Spotlight on Peru: Indigenous Enterprises Driving Climate and Community Solutions

At the Reciprocity Fund, we provide generous loans to social enterprises that build agency, community resiliency, and economic self-determination for Indigenous communities in Latin America and Southeast Asia.

About The Reciprocity FunD

Despite representing just 5% of the world’s population, Indigenous peoples account for 15% of the world’s extreme poor. At the same time, they own, occupy, or use 25% of the world’s surface area and safeguard 80% of its remaining biodiversity. Indigenous communities are at the forefront of protecting the environment and combating climate change.

This makes their inclusion in climate and development solutions not only urgent but essential.

And yet, they are disproportionately impacted by extractive industries and continue to face disenfranchisement, economic isolation, and exploitation—challenges far deeper and more pervasive than what is captured in government data or mainstream media.

The Reciprocity Fund exists to address these injustices by providing capital to social enterprises that create sustainable livelihoods for Indigenous populations. With 51 borrowers across 10 countries in our portfolio, we offer loans ranging from USD 10,000 to 100,000 to support working capital and fixed asset purchases.

These social enterprises bring critical solutions to some of the world’s most urgent problems: persistent poverty, environmental degradation, declining soil health, and shrinking biodiversity.

Through our investments, we are proud to partner with businesses advancing economic self-determination and planetary stewardship—supporting Indigenous communities to lead the way in safeguarding our planet’s future.

Spotlight on Peru

With 14 borrowers across the country—from the highlands of the Andes to the heart of the Amazon rainforest—Peru is a key geography for the Reciprocity Fund. Our partners here are advancing indigenous-led solutions that build climate resilience, regenerate ecosystems, and strengthen local economies.

Aprocassi

Aprocassi is an organic coffee cooperative based in San Ignacio, Cajamarca, working with over 600 smallholder farmers who sustainably manage roughly 15,640 hectares of land. In a move to diversify income and empower women in their network, they launched Aproreynas, a honey production project led by 82 indigenous women. Through this initiative, these women earn an income 22% higher than the regional average. With a $9,000 working capital loan from the Reciprocity Fund, Aprocassi has been able to boost honey wine production, a popular product sold to local hotels, restaurants, and liquor stores.

CAC Alta Montaña

​Founded by smallholder farmers from the Indigenous Asháninka group— the largest Amazonian indigenous group in Peru— in the Junín region, CAC Alta Montaña is a cooperative dedicated to producing high-quality coffee and ginger while promoting sustainability and community development. With 310 farmer partners, the cooperative holds certifications such as Fair Trade, Rainforest Alliance, and Bio Suisse, which enable it to pay premium prices to its members. The Reciprocity Fund provided a $100,000 working capital loan, helping ensure farmers are promptly paid for their harvests, strengthening both their livelihoods and the cooperative’s sustainability.

Click here to read more about our borrowers!