At a Glance
Location: Peru
Impact Areas: Sustainable Income, Environment
People Supported:
Indigenous People, Smallholder Farmers, Rural
Joined NESsT Loan Fund:
2021
Overview
Shanantina is a social enterprise that works with smallholder farmers and indigenous communities to cultivate sacha inchi, a nut that is native to the Peruvian Amazon, and has been used by indigenous people in Peru for at least 2,000 years. Sacha inchi is a product with growing international appeal because it is a vegan source of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, a type of fat that the human body cannot produce but is essential to important functions of the heart, brain and metabolism.
Smallholder farmers in the remote regions of Peru are subject to volatile prices for their crops, informal practices such as cash-only payments that lock them into low prices and provide no paper trail, and lack of support for biodiverse products. The social enterprise follows fair trade principles, paying its suppliers 61% higher incomes than other distributors, and also provides training to farmers so that they can grow certified organic products. Superfood products like sacha inchi allow farmers to avoid monocrop cultivation of corn, which is appealing to many living in poverty because it is subsidized by the government.
Shanantina currently exports to the United States and Taiwan where trends towards healthy and plant-based eating are on the rise. For people who want to reduce their seafood consumption without sacrificing their access to omega fatty acids, now they can add sacha inchi snacks, flour, oil and nuts to their diet.
Results & Impact
600
indigenous farmers supported
61%
higher income for smallholder farmers
50%
suppliers are women
“We are grateful for the support of NESsT because with this new loan we will be able to open new product lines and increase the number of national and international partners Shanantina can work with. The NESsT team has already begun adding value during due diligence, such as with building a Board of Directors and outlining key growth initiatives and indicators that are important to our long-term success.”
NESsT Investment
As part of the NESsT Portfolio, Shanantina will access business assistance to improve its governance, financial management, and social impact measurement and strategy. The enterprise already sources 50% of its product from women and follows regenerative farming principles, such as limiting the land used for sacha inchi to less than 25% so that natural species can continue to grow and bringing formerly deforested lands back to life by planting sacha inchi along with beans, bananas and other natural species.
With NESsT’s support, the enterprise will track its impact in order to ensure that it continues to adhere to these practices as it scales with these new rounds of financing.