Business model to address drivers of deforestation in Peru

Background

Peru’s NDC, mitigation goal is 40% against the BAU scenario in 2030 and the absolute target number in terms of the amount of CO2 is 179 MtCO2e by 2030.[i] The agriculture sector is critical to Peru’s NDCs achievement. The Government of Peru aims to establish public/private coalitions to facilitate the adoption of sustainable practices in selected production systems (cocoa, coffee, biofuels and other palm oil products, agroindustry, and cattle ranching), to increase productivity in already deforested land and to achieve deforestation-free agricultural production.

Activities

CGIAR ­– through the Alliance of Bioversity and CIAT – has been working to develop sustainable business models and promote sustainable land use in the cocoa and palm oil value chains, as a pathway to reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation. This included analysing context-specific drivers of deforestation and assessing GHG emissions from the cocoa and palm oil value chains, which contributed to implementing the country’s NDC.

The project also worked with cocoa and palm oil smallholder farmers, living in the Peruvian Amazon and their associations, to improve productivity while reducing GHG emissions from land use systems, based on a deforestation-free vision jointly agreed among all key value chain actors. This included increasing their capacity in land management practices and co-designing and implementing sustainable and inclusive business models. In addition, to improve and secure the financial sustainability of small businesses, the project has developed sustainable investment models that have been presented to impact investors and social lenders.

Impact

During its four years of implementation, the project has assessed, prioritised and re-shaped cocoa and palm oil value chains – together with local actors and governments – to achieve competitiveness and low carbon and zero deforestation goals. By enhancing capacities and designing business models with a zero-deforestation vision (e.g., cocoa cooperative Curimana and palm oil company Olamsa), the project has contributed to sustainable land use and biodiversity conservation in the Peruvian Amazon, helping to create shared economic, environmental and social value in target agricultural value chains. The project has also enhanced the mitigation capacity of national stakeholders through two regional zero-deforestation and low GHG emissions strategies for the cocoa and for the palm oil sectors.

Sources

[i] Gobierno de Perú. (2022). CONTRIBUCIONES DETERMINADAS A NIVEL NACIONAL DEL PERÚ. Retrieved from https://unfccc.int/documents/499569.