Community Capacity
Leadership -‐
Organization Learning groups are also small producers associations.
Networking
The learning groups promote networking within the community among small-‐scale producers and outside the community, through links to government promotional programs, whose aim is to connect small producers with potential buyers.
Source: Created by author.
networking and organization, are also stimulated, although to a lesser extent. In turn, the stimulation of the strategic components boosts the features of the community capacity, allowing the introduction of more complex and well being policy structures. From the Peasant School to the training by learning groups, each strategy seems more complex than its predecessor. What is more, none of the strategies seem to be possible without the strategies that precede it. In other words, communities of the MCJM seem to become more capable after each intervention.
The milestones in the process of development of the MCJM are the shift from agriculture to livestock production, the improvement of the households and the environment, the increase in the volume and variety of food produced, and the commercialization of Sierra Productiva’s products.
The shift from agriculture to livestock production is a process that began with the Peasant School; Its members participated in the Pacha Mama Raymi, the spearhead of the shift from agriculture, later on some of them participated in the PIC II and became the first peasants of the MCJM that considered that best lands, those with irrigation, should be for livestock production, rather than for agricultural production. The IAA shared this vision with them and they shared it with their communities, by bringing up the topic in the general assemblies, discussing it with their neighbours, and finally organizing the Dairy Cow Contest in their communities.
These peasant leaders trained in the Peasant School were later trained on farming, livestock production, environmental conservation and household improvement in the frame of the Pacha Mama Raymi first and the then in the PIC II. These peasant leaders were the first yachachics, and they advocated for the introduction of Sierra Productiva’s technologies within and outside their communities. They shared the vision of making a living out of the land while enjoying good living conditions. Yachachics encouraged other peasants to introduce Sierra Procuctiva approach and taught them how to do it.
Finally, some of the peasants that introduced Sierra Productiva’s technologies, and were made “a supermarket out of the backyard”, little by little began selling their products, and learning how to add value to them.
Hereafter Table 5-7 summarizes the previous mention strategies, their features, objectives and outcomes.
TABLE 5-7 DEVELOPMENTAL STRATEGIES FOLLOWED BY THE IAA IN THE MCJM, SUMMARY CHART
Strategy Features Objectives Outcomes
Peasant School On site centralized school for peasant leaders.
Develop leaders. A dispersed group of well-informed and committed communitarian leaders that will be the spearhead in the introduction of the following developmental strategies and the link between the IAA, peasant families, the FDCC and peasant leaders from different communities.
Training by contest
Pacha Mama
Raymi
Training by contest Dairy Cow
Training on irrigation and livestock production,
agriculture, and
environmental and organization.
Informal spread of information about good practices in dairy product production and cow breeds.
To overcome the reluctance of people to introduce technologies.
To promote the shift from agriculture to livestock production as the main economic activity of the MCJM.
To improve dairy products production
Increase in the motivation and first steps in the shift from agriculture to livestock production.
Improvement of livestock and dairy products.
Training of yachachics
Training in productive techniques and selection of
To come up with an integral proposal for overcoming the underdevelopment
A group of technological leaders that will be in charge of transmitting (and support in
technologies of the comprehensive approach
“Sierra Productiva”.
Theoretical and practical training for peasants by peasants in the Peasant School and in the field.
in a participatory way.
Spreading of the Sierra Productiva proposal.
the introduction of) Sierra Productiva.
A network of technological leaders inside and outside of Cuzco.
Training by learning group
Market oriented training by technicians for small producers organized by community and line of production
The addition of value to Sierra Productiva’s products and access to the markets.
The organization of groups of small producers looking to improve their products and sell them together.
Source: Created by author.
COMMUNITY
CAPACITY
CASE
STUDY,
THE
Chapter 6:
DAIRY
PRODUCT
PRODUCERS
OF
COLLIRI
COMMUNITY
John Tacussi, president of the Colliri community and the association of dairy farmers, pointed to a green hill where cows were grazing told me: ‘Before, this place was all brown, there was no water, we hadn’t got anything to eat, you don’t know how sad it was’ (Interview with Juan Tacussi, 27 June 2012).
Colliri is one of the 11 communities of MCJM. This community has 102 inhabitants that before the implementation of Sierra Productiva’s technologies used to make their living out of agriculture. Nowadays every family in the community has implemented the set of technologies to some extent and the community has become a dairy product production area.
This chapter attempts to describe the policy structure of the community of Colliri, as well as its community capacity attributes; arguing that this community has become more capable since the introduction of Sierra Productiva, with the consequent impact on its dwellers’ wellbeing.