The Cordoba-Chinchay family from Taylin, Peru

Cépicafé has organised a press conference in Piura. Invited to this press conference were - amongst others - municipal and regional public services and representatives of the ngo's. Vicente was also invited and present. The public services have committed themselves to guaranteeing lasting support to the small farmers of the Piura Sierra region, and this to further improve their economical situation.

During the harvest period, a typical working day for the Cordoba-Chinchay family starts as early as 3 in the morning. This enables them to avoid to hottest hours of the day, without losing too much time. However, these are indeed long working days, also because much has to be done during the harvest season. The coffee berry harvest season starts in April, and continues till October. The family owns 2 ha of coffee plantation. This amounts to approximately 5,000 coffee shrubs, and these generate on average 3,000 to 4,000 kg of green coffee beans per year. At first thought, this appears to be much, but a simple calculation tells us that each coffee shrub produces less than 1 kg of green coffee beans!

The family is not left to its own in this; they get technical assistance from the Cepicafé cooperative, of which they are a member. As a result of the climate change, which is felt more and more in recent years, coffee growers are forced to use different methods with regard to the planting of coffee shrubs and the coffee berry harvest. These methods are passed on during the visits of the technical assistants of the cooperative. Cepicafé organizes meetings, visits the small growers during and after the harvest, and organizes meetings during which the producers can exchange know how and learn from each other.

The farmers of Taylin live rather far from the centre of Montero, where their products, such as coffee and sugar, are sold. In the past, this led to the fact that the small producers from the village received very little information with regard to price and market evolutions of their products, and therefore received very low prices for their crops. The people from Taylin got paid very low prices, and often had to work long days to make both ends meet.

A few inhabitants then sat together and formed a group. By doing this, they improved their know how with regard to production methods, and they became more professional in their activities. This mutual exchange of information and tips gave them appetite and courage to improve their personal situation.

In the beginning, there were only 3 such organisations in Montero; this number increased to 11 cooperatives in 2010. At first, people were a little bit suspicious about producers organizing themselves in these groups. But now everybody clearly sees the benefits of this new development. The organisation creates a sociale incentive amongst its members, which inspires them to do even better next time, and to keep on growing. In view of the good results, the organisations now are determining if – in future – they can collaborate on an even more intensive scale.

The village square is the beating heart of Taylin. In this square, the children play football, the women exchange news, etc..

The church also has an important social role in the village. The inhabitants of Taylin are predominantly Roman Catholic, and on Sunday they attend mass. The church yard is afterwards also a meeting place to catch up on news. This small community is characterized by its group loyalty, and all important moments and events are shared with each other.

Of course there are also a number of local traditions which are kept very much alive in Taylin. For instance the two following important annual festive days, in which the whole village participates.
Mid July there is “El animo de Santa Catarina”, a festive day with dance and cock fights. The inhabitants then come together in the small hall next to the cemetery at the outskirt of the village.

Later in the year, on November 30, the local people once more come together for the “Fiesta del pueblo”. Many people from outside the village then also join in, to dance and enjoy some fine food together with the inhabitants of Taylin. 
These two festive days are typically regional, and emphasize the typical character of a village like Taylin.

Vicente and Idelsa have been married for 30 years now and they have 8 children. Edicson and Jose are the only two sons who still live at home. The two brothers share a room. At night, on Idelsa’s firm orders, they have to be quiet and get as much sleep as possible, because they have to get up very early!

Edicson is 16 years old, and is in 4th grade of secundary school. He goes to school in a college in the city of Montero. Every morning at 6, he leaves home and walks to school in Montero, where he arrives before classes begin at 8. Edicson’s hobby is football, which he plays with his friends and his younger brother.

Jose Ronaldo is 10 years old and the youngest of the family. He is in 6th grade of the primary school in Taylin. Before and after school, he practices his soccer game with the other local kids in the village square, although he also enjoys playing football with his elder brother.
The other children of Vicente and Idelsa are older, and have already left home. Their oldest sons have moved and work in agriculture in other regions in the country. The daughters, apart from Adelina, the youngest, are married and have followed their respective husband to live in other cities in Peru. One of the daughters works as a nurse in the country’s capital Lima. The Cordoba-Chinchay family went to visit her in 2009, their very first visit ever to Lima. What a fantastic experience this was for them!

The village where the Cordoba-Chinchay family lives is called Taylin. It is a small village in the north of Peru, situated at 1,500 m above sea level. It is indeed a small village; only 60 families live there. It is however located in an area with an ideal climate for coffee farmers. Vicente and Idelsa were both born and raised in Taylin; they met each other in the local school.

Montero, the closest town, is located in the valley. The city is approximately 30 minutes away by car. Cars however are scarce in the village. The village children go to the secundary school in Montero. They leave at 6 in the morning, to arrive at school at 8 in the morning. The registered office of Cepicafe is also in Montero. Cepicafe is the cooperative of which the family is a member.

