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AGRECOL's Projects

Diana García
Jun 6, 2016
3 min read

We went with Mariana to the Chuñu Chuñuni (at 4200 meters above the sea level) community, with AGROECO project. This project is doing a research called Participative Soil Sample. They are trying differents grains and grass to see what the community can harvest for their sustainability and to feed their animals. They have tried and are trying different mixtures of seeds and seeing what works for the weather and water availability. Different to other communities now with global warming they now can harvest things they couldn't before.

With Mariana Alem and Ramona Linder.

Another of the projects is the GTCCJ (Global Warming and Justice Work Group). This is a huge project that started in 2010, it involves various organizations all over Bolivia and their major objective is global warming awareness and environmental justice in Bolivia. I went to an activity with them and a group of cyclist called the Masa Critica to support the massive mobilizations around the world for the climate change conference in Paris last November.

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With Roxana Castellon, Ramona Linder, Alberto Cárdenas... Agrecol teamwork!

I also went to Septapas in Tarija with a subproject of the GTCCJ called Fondo Clima. This project consist of environmental ONG's developing six months projects on global warming awareness. Here in Septapas, the group of Fundación Cordillera made a video about the huge impact of a cement factory on the water and health of Septapa community and the idea is to generate negotiations with the factory and the municipality to avoid and mitigate the impact this factory is causing.

Here is the GTCCJ youtube page: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwhhdyoAalY

I also visited Sica Sica communities. Here the projects are more focused in food sovereignty. So families have all the necessary food for their families and the rest they sell it. Here is Elsa, one of the nutritionists that work in the project teaching the families nutritious recipes with the food they harvest.

With Juan (project coordinator) and Elsa made delicious green salteñas. Salteñas is one of the most typical foods here in Bolivia and we made it all with organic products from the families orchards.

I also visited a project that is developing agroforestry orchards in Sacaba (45 min from the city of Cochabamba).

"Agroforestry is a collective name for land-use systems and technologies where woody perennials (trees, shrubs, palms, bamboos, etc.) are deliberately used on the same land-management units as agricultural crops and/or animals, in some form of spatial arrangement or temporal sequence. In agroforestry systems there are both ecological and economical interactions between the different components. Agroforestry can also be defined as a dynamic, ecologically based, natural resource management system that, through the integration of trees on farms and in the agricultural landscape, diversifies and sustains production for increased social, economic and environmental benefits for land users at all levels. In particular, agroforestry is crucial to smallholder farmers and other rural people because it can enhance their food supply, income and health. Agroforestry systems are multifunctional systems that can provide a wide range of economic, sociocultural, and environmental benefits.There are three main types of agroforestry systems: Agrisilvicultural systems are a combination of crops and trees, such as alley cropping or home gardens. Silvopastoral systems combine forestry and grazing of domesticated animals on pastures, rangelands or on-farm. The three elements, namely trees, animals and crops, can be integrated in what are called agrosylvopastoral systems and are illustrated by home gardens involving animals as well as scattered trees on croplands used for grazing after harvests."

(FAO, 2016. http://www.fao.org/forestry/agroforestry/80338/en/)

Ecoguía Launching:

A small project is the Ecoguía, where now the Cochabambinos can find where to buy organic products in the city and surroundings. For now it has been launched twice in the Feicobol and Cadexco.