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By Andres Porras, Guest Writer

Background

Tambogrande is a small town in the Piura Province in northwestern Peru. The town is quite poor with high unemployment and its main industry is the growing of limes, mangoes and bananas. Tambogrande is famous for successfully opposing a mining development in the area.

In 1996 the Peruvian government agreed to a scheme that would move the townspeople elsewhere for a construction of a large mine. Manhattan Minerals, a Canadian company owned the mineral rights below the town where large deposits of copper and gold were found.

Despite the promise of jobs and improved infrastructure, the population balked at the proposal. They did not want to see the town replaced with a kilometer wide pit and were concerned that the mining operation could generate enough pollution to destroy the region’s agriculture and limited water supply.

In 2003, the project was officially cancelled by the government of Peru after a decade long battle by the population of Tambogrande.

Objective

Mango and banana producers represent the strongest cooperatives and, because of production volumes in Tambogrande, they also have the most potential to export, grow and scale.

The objective of the project is to support a program developed by Procompite Peru in Tambogrande, which will include business planning training for businesses and cooperatives, and provide guidance to the implementers of Procompite in the Tambogrande municipal government.

Procompite is a Peruvian Federal Government program that provides assistance in the form of productive assets to businesses or cooperatives with credible business plans.

Impact

  • Strengthen the capacities of small agricultural producers and artisans in Tambogrande through training workshops in developing business plans and monitor the implementation of the program in its initial phases.
  • Training for groups of program leaders and monitors of the Procompite Program in the District Municipality in formulating and evaluating business plans.

 

 

TEM Lab Peru 3

Michael Robinson is a second-year MBA student from the United States. He graduated from Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah with a degree in Biology. He is a native English speaker and is also fluent in Spanish.

Andres Porras is a second-year MBA student from Colombia. He graduated with honors from Universidad Icesi in Cali, Colombia, with a double Bachelor’s degrees in Economics and Law. He is fluent in Spanish and English with basic knowledge of Italian.

Raphael Rique is a second year MBA student from Brazil. He holds a Bachelors degree in Business Administration with concentration in International Trade from the Pontificate Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul located in the city of Porto Alegre, Brazil. He is fluent in English, Spanish and Portuguese.

Rafael Salamanca is a second-year MBA student born in Colombia and raised in the United States. He holds a Bachelors degree in International Business from the University of Illinois. He speaks fluent Spanish, English and conversational Italian.

 

The other TEM Lab teams this Fall are going to Romania, Nepal, and Senegal.