Little Eden – Elvira Rota Village

Since 1967, Little Eden has been providing residential care for children and adults with profound intellectual disabilities. Today, it stands as a leading non-profit organization, caring for 300 individuals of all races across two specialized residential care facilities.

One of these facilities, Elvira Rota Village (ERV), was purchased by the founders of the Little Eden Society to bring their vision to life. Their goal was to “…create a village of love… to develop parks filled with plants and flowers, fostering appreciation for the wonders of creation.”

Initially, soya and maize farming on the 43-hectare property was solely for income generation. However, when the first pecan nut trees were planted by Peter Rohrbeck in 1988, it became clear that this could be the key to realizing the founders’ vision. Expanding the pecan orchards across ERV’s agricultural land offered a sustainable, resilient crop that could be handled by residents, many of whom have limited fine motor skills, allowing them to participate in harvesting and packaging the nuts.

Little Eden, through the efforts of Peter Rohrbeck, joined SAPPA shortly after its establishment in 1992. Rohrbeck was recognized by SAPPA for his contributions, particularly his work with “new” cultivars.

In 2019, the orchard’s 155 trees yielded 4 tons of pecans. That same year, the new site manager, Paolo Slaviero, approached SAPPA to explore the feasibility of expanding the orchard. Little Eden also joined SAPPA’s Transformation Programme under the Social Economic Development category. Today, ERV boasts approximately 3,000 pecan nut trees, largely acquired through self-funding efforts.