Sustainable development can be understood as a middle term between radical environmentalism and the irresponsible exploitation of resources. The Triple Bottom Line, using the concept of “People, Planet and Profit”, summarizes the objectives of development, seeing it as a function of three equal parts: human capital, natural capital, and profits.
The Department of San Pedro, located at the northern part of the country, is one of Paraguay’s poorest Departments. Of the 55.8% of people in the Department living in poverty, 35% live in conditions of extreme poverty.
Our institution has been developing strong sustainable development policies jointly with rural organizations, so as to contribute to the improvement of the wellbeing of local producers, from a micro-entrepreneur point of view. This is achieved through constant fieldwork, technical assistance, workshops, and good agricultural practices.
These organizations are found in private property buffer zones, within forest remnants for conservation.
Our work in the Department of San Pedro began in 2004 through the “Bosques del Norte” (Northern Block) Project, within the framework of an agreement between IDEA and USAID. This project concluded in September 2006.
One of the agreement’s established goals consisted in creating forest conservation areas under private domain. This was achieved by means of three conservation agreements with landowners in the districts of Santa Rosa del Aguaray and Tacuati.
Consequently, we began to work with colonies and settlements adjacent to each conservation area, proposing them to group their inhabitants in Productive Committees established as legal entities. This allowed them to work in a coordinative way, closely related to other partners. Additionally, support was obtained to explore the possibility of accessing lines of credit, technical assistance and greater opportunities to commercialize their production.
En el año 2007, a través de un Programa de Microcrédito Rural, y en coordinación con el Programa de Empresariado Social BID Rural, continuamos nuestra labor en la zona, esta vez ya acompañada por una entidad financiera que administre los fondos destinados al financiamiento de la actividad productiva.
A new program on “Payment for Ecosystem Services and Sustainable Agriculture” began in 2008. This program’s objective is to develop a methodological framework to improve the valuation and supply of environmental services, provide technical support in the implementation of sustainable agricultural practices, develop capacities for market-related research, product differentiation, and administrative management.
El objetivo del programa es la de mejorar la calidad de vida de los socios, defender los derechos e intereses de las Organizaciones Rurales (O.R.) de manera a contribuir con acciones específicas que tienden a mejorar las condiciones sociales y económicas y en consecuencia, mejoran el nivel de vida de sus asociados. Esto con el fin de fomentar y estimular el espíritu de la organización entre los productores agrícolas, promoviendo la formación y el fortalecimiento del comité de base a escala local y regional, además de fomentar entre los socios la conciencia de la defensa y protección del medio ambiente, promoviendo el cultivo de abono verde y reforestación.
IDEA has been carrying out agricultural technical assistance activities as well as social assistance activities, with the permanent presence of technicians assigned independently for each capacity-building activity such as:
● Soil maintenance and recovery
● Use of green fertilizers
● Direct sowing systems
● Preparation of liquid fertilizers
● Integral plague management
● Pregnancy risks and care
● Introduction to family planning
● Parasite removal
● Creation of cleaning supplies (soap, detergent, etc.)
● Personal hygiene
● The importance of having a family vegetable garden—vegetable consumption
● Environmental education (care of water resources and forests)
● Community organization
The Productive Committees’ Work
Five committees have been created. Four of them: the Yaguarete