Update, March 2011: Read more about how this value chain helps farmers make money in Microlinks' Note from Paraguay: A Passion for Building Value Chains

After struggling to find a stable source of income, small farmers in southeastern Paraguay have been introduced to a high-value crop sought by national and international markets: passion fruit.

Roque Gonzalez, a technician from Cooperativa Capiibary in southeastern Paraguay, distributes passion fruit seedlings.

USAID’s Paraguay Productivo (PyP) partnered with one of the biggest fruit-processing plants in the country and a local cooperative to offer more than 350 farmers a total of 170,000 seedlings of an improved passion fruit variety—enough to cover 170 hectares in the regions of Caazapá and Itapúa.

The local fruit-processing plant offers farmers a secure market and the improved variety is more productive and resistant to certain diseases, which will translate into reduced costs and increased incomes.

Farmers in the area already have an ideal growing climate, and passion fruit’s long season offers them a constant source of income. At a previously agreed price, passion fruit represents an alternative for cotton and corn, crops that are no longer profitable for small farmers.

PyP also arranges technical assistance for the farmers, including trainings in good agricultural practices and organic-farming techniques. Passion fruit is not a labor-intensive crop, allowing producers to diversify their farms, which increases access to loans and reduces potential loss.

Published October 2010