Indigenous artisans position their brands at “Selvamonos” Festival

Posted on 2 August 2022

An event held in Oxapampa made it possible that 4 entrepreneurial associations of the Bora, Kukama Kukamiria, Shipibo Konibo, Yanesha and Asháninka indigenous people, to sell their products

The indigenous enterprises that are promoted from the Peruvian Amazon have taken more time to enter into the market, so the fairs and public concentration spaces represent a great opportunity. They not only sell their products, they also position their brand to gain recognition for the high quality of their products and services.

In this context, twelve artisan women from different native communities came to the Selvamonos Festival in Oxapampa with looms, crafts, dresses and jewelry. Many of them, are made with natural inputs from the forests of their communities,and they maintain cultural wealth and the identity of these indigenous people.

During the days of the festival held on July 1 and 2, the artisan women of the Bora and Kukama indigenous peoples of Loreto, the Shipibo-Konibo artisan mothers of Ucayali, the Yanesha weavers of Pasco and the Asháninka of Junín, presented their brands in the kiosks where they explained the process of making the garments: dyeing the fabrics with bark, roots and mud, making the clothes, embroidery application and painting the iconography, as well as labeling before they put the garments in the markets.

Entrepreneurship Brands

The participation of the artisans in the Selvamonos Festival had the support of WWF Peru and the Eaglemere Foundation, who implemented actions with four indigenous organizations: FECONAYA, FECONACA, ORAU and ORPIO. During this process, the artisans received support for the creation of their business logos, equipment implementation, as well as training in sales techniques, labeling, packaging and the generation of alliances with government actors.

The brands that presented themselves to the market with a renewed image are Artesanas de Loreto (Loreto), Artesanas Bora (Loreto), Guardianas de los Bosques (Junín), Maroti Shobo (Ucayali) and Artesanía Asháninka (Junín), enterprises that managed to place their products during the two days of the Festival directly with their customers.

According to information provided by the indigenous entrepreneurs, during the festival, all the entrepreneurs achieved sales for an approximate amount of 5 thousand soles, which encourages them to continue searching for more markets to present their products.

Oxapampa July 3th, 2022.

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