Opportunity Grows Where Forests Thrive: How Simbiosis Supports Quechua Women in Peru

Some of the most valuable opportunities aren't planted—they're already growing.

Each rainy season in the Peruvian Andes, Boletus luteus mushrooms emerge beneath pine forests. The relationship is so central to the business that it inspired the name Simbiosis: the mushroom grows in symbiosis with the pine trees around it.

For more than 300 Quechua women, this seasonal forest resource has become an important source of additional income.

Simbiosis, a Peruvian social enterprise, works with women in rural Andean communities to harvest, dry, and prepare the mushrooms for sale in national and international markets, particularly Europe. The five- to seven-month mushroom season allows women to earn additional income while continuing activities such as small-scale farming and raising livestock.

The Reciprocity Fund provided a $75,000 loan to help Simbiosis install solar dryers that are far more efficient than their legacy dryers, leading to a 30% increase in dried mushroom yield and stronger earning opportunities for Quechua women and their communities.

But the opportunity extends beyond mushrooms.

Simbiosis works with communities on forest management practices that help make pine forests more productive and economically valuable. In parts of the Andes where families may otherwise turn to mining for additional income, Simbiosis demonstrates another possibility: creating livelihoods from a natural resource that was once largely overlooked.

By connecting healthy forests with economic opportunity, Simbiosis gives communities another reason to care for the landscapes they depend on—while creating income close to home.

Meet more of the social enterprises supported by The Reciprocity Fund