Peru as a New Major Actor in Latin American Coffee Production

Abstract

Despite the sustained effects of catastrophic economic policies, a terrible civil war, and a major decline in international prices, coffee production in Peru has increased phenomenally during the past decade and is now the nation’s primary agricultural export. The increase makes Peru unusual among coffee-producing countries, and it can be explained in large part in terms of the response of small coffee growers to the disruption of traditional marketing networks. The experience of a small cooperative in the Department of Junín reveals that the alternative networks developed with the assistance of international nongovernmental organizations have not only provided coffee growers guaranteed prices that are higher than the international average and strengthened their position in the market but also facilitated improvements to the productive system and better management of natural resources.