Pacha mama

Mama Pacha, the personification of Mother Earth and goddess of fertility, is highly revered in the
Ecuadorian Andes. She is a giver of life in every sense in the form of plentiful harvests for
example. But the farmers must play their part too and take good care of the soil. SWISSAID
supports them in this.
In Guangaje, in the high mountain region of Ecuador, Mama Pacha doesnt have an easy time. Here
at an altitude of approx. 3,500 metres the climate is raw and the soil is barren. Farming in these
conditions is a daily struggle. The growing water shortage is also a heavy burden on the shoulders of
the local Indio community. They place their trust in Mama Pacha and the courses organised by
SWISSAID.
Three quarters of the population is malnourished
On this barren stretch of land more than 95 per cent of all local people subsist below the poverty
line. Three quarters of the indigenous population are malnourished. The small farmers have no clean
water and children and young people in particular suffer severely from debilitating gastric illnesses.
The reasons for the food shortages, despite the community cultivating their own food, are unsuitable
farming methods, inadequate irrigation of the fields and lack of knowledge. The crops growing in
the fields are simply not enough. And the destruction of the Pramos, a natural landscape with vast
quantities of plants and a sensitive eco system serving as a natural water store, is leading to water
shortages.
To ensure that the men, women and children have enough to eat after harvesting their fields,
SWISSAID has been specifically targeting impoverished small farmers since 2008 to offer them
support. They can improve their health and nutrition over the longer term as well as their income
thanks to environmentally friendly farming and the construction of a viable and functioning water
supply. To support this ambitious task, SWISSAID assists grass roots groups, e.g. farmer
organisations or water committees, by offering expertise, organisational and financial help.
More variety, healthier and more productive
The help for self-help is proving effective and will therefore be continued. Agustn Vega
Milingalle, President of the local farmers group, is delighted about this:
Since weve been receiving help, our life has been transformed. Before, we didnt have enough to
eat. The men were forced to look for work in the city. That was the only way our family was able to
survive.
In Agustn Vega Milingalles village hunger is now a thing of the past. Men and women have
attended courses to learn how to diversify and boost their production, how to produce organic
fertiliser and to breed small animals. This has led not only to more variety and healthier nutrition,
but also enabled the producers to sell part of their harvest at the local market.
What the farmers manage to produce from the soil these days is incredible, We cultivate beans,
carrots, lettuce, beetroot and radishes, Agustn Vega Milingalle recounts. His wife Isolinda
Lisintua adds, We also produce potatoes and onions and the feed for our rabbits and guinea pigs.
In any case, there is enough to feed a family of six and to share some of the harvest with the
neighbours.
Without water, life is under threat
But the family is a long way from being able to relax. Without water life here in the country is
really under threat. Humans and animals can no longer be fed, and the fields cannot be irrigated. You
can live without money, but not without water, Isolinda Lisintua emphasises.
She is a long and seasoned campaigner for the local people to have better rights to the springs. She
was overjoyed when her campaign finally gained momentum and scientists were sent to the
mountains to take measurements and trace the springs. We were allocated four springs! rejoices
Isolinda Lisintua.
The success was no accident and nor did it come for free. Working together for three months the
local men and women dug a ditch 1.20 metres deep and seven kilometres long. 60 families joined in,
each family sending four or five people to carry out this strenuous work. And each family had to pay
57 dollars because the beneficiaries themselves have to fund a substantial share in excess of 40,000
Swiss francs of the total project costs.
Putting the brakes on migration
SWISSAID subsequently funded rainwater collecting tanks and a 12-cubic metre water tank that
supplies the entire community with water. The families attended courses to learn how to chlorinate
the water and maintain the tank. They also have to learn how to manage the precious water resource.
Today, we have enough water to prepare the food, wash ourselves and our clothes and even to
irrigate the fields, comments Agustn Vega with relief.
And he associates entirely different hopes with the improved quality of living,
Our aim is to persuade those families, who already emigrated, to return to our local communities.
They can have their share of the water supply and win back their belief in farming. Because Mama
Pacha is generous we just have to treat her well!