One notices that the village has acquired political power through the Cepicafe cooperative. The road to Taylin has been improved and paved, which is not the case for roads leading to other villages. These are mostly just dirt tracks, and thus far from ideal. The result of the paved road to Taylin is that larger produced crops and produce can be transported between Taylin and Montero. This definitely has positive consequences for the farmers and for the transport companies. In former days, little was transported from Montero to the village. Things improved drastically with the paved road; more products find their way to Taylin nowadays. The road creates jobs, and stimulates people to continue living in the village; emigration figures are definitely and significantly down.

7 years ago, the Cordoba-Chinchay family began with the construction of their present house. Before, the whole family was living in the same spot, but the old house was much smaller. It looked more like a hut than a liveable house. The present new house offers much more comfort for a family of 2 adults and 8 children.

In 2010, a project was started to connect the village to the electricity grid. Through this project, the entire village can now enjoy the benefits of electricity. Lighting by means of kerosene lamps was replaced by electric bulbs, much to the benefit of Idelsa’s tired eyes. Recently, a tap water system was also installed in the village. These public services were installed thanks to Cepicafe. Cepicafe is a cooperative which unites a part of the village inhabitants, making them as a whole stronger, and also making that the village as a whole is much more taken into consideration. So every inhabitant of the village enjoys the benefits, and everyone’s living conditions have improved considerably.
A few years ago, the family owned a battery powered television set, but is was simply too expensive to have the batteries regularly charged in the city of Montero. With the recent connection of the village to the electrical grid, the family again dreams of having a television set. The family also wants to buy a refrigerator, but for this they will need some more time and savings.

Hello, my name is Idelsa Chinchay Mija. How old am I ? Well, you do not ask a lady about her age, do you ?! I went to the primary school here in Taylin till the 5th grade. It is also here in Taylin that I met my husband Vicente. We are each other’s first love, and have been happily married for 30 years now.

My days are to a large extent spent in our vegetable garden, and in the coffee and sugar cane plantations. Also there is the household to look after. I do the cooking on a wood fire; the wood I gather myself. Some 20 guinea-pigs are running around in the kitchen. They polish off the vegetable leftovers, and – once they are full grown – they occasionnaly also could end up in my cooking pot. You certainly have to try out my recipy with spicy sauce!

Cuy, or also called conejillo de indias or Cobayo. The taste is compared to rabbit.  3 or 4 cuys 50 grams of ground toasted corn, or cornmeal 2 kilos of parboiled potatoes, cut in slices 8 cloves of garlic 6 fresh hot peppers, either red or yellow ½ cup oil ½ cup water salt, pepper and cumin to taste Rub the cuys with a mix of the pepper, salt, pepper and cumin and bake. You can also skewer over a barbeque. Prepare a sauce with the oil, peppers, garlic and cornmeal with the water from the potatoes or broth. Cook a few minutes until the peppers are cooked. When tender, place the meat in a serving dish and spoon the sauce over it. Serve with the boiled potatoes. Buen provecho!

The Cordoba-Chinchay family lives in the Taylin village, in the North West of Peru. The closest city is Montero.

Father Vicente and mother Idelsa have been happily married for 30 years, and have 8 children. The 5 oldest children have already left the house, and are living in other parts of Peru. Adelina, the youngest daughter, studies at the high school in Piura. During the week, she is living with an uncle in town, in the weekends she comes home to Taylin. The two youngest sons – Edicson and Jose – are still living at home with their parents.

The Cordoba Chinchay family owns 7 ha of land, on which they grow crops to both sell and consume themselves. A part of this land was acquired via Vicente’s parents. Some parts he jointly owns with his father, of other parts he is the sole owner.

“Next to the house, we have a vegetable garden, in which we grow several vegetables and herbs.” Vicente continues. “We also grow the seeds necessary for the planting and growing of lettuce and garlic. We also do mais and red kidney-beans for our own use.” The entire garden is very well groomed, and the plants and herbs are free of snails and insects.
The vegetable garden is located on a slope. At the bottom, the coffee plantation is located, and it continues even further downwards. “It is 2 hectares in size. The coffee shrubs are planted 2 m apart, which gives us approximately 2,500 shrubs per hectare, or about 5,000 in total.”

The Fairtrade organisation ensures that products from the South can be commercialised/sold in a honest and fair way in the North. In total more than 1.4 million farmer’s families and employees, spread over 59 countries in Latin America, Africa, Asia and Oceania, are involved in this fair/honest production and trade.

Each pack of Puro coffee is labelled with the Fairtrade Mark which stands for fair trade; Puro coffee is – from A to Z – grown, processed and packed according to the strict Fairtrade guidelines.

The Fairtrade Labelling Organisations International, FLO-EV determines the criteria which the products have to meet. FLO-Cert is an independent organisation active in the control and certification of the products. The FLO-Cert inspectors audit the more than 872 Fairtrade cooperatives in the South. Based on some 250 criteria, they check whether or not cooperatives or plantations earn the right to carry the Fairtrade Mark. 
This control does not restrict itself to the South; the other ‘links in the chain’ – exporters, importers, food processing companies – are also thoroughly audited.

This year, we bring to you the story of the Cordoba-Chinchay family from Taylin, Peru. The green coffee beans they grow with great care, are used in your Puro coffee. In February, we will introduce the Cordoba-Chinchay family to you: father Vicente, mother Idelsa and their 8 children.