Amazon Fungi for Child Malnutrition

The food deficit in the Amazon communities is reflected by high incidences of childhood anemia, malnutrición and other health problems aggravated by mining, logging and agricultural activities that promote deforestation and the change in land use at rates up to 20,000 hectares yearly. This solution improves the food and health security of the Amazon communities through the cultivation of native nutraceutical fungi, using profitable and sustainable technology, since it can incorporate stubbles from other extractive industries while avoiding deforestation through a short-term income activity. Likewise, it promotes the diversification of the regional agriculture which so far depends on conventional crops and burning of forests, which leads to the degradation and contamination of the soils and water. In response, this solution builds local capacity to nurture families and help them to self-generate significant income based on the sustainable management of their forests resources through low cost, fast, efficient and innocuous processes. 

The precarious food security in Madre de Dios is framed within a general problem in the Peruvian Amazon. Currently in this geographical area, there are more than 160,000 children and adolescents vulnerable to anemia and malnutrition, while 32,000 (20%) already suffer from these conditions. Despite hosting mega-diverse ecosystems with a high nutritional potential, the richness of the Amazon forests does not respond to the quality of the forests soils, which many immigrant locals ignore, hence increasingly shifting the land use to conventional agricultural production and mining. In the rest of Latin America the situation is not different despite the physiographic and contextual differences, given that cross-cutting problems such as social, political and economic inequality exacerbate the food crisis, despite the potential of the natural environment. Therefore, it becomes increasingly urgent to generate local technical capacity on replicable and scalable processes that ensure regional preventive nutrition and health based on the sustainable use of their natural resources, in a way that contributes to the diversification of the economy.

We propose to mitigate and prevent childhood anemia and malnutrition in Madre de Dios, through the nutraceutical contribution of Amazon fungi grown from liquid and genetically validated  strains. The protocols for genetic, bromatological and chromatographic analysis are already adapted and developed in-situ for some species of wild native fungi. The liquid isolation of the strains is a technological leap, since it prevents contamination by up to 90% during the transfer to the sterile substrate, and is also easier to preserve and use.

Organic residues from the local wood and agricultural industry will be used as substrates, thus contributing to recycling. The technology is replicable by any local inhabitant, due to its ease and low application costs. Initially, technical capacity will be built at the schools of Puerto Maldonado city in Madre de Dios, so as to promote the incorporation of this sustainable economic activity within the productive time of local families, thus contributing to the sustainable management of their forest resources even from the first year

The final receptors are vulnerable children and adolescents to anemia and malnutrition throughout the Madre de Dios Region. In this sense, we propose to initiate training of urban high-schools students in Puerto Maldonado on native mushrooms school gardens (fungariums), so through them, more families will be interested in incorporating this productive activity, generating profitable alternatives in the short term with low environmental impact, in contrast to agriculture, livestock, forestry, mining and other seasonal activities to which they are currently engaged.

We believe that through schoolchildren, the impact takes on a pragmatic relevance that can be disseminated with tangible evidence to families, especially those that only subsist based on their current economic activities, in addition to the strong motivation of students to face innovative education systems that can be transferred to other students and eventually to the communities. We have been sharing the regional reality with the students and communities of Madre de Dios for 15 years and involving them into sustainable development projects since 5 years ago, however, living conditions and the post-crisis require effective short-term solutions, so that the production of mushrooms under the proposed technology, meets these needs and strengthens itself as a possibility of high social interest.

Built capacity for the cultivation and post-harvest of nutraceutical Amazon fungi in urban schoolchildren will contribute to food security, reduce rates of anemia and malnutrition and improve the immune system of the children and adolescents involved, their families and communities. In the long term, we hope that this technology can be replicated by more local stakeholders so these effective techniques keep using stubbles from agriculture and forestry, looking forward to the tangible benefit of more schools and urban and rural producers. This will promote fungi as a nutraceutical alternative, as well as a clean, simple and profitable technology.

There are no initiatives or locally applied technology in the Amazon that allow effective production of nutraceutical macrofungi. In Peru, the production of fungi exclude the Amazon and it is restricted mainly to Agaricus bisporus, oysters (Pleurotus spp.) and shiitakes (Lentinula edodes), being limited by investment in equipment that ensures the sterility of the production processes. In this sense, the innovation in liquid isolation of fungi facilitates the sterility, conservation and use of the strains, avoids the investment in expensive equipment and minimizes the risks of contamination during the process. Furthermore, the use of genetically validated native strains in previous studies combines local empirical knowledge with scientific research and opens up new possibilities for exploring the Amazon fungal potential. 

