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The History of Loofah in Paraguay

The following article is taken from www.loofahshop.com. Loofah S.A. is a Loofah Sponge manufacturing Company based in Paraguay. The company sells Certified Organic Loofah Sponges and promotes fair trade practices. For Every Product sold, Loofah S.A. works with NGO’s OIPIC and Madre Tierra to plant a tree in Paraguay’s rainforest.

The History of Loofah in Paraguay…

Loofah is a natural sponge originating in Asia. However, it has been a product of South American agriculture for several decades.

In the old days the Loofah sponge was present in the households of every peasant and was considered the “poor man’s kitchen and bath sponge”.

Loofah from Paraguay has a fine texture and resists wear because the fibers are softer and closer together than loofah from other parts of the world.

Today, the Loofah planted by the NGO’s OIPIC & Madre Tierra are the first and only Loofah’s that are certified to be organically grown.

During the development of the Loofah Sponge Project, initially developed by the NGO OIPIC, and now with the support of NGO Madre Tierra, funding where received from ECOFUND of The Nature Conservancy, and recently also from the IDB Bank.

Training courses to “The Cultivation of Loofah Sponges”

The NGO’s OIPIC and Madre Tierra has been training by know over 11.000 individuals, Farmers and Indians, to cultivate the Loofah Sponges in a Organically and Natural way, and teaching them how to produce first quality raw material used for the products made by Loofah S.A.

The Courses are made each year between the months of may to august. In each course we bring we transmit them all our knowledge about the plantation of Loofah and our respect for the Environment. Each one of the participants also receive as extra our unique Loofah Book, title “Todo Sobre la Esponja Vegetal Loofah” (All About Loofah Sponge), an personal ID that entitles them to be a capacitated Loofah Sponge Producer, a Certificate of Participation and, of course pre-selected 1st. Quality Loofah Sponge Seeds.

Social Impact:

The Cultivation of Loofah Sponge’s already is helping to support more than 11.000 families of campesinos (farmers) and Indians. They have been trained to organically grow and process these sponges. Loofah Sponge’s can bring up to 50 times more income than traditional cotton and grain harvesting for the cultivators. The incomes from the Loofah Sponge’s Organic Plantation already brought enough funds for the communities to build schools and provide much needed medical care, and decent living conditions.

The Products produced by Loofah S.A. are made in the fabricating facility in Paraguay, that employs local women who hand-process, sew and finish the products and package them for shipment.

Environmental Impact and Wildlife Support:

Thanks to the organically cultivation and grow method used for the Loofah Sponges planted by the Farmers and Indians in Paraguay, under the supervision of the NGO’s OIPIC & Madre Tierra, we ensure a much cleaner environment, free of pesticides and helping the soil to recover again. So at the end we can also bring a much better row material for our products.

All Loofah-Art Products also helps to preserve the “Bahia Paraiso” Animal Shelter. Bahia Paraiso is a natural reserve located at 35 km from Asuncion on the Paraguay River. It is a shelter for wild animals that were rescued or found injured at other sites of the country. Thus, many animals found a new home in this reserve that provides freedom of movement and where they are being cared for with gentleness and experience.

Loofah S.A. brings more contributions to the environment, because now for each product we sell, we will together with the NGO’s OIPIC & Madre Tierra, plant a tree in every place of Paraguay that urgently needs to be reforested.

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Source: http://www.loofahshop.com/history_en.htm

3 Responses to “The History of Loofah in Paraguay”

Steve Reed Says:
March 28th, 2007 at 3:32 pm
I am so impressed by the commitment of Loofah SA to Fair Trade and the Nature Conservancy, not to mention to the people and jungles of Paraguay. Remember, for every loofah you buy from Vashon Organics, a tree is planted in Paraguay. (No, you can’t have your name on it, but you can think of it as yours.)
fahad Says:
October 13th, 2007 at 12:06 pm
Hi,
Am an engineering student living in india. I am concerned abouts the people’s ill hygene here, i am thinking of launching my own line of loofah products in the indian market, just need some feed back from the concerned people asto from where i can get the raw materials?
please get back to me with necessary info.
fahd356@yahoo.com
Diane Fisher Says:
October 24th, 2007 at 5:53 am
Dear Sir/Madam,

I work voluntarily for the UK charity HASTE (Helping African Schools to Educate) in the Gambia, West Africa. On my last visit, in April, I was looking for ways that the schools could become more self-sufficient, as they often do not even have money to pay the teachers or for basic supplies and books and I do not wish to see them teaching the children dependence rather than self-empowerment (I am a teacher in the UK)I saw some loofas growing wild and asked the teacher about them. They grow everywhere wild and are not used by local people. But here, in the UK, they are sold everywhere as bath supplies. They are very light weight and can be dried and compressed, making postage not to expensive.

Please could you comment and give me advice about this idea: to get the children and their parents to pick and dry these loofas and send them to Europe to be marketed as a Fair Trade Product to support the schools. Would this be possible? How would I go about setting this up?

Thank you so much,

Diane Fisher