A degree in Natural Sciences in your pocket, a master in international cooperation in hand and an irrepressible desire to live in close contact with wild nature in the heart: it is the baggage with which, Giorgio Piracci, forty years old from Terni, landed in the region of Oxapampa, Peru.
“For many years, in the midst of the Yanesha community, I have carried on development projects and humanitarian action, contributing together with young volunteers to reforestation, to the creation of bio gardens, to the start of ecotourism “, he says, illustrating what then became the basis of ong 7Elements, founded in 2015 with Martial, indigenous leader and a reference figure who helped him to weave relationships on the territory.
The bonds of friendship created have consolidated a relationship of trust that led, in 2018, to the launch of the commercial spinoff The Seven Elements.
«Spending long periods in the Oxapampa-Ashaninka-Yanesha Biosphere Reserve, in addition to having a strong impact with degradation and poverty, I discovered many cafetales, coffee plantations, in the process of abandonment or destroyed by chemistry. So, as a lover of nature, involving the local community I thought of activating an eco-sustainable change through the application of permaculture, on which I was quite prepared thanks to a course obtained years ago »adds the founder of the organization that produces specialty coffee, free from poisons, suffering and slavery.
Following the success of the first ton of coffee imported into the Netherlands, without the intercession of intermediaries who often turn out to be exploiters, Piracci understood that he was on the right path and that he needed an adventure companion with whom to share his mission and workforce. .
Thanks to the human relationships that are increasingly attested to the basis of The Seven Elements, has found Renato, a friend from Crotone met at the time of university in Bologna, with whom he has always shared passions and values. “Graduated in Organizational Sciences, fresh from precarious jobs in Italy, I was about to develop a business idea, but when Giorgio showed me his project I didn’t hesitate for a moment and I immediately got involved with great enthusiasm” he says Renato Corapi, since 2019 partner of the organization, which mainly deals with logistics and communication.
«We are not just coffee producers, we are activators of change, we promote environmental conservation and agricultural practices capable of regenerating biodiversity and the quality of life of local communities “, they explain,” by actively participating in the redistribution of well-being and economic security “.
These are, in fact, the elements evoked by the United Nations Report and taken up in the name The Seven Elements, which represent the ethical values ​​of the organization that deals with care of the earth, of the people care and of fair sharing.
As history teaches but also many investigations, coffee, the most traded raw material in the world after oil, is often the product of human exploitation and environmental degradation, but The Seven Elements aims to bring about a revolution within the coffee industry.
«We were the first to apply permaculture to the production of specialty coffee; we intend to redefine the concept of coffee quality by creating new ethical and economic models. It seems that, in our small way, we are succeeding: the GIZ (German Agency for International Cooperation) has chosen to monitor our coffee lots to study new sustainable models “says Piracci who explains in unison with Corapi” our fields are they differentiate because they are dirty and wild, on extreme slopes in the jungle, where we also plant trees and vegetables to keep the soil always alive, without ever resorting to pesticides or chemical fertilizers, and to ensure food and well-being for the community ».
The activity of The Seven Elements is constantly growing: in 2020 22 tons of coffee were imported to Japan, the United States, Russia and all of Europe, where Italy naturally stands out, but there are other important innovations. “We are setting up an ethical enterprise parallel to the NGO in such a way that the 40 peasant families who work with us, a number that is constantly increasing, can become real shareholders who will also be entitled to the profits, as well as benefits such as technical-training support and the supply of materials for building, for for example, solar dryers and humidity meters »continue the two partners proudly announcing the start of cocoa cultivation, encouraged by the President of the Federation of Native Communities Yanesha. Thus, they restore trust and dignity to a community that is rediscovering ancestral practices applied to modern knowledge. Thanks to the economic security offered, many are able to make improvements to their homes, some have managed to build a concrete house. Farmers who until recently were forced to sell off their coffee, without knowing what happened to it, are now proud to know the most varied destinations of their lots, imbued with the strong, authentic, intense and nuanced essence of their microclimate. , of the geology of their territory.
The team of The Seven Elements, supervised by the two Italian partners, flanked in Peru by Marcial, treasurer and charismatic leader, Andrea, agronomist, and Soledad, administrative expert, takes care of the entire supply chain, from sowing to cultivation and transformation according to high quality standards. Only the mulching phase, the milling of the beans, is currently entrusted to a company about 3 hours away from Oxapampa, but they plan to quickly eliminate distance and cost with the purchase of the machinery, adding another benefit for the indigenous population that has become now a second family.
In fact, they also pay great attention to women, involved in a new honey production project. “In 2020”, they declare, “we decided to involve women, tireless workers just like bees, in this honey production project with meliponas, a group of wild stingless bees that live in the Amazon rainforest and reduce the incidence of parasites, improves the productivity of coffee batches, represents an additional source of economy and, among other things, has extraordinary medicinal properties ». The commitment of the two Italian entrepreneurs is unstoppable: by the end of the year they intend to launch a crowdfunding to look for new investor partners who believe in the values ​​of the project, as already happened with Andrew, the new American partner. “We would like to buy more land to increase production and create a private conservation area, which recalls the Italian protected national parks, create warehouses and build zero-impact bungalows to host volunteers and visitors” they conclude inviting all the curious to visit, as soon as the Covid will allow it, their coffee fields in Peru, as many Italians have already done, who later became customers and supporters of The Seven Elements. «It is a unique experience that teaches us to give the right value to things, to feel good doing good»Adds Corapi, hinting a smile at the memory of his first time in the jungle, among snakes and spiders so far feared. Fortified by the resilience of a people who are always smiling, despite the undeniable difficulties.
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