Six producers and four municipal authorities of Tiquipaya and Sacaba travelled for five days in Ecuador, thanks to the support from the New Communities/Saemaul Undong project promoted by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Korean cooperation in search of inspiration on new production, commercialization and organization methods.
“We looked for Ecuador regions that were similar to the municipalities where we work in Cochabamba”, stated Laura Fiorotto from the Articulation of Territorial Networks Initiative (UNDP/ART). They eventually found more similarities in the Sierra Norte region, with regards to geography and production, in order to embrace this new south/south experience of knowledge interchange; that is, the collaboration among two developing countries that share similar problems and realities.
Ercilia Gonzales is a member of the horticulturists association of Tiquipaya. She was grateful to see how Ecuadorian producers value environmental conservation, beginning with water and plants: “It is something that is still missing in Tiquipaya”, she said.
Lucero Rojas, Municipal Counselor of Sacaba, points out that in her municipality, agricultural producers grow their vegetables in the polluted river beds of Rocha river, whereas in Ecuador “they do not throw away anything; they work with biodigesters, which is human and animal waste reused to produce compost”. This is to say that waste does not contaminate the river, but rather it constitutes a supply for agricultural production.
While visiting the Cayambe Municipality, Ercilia Gonzales was inspired by a great idea: “there they sell some baskets with 22 products every month; it is something we would like to do in Tiquipaya, starting from the municipal government and other institutions, and offering payroll discounts. We will fill up 30 baskets at the start, not only with vegetables since it is not enough as a diet, but working with other producers in order to have lupin, cheese, trout, chicken creole, etc”.
Saida Andrade is active in the National confederation of campesino, indigenous and native women – Bartolina Sisa de Sacaba, in addition to producing confectionery. At the Corporación de Talleres del Gran Valle she recalls having met women that “are better organized than us. They do not easily surrender, are very strong; we're on the verge of breaking up here (in Sacaba) because of poor organization. The (Ecuadorian) women are not so professional but they have managed to carry on their ideas and produce bars of soap, cream and shampoo. Here we can do the same”.
The Bolivian delegation also visited the Nangulvi Ecotouristic Complex, an agro-ecological project for coffee production in Intag and the experience of the milk producers women of Chalguayacu Alto.
SOURCE: http://www.bo.undp.org
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