Ayni, Regenerative Food Forest in the Amazon

Dear friends and supporters,

During the first three months of 2026, we focused on enhancing our technical skills in dynamic agroforestry at the Chaikuni Center with guidance from our international partner, ECOTOP. From January to March, we witnessed promising progress in the new agroforestry plot established during the Dynamic Agroforestry Course last November. The plot now boasts a high density and diversity of crops, thriving thanks to the seasonal rains.

We have also been implementing dynamic agroforestry principles in our various demonstration fields This includes practices like pruning and enriching with diverse companion plants to promote positive synergies and improve soil regeneration processes.

Alongside this, in February, we organized a natural cosmetics training at the Chaikuni Center that brought together 12 women from our partner indigenous organization, Huaynakana. The hands-on workshop addressed the production of natural soaps using local ingredients that families sustainably harvest from their gardens and forests, especially oil from the “moriche palm” (Mauritia flexuosa) renowned for its outstanding skin-nourishing properties. These products will hopefully create new opportunities of sustainable income for women, adding value to local resources.

In March, we visited the Marañón River to share the soap-making process with additional families. The communities of Atenas and Shapajilla hosted two practical workshops, gathering 54 people from seven different villages in the nearby area. During these events, the role of facilitators was taken up by local women such as Cynthia, Emilsen, Juana, Gladis, Delicia, Camila and Jany, who had previously been trained at our Centre. At the end of the workshops, kits containing tools and ingredients for soap making were distributed to local promoters, enabling them to continue practicing and training more women. As Cynthia del Águila Canaquiri from Shapajilla noted: 'We are now ready to teach in our own communities and make soaps with the moriche palm oil we already produce here.'

During the field visit, we were also able to monitor the progress made by our partner families in keeping stingless native bees, and we could see that those who took part in the latest training course on dynamic agroforestry are highly motivated and are already applying what they have learnt on their plots.

We start this new year full of enthusiasm, moving forward on the journey of dynamic agroforestry and learning continuously alongside our partners, communities and indigenous promoters. Furthermore, the production of organic cosmetics within the communities themselves opens up a promising new route for improving women’s incomes while promoting regenerative agroforestry. Thank you for being part of this path toward regeneration.

With gratitude,

The Chaikuni Team,