process and they would know how to continue running the systems we put in place.

As the Milken Institute and the Milken Family Foundation emphasize the importance of equipping people with the tools they need to help themselves, our group ensured that the community members and our study abroad professor were able to keep the social media accounts and website running even after we left. We not only provided them with these platforms for wider spread social interaction, but we also taught them how to utilize the platforms to share content that would contribute to their social and financial development. While this project is currently only operating in Chocco, the goal is to expand it to other indigenous communities that are overlooked in Cusco and all of Peru, so that they can also benefit from the commercialism brought on by tourism, while continuing the practices that are sacred to their identities and cultures. As the project continues to evolve, our groups stay connected with each other and with Chocco community leaders through Whatsapp and we all continue to contribute ideas to uplift this community and improve the livelihoods of these families.