On the other hand, the main protein source is animal meat which involves a high expenditure of resources and environmental impact, while the only related products offered in the regional market are mushrooms imported from China. In this sense, the project innovates in both the diversification of nutraceutical quality and the local economy, based on the sustainable use of its own forest resources and through a system that, in addition to being low impact, contribute to mitigating that of other extractive industries.

The liquid mushroom seed technology has not been used for amazon fungal crops in Peru so far, meaning a significant technological leap, since it prevents contamination by more than 90%. In that sense, going from solid (in wheat) to a liquid seed technology facilitates the shift of the investment in expensive equipment to methods easy to replicate, use and conserve, which requires few supplies and materials. Easily developed by local students without the need for large laboratories, this method can contribute to the scalability of  amazon strains domestication by urban and rural communities, for several types of climates and environments in Peru

In 2015, the first study of Amazon fungi and their empirical use was published as a result of the research conducted since 2006 by Mishari García to support his PhD work. This later encouraged the first experimental studies of Amazon mushroom cultivation, which has already been implemented in the Region through research allies, from local ecotourism companies to NGOs and Universities, so conventional fungi cultivation has already been experienced. In 2017, a standardized Amazon fungarium was built and tested through local adapted techniques  (http://www.inotawaexpeditions.pe/es-pe/index.php/reserva-habitacion/micotico). In 2019 under a scientific research project funded by Peruvian Science Fund (Fondecyt), Inkaterra Association NGO and the National Amazonian University of Madre de Dios (UNAMAD), under the direction of the current team, studied the genetic characterization of the diversity of Amazonian fungi in the Region, complementing with the bromatological analysis of fungi with nutraceutical potential. As partial result, a field guide manual was also published on the fungus diversity of the Madre de Dios (Cárdenas, 2019, https: //fieldguides.fieldmuseum.org/sites/default/files/rapid-color-guides-pdfs) 

In Peru, the cultivation of mushrooms and their production is limited due to the difficult access to technology and equipment needed to avoid contamination in production processes, so to develop a effective local production it is necessary to apply new technologies that simplify and minimize the contamination of the substrate, therefore new processes are adapted from experiences in other countries (https://www.radicalmycology.com/), where simple and scalable methods are already used for different uses and benefits of mushroom cultivation.

Through the isolation and maintenance of 20 nutraceutical amazon mushrooms, a safe and cost-effective liquid germplasm bank of pure and genetically validated strains is going to be ensured. Also, a Recycling Program will avoid the burning of agriculture and forestry stubbles to preserve these as substrates, which are needed to start testing the model. In the short term, we are capable of providing the required to successfully complete the test here proposed: an amazon fungi business model promoted from new skills of school students.

For this purpose, hands-on workshops on Growing and Post-harvest are conducted in three high-schools of Puerto Maldonado, transferring profitable skills to at least 100 students on low-cost and effective methods to grow edible Amazon fungi. Additionally, internships and exchange experiences coordinated through a strategic venture with the local University facilitate the sharing of scientific advances between research institutions and entrepreneur students, expecting to motivate their engagement into further projects during the first year, exploring primarily the diversification of the offer of fungi derivate and services.

The firsts school fungariums are then held along with local students, expecting other schools to become key stakeholders by enrolling in this educational model and enhancing their contribution to children health, according to further available funds. In the short term students will be capable of producing high yields and, at long, feel confident to lead for-profit startups based on fungi production along with their communities. Thus, the continuity of training pilots as well as the incorporation of new local and foreign stakeholders is ensured, hence safeguarding a high-value blockchain of Amazon fungi in the national and international markets.

Five years from the start, there will be relevant income for the local startups using this easy and effective method, as constant training on business management reinforces their capabilities. The ultimate purpose is to overcome children anemia and malnutrition in the Peruvian Amazon and scale it globally, through economically encouraged communities led by healthy and empowered students on nutraceutical fungi commerce. The latter framed into sustainable forests management, mitigation of impacts from extractive industries and capacity building for local engagement.

There are three provinces in Madre de Dios, and eleven districts, Tambopata is the most populated province with 111,474 inhabitants, while Manu and Tahuamanu provinces hold 18,549 and 11,047, respectively. Currently, there are no direct beneficiaries, since there is no project with mushroom cultivation in Amazon communities, except for a few private initiatives developed by the present team. By the end of first year, 100 students between 14 and 16 years old from 3 high schools will be benefited with practical knowledge on growing and transforming Amazon nutraceutical mushrooms. By year 5 a high value blockchain of Amazon mushrooms will be consolidated, based on a constant training to students and communities, developing regional bio-businesses for nutraceutical and biomaterials purposes.

By the end of the first year, 20 cultivated Amazon fungi strains will be distributed within 3 Tambopata high-schools fungariums through training workshops on fungi cultivation and transformation. In addition, there will be internships and experience exchanges to research institutions, so entrepreneurship can be impulsed.

By year 5, the goal is to overcome child anemia and malnutrition as well as to ensure food security in the Region, significatively contributing through Amazon fungi to nutritional and economic needs of urban and rural families. Empowered students consolidate solid entrepreneurship leading their communities to strenghten the Amazon mushrooms value chain along the entire Region and with national and international markets.

The production of mushrooms as nutraceutical alternatives are already established technologies in many parts of the world, however, due to the general ignorance in the Region about the potential of native mushrooms, effective cultivation techniques have not been developed, neither productive initiatives are known beyond the fungariums set up some years ago for research purposes. Local students do not know about Amazon fungi potential so there are not initiatives encouraging effective and low-cost technologies for their production. Additionally, the need for short-term income makes family leaders in the region engage into logging, conventional agriculture, mining and other unsustainable and informal economic activities that have a high environmental impact.

The continuity of small producer organizations can be affected by the lack of regional and national recognition, derived from the absence of enough strategic allies contributing to insert commercial initiatives into the blockchain, as well as for disseminating the nutraceutical potential of Amazon mushrooms in the regional, national and international markets.

To start, knowledge and technology will be transferred to high school students, and through them to their families and communities. As this also involves sharing of scientific advances and engaging further research and production projects, we expect to enroll more stakeholders and strategic allies to reinforce and ensure the continuity of both, the educational model and the entrepreneurship of amazon fungi local producers.

The proposed technology is cheap and effective in the short time, so it will be rapidly scalable to community members which are currently enrolled in opportunistic extractive industries. The success of their engagement will depend on creating and maintaining a solid base from schools to empower a diverse high value fungi derivatives industry within a resilient blockchain which will also encourage the development of formal ventures on bio-businesses as alternatives to conventional economic activities.

Multidisciplinary research team

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The leader of the multidisciplinary research team is Mishari García, Forest Sciences PhD with experience in Agroforestry, Forest Mycology, Management, Conservation of Forest Resources, leading research teams and extensive knowledge of the social reality and environmental problems of Madre de Dios and Peru. He has been studying the diversity of local mushrooms for more than 10 years and leads projects aimed at mushroom production with national financing and local allies. Among the professionals trained by Mishari is Anatoly Cardenas, candidate for a Master's degree in Ecology and Natural resources, with experience in studying Amazon wildlife and diversity and cultivation of Amazon macrofungi.

The research team includes professionals from different backgrounds such as Adolfo Schmitt and Daxs Coayla, forest engineers with more than 5 years of experience working with forest resources and scientific research in the Amazon collaborating with local NGOs that promote sustainable management and conservation of resources, working with local people on issues related to ecology and sustainable use of resources.

For two years,the team have been working with biologists specialized in the study and production of fungi such as Mario Callalli, with experience in research on the diversity and distribution of macromycetes from other regions of Peru, as well as production of wild and commercial nutraceutical fungi. Likewise, thanks to financing to deepen the study of local fungi, we have been working with molecular biologists as Jhakelin Reyes, a specialist in molecular biology and genetics oriented to the study of wildlife with molecular techniques and conservation.

UNAMAD: National Amazonian University of Madre de Dios: Local university of Puerto Maldonado, Madre de Dios. Main research and innovation institution in the region.

ITA Asociation NGO: Partner in the study for genetic characterization of the diversity of Amazonian fungi.

INOTAWA Expeditions: Local ecotourism company, houses a standardized Amazon fungarium which was built and tested through local adapted techniques.