Annual Report
2024-2025
Annual Report
2024-2025

Peru

After several projects in Latin America, UPA DI is now present in Peru since 2020, particularly in the coffee sector.

Projects

SEPOP 2

Market Access Improvement Project

The project to improve market access, SEPOP 2, is now complete and the results reflect the commitment and dynamism of the participants.

The initiative aimed to promote the sustainable development of Peru's agricultural sector by improving the technical, financial and commercial capacities of family farms, particularly coffee producers in the Andean region of Incawasi.

During the project, members of the Cooperativa Agraria Cafetalera San Fernando, which brings together nearly 1,000 coffee producers, rehabilitated 75 hectares of coffee plots and established sustainable agroforestry systems that are resilient to climate change.

The cooperative also launched a learning center on compost production to facilitate access to quality organic inputs.

A significant increase in the number of women and young members was observed, and their participation was particularly noticeable during training sessions on agricultural project development, quality control, nursery activities, and riparian reforestation.

Following these training sessions, a new women's association called Flor de Café was created. Its members developed a project that won start-up funding to launch their activities!

SEPOP 2 demonstrates that collective action and the involvement of women and young people can achieve great things.

SEPOP 2 in Peru was made possible thanks to financial support from the Agence française de Développement via AgriCord and the Agro-Innov Network of UPA Développement International, supported by Global Affairs Canada.

Solidarity Credit

Solidarity Credit for Farming Families

Access to credit remains a challenge for small farming businesses in Peru, which are often considered “too risky” by traditional banks.

To offer a sustainable solution, UPA Développement international and the Fonds Solidarité Sud, with the support of five volunteers from the Agro-Innov Network, have supported the structuring of RED GIES Nor Oriente, a social and solidarity economy network active in five regions in the northeast of the country.

A $30,000 revolving fund, managed locally with the support of the solidarity-based financial institution FOGAL, was created to finance the projects of some 50 family businesses.

The volunteers also trained 53 people in governance, solidarity-based finance, and cooperative management.

In 2024-2025, the first five business loans will be distributed.  This is a model of concrete solidarity, designed to last and supported by communities that are building their future together.

Mali
Senegal
Martin Caron
President of the Board

The future of agriculture, here and around the world, depends greatly on the decisions we make and the actions we take today. Hence the expression, “The future starts now.”

This projection into the future calls for deep reflection. Are the necessary resources available? Is the sustainability of family farming assured? Are collective marketing systems alive and well? Are structural initiatives continuing to emerge? Does the next generation of farmers have confidence in the future?

Each of these questions is relevant and deserves careful consideration. If the answer to most of them is yes, we must continue along the same path. If the answer is no, we must act, innovate, unite, and collectively change the course of events —preferably sooner rather than later.

This concern for the future is central to the mission of UPA Développement international (UPA DI), which, since 1993, has drawn on Quebec's agricultural values to support the development of a large number of rural communities around the world.  To do this, we pilot environmentally friendly projects that are transferable to future generations and designed to enhance food security and autonomy for populations.

Our local farmers can take pride in all these projects, as well as in the many forms of representation that UPA DI provides to numerous international organizations. Reading this annual report will surely convince you!

Hugo Beauregard-Langelier
Chief Executive Director

While many are content to believe that the future will be the same as the past or trying to revive an idealized version of the past, others are forging ahead, dreaming of a future they are building. For them, the future is not something that simply happens to us, but something shaped by the actions we take.

These dreams to be built and actions to be taken, have been central in the past year at UPA Développement international (UPA DI).  All this leading to the adoption of a new strategic plan, an opportunity to reflect on the mark UPA DI seeks to leave in the evolving landscape of agriculture and international solidarity.

Rooted in its history, engaged in the present, and ambitious towards the future, UPA DI's vision is for those who feed the world and inhabit our agricultural lands to live with dignity from the fruit of their labour. This vision is built on ecological economic growth, strong collective action, and the socio-economic empowerment of women.

But the realization of these aspirations will inevitably depend on young people, the next generation, who will live in a time where the potential for technological and social innovation has never been greater, yet crises have never been more frequent or severe.

If, as they say, history repeats itself, we must trust these young people who will feed us tomorrow to rise to the challenges they will face, just as our ancestors did before us. And if history repeats itself, UPA DI will be by their side to dream, innovate, and build a future driven by collective action, solidarity, equity, social justice, respect, and democracy.

Happy reading!

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