Communication and shared value: notes for the guidelines of a communication strategy for the Vainilla Azul sustainable agriculture project with the Curiyacu community (San Martín, Peru)

Abstract

The Vainilla Azul (Blue Vanilla) project aims to enhance and promote native Peruvian vanilla cultivation in the hamlets that comprise the district of Chazuta, as one of the strategies for developing sustainable crops that seek the conservation of the Amazonian Andes primary forest in the province of San Martin, in the highland jungle of Peru. For this purpose, it is essential to develop a strategy of transversal communication and community relations with the various communities, especially in the hamlet of Curiyacu, where the sense of collaborative work among the various stakeholders that make up the value chain in the production of the Peruvian Pompona vanilla prevails. A qualitative methodology focused on the development of a social baseline ethnographic research conducted between February and March 2020 was used for designing the communication strategies of the Vainilla Azul project. Our theoretical model proposes a detailed information on the perceptions, values, and behaviors of the target population. Likewise, this project falls within the concept of Shared Social Value (SSV), according to which companies can generate economic value and contribute to the social and environmental well-being of the community in which they operate.