Vea la versión en español a continuación
Paul and Marcella and I recently met LucĂa Ăvila in Quilcas, a small town in JunĂn, Peru. After 2013, agronomists from an NGO, Yanapai, began to show her and her neighbors how to raise a mix of fodders, including rye grass, alfalfa, clover and others. Animals like the mix more than just one fodder, but the plants need water. With support from the government of Peru, the farmers of Quilcas dug an irrigation canal from some 7 km away, and the people began growing small patches of fodder which they could cut for several years, fertilizing it with ash and manure until the grass aged. Then the fodder patch would be dug up, and planted in potatoes, which prospered in the soil where the grass had been grown.
Every day, doña LucĂa has been able to cut two large blankets full of fodder, enough for a milk cow, or in her case, enough for 200 guinea pigs.
Doña LucĂa had started cautiously. In 2014 she got her first pair of guinea pigs from an NGO called CEDAL. The rodents reproduce pretty fast, so she soon had dozens of the animals. Every year she gets some new males, to avoid inbreeding. She specializes in a large, meaty breed called Mi PerĂș (my Peru), which is white and reddish, like the Peruvian flag.
As doña LucĂa explains, guinea pigs are easy to sell, so they give her a steady income. Plenty of customers come to her house, and she sells the guinea pigs for 20 soles (over $5). She now has 200 guinea pigs.
She says that before she got the big, red-and-white guinea pigs, she had some other which she describes as âsmall, like rats, and the color of rats.â She adds âWhen you have grass you can have nice, fat guinea pigs, and you can sell them and have a little money. You can improve your standard of living.â While guinea pigs are thought of as pets in many northern countries, in places like Peru they are small livestock. They are easy to raise at home, in the courtyard, under the shade of a porch.
Formal development is often criticized as being prone to failure. So, itâs only fair to recognize its successes. In this case, three different projects happened to come together from different institutions to ensure that people not only had fodder, but water to irrigate it, and guinea pigs to eat it. The innovations worked together, even if they werenât designed that way.
Acknowledgements
The visit to Peru to film various farmer-to-farmer training videos, including this one, was made possible with the kind support of the Collaborative Crop Research Program (CCRP) of the McKnight Foundation. Thanks to Edgar Olivera, RaĂșl Ccanto, Jhon Huaraca and colleagues of the Grupo Yanapai for introducing us to Quilcas and for sharing their knowledge with us. RaĂșl Ccanto and Paul Van Mele read and made valuable comments on an earlier version of this story.
200 CUYES
Jeff Bentley, 24 de julio del 2022
Hace poco, Paul, Marcella y yo conocimos a LucĂa Ăvila en Quilcas, un pequeño pueblo de JunĂn, PerĂș. A partir de 2013, los agrĂłnomos de una ONG, Yanapai, empezaron a enseñarle a ella y a sus vecinos cĂłmo sembrar una mezcla de forrajes, que incluye ray gras, alfalfa, trĂ©bol y otros. A los animales les gusta mĂĄs la mezcla que un solo forraje, pero las plantas necesitan agua. Con el apoyo del gobierno de PerĂș, los campesinos de Quilcas cavaron un canal de riego a unos 7 km de distancia, y la gente empezĂł a cultivar pequeñas parcelas de 200 metros cuadrados, que podĂan cortar durante varios años, abonĂĄndolas con ceniza y estiĂ©rcol hasta que la hierba envejeciera, y se pudiera desenterrar, plantando papas, que prosperaron en la tierra donde habĂa crecido la hierba.
Doña LucĂa descubriĂł que cada dĂa podĂa cortar dos grandes mantas llenas de forraje, suficiente para una vaca lechera, o en su caso, suficiente para 200 cuyes.
Doña LucĂa habĂa empezado con cautela. En 2014 consiguiĂł su primer par de cuyes de una ONG llamada CEDAL. Los roedores se reproducen bastante rĂĄpido, asĂ que pronto tuvo decenas de estos animales. Cada año consigue algunos machos nuevos, para evitar cruzar animales parientes. EstĂĄ especializada en una raza grande y carnosa llamada Mi PerĂș, que es blanca y rojiza, como la bandera peruana.
Como explica doña LucĂa, los cuyes son fĂĄciles de vender, por lo que le dan unos ingresos constantes. A su casa llegan muchos clientes y vende los cuyes a 20 soles (mĂĄs de 5 dĂłlares). Ahora tiene 200 cuyes.
Dice que antes de tener los cuyes grandes, rojos y blancos, tenĂa otros que describe como “pequeños, como ratas, y del color de las ratas”. Añade: “Cuando tienes pasto puedes tener cuyes bonitas y gordas, y puedes venderlas y tener un poco de dinero. Puedes mejorar tu nivel de vida”. Mientras que en muchos paĂses del norte se considera a los cuyes como mascotas, en lugares como PerĂș son ganado menor. Viven en el corredor de la casa de la gente, y son fĂĄciles de criar.
A menudo se critica el desarrollo formal por siempre fracasar. Es importante reconocer tambiĂ©n sus Ă©xitos. En este caso, se unieron varios esfuerzos para garantizar que la gente no sĂłlo tuviera forraje, sino tambiĂ©n agua para regarlo y cuyes para alimentarlos. Las innovaciones funcionaron conjuntamente, aĂșn si no se diseñaron juntos.
Agradecimiento
Nuestra visita al PerĂș para filmar varios videos, incluso este, fue posible gracias al generoso apoyo del Programa Colaborativo de InvestigaciĂłn de Cultivos (CCRP) de la FundaciĂłn McKnight. Gracias a Edgar Olivera, RaĂșl Ccanto, Jhon Huaraca y colegas del Grupo Yanapai por presentarnos a Quilcas y por compartir su conocimiento con nosotros. RaĂșl Ccanto y Paul Van Mele hicieron comentarios valiosos sobre una versiĂłn previa de este relato.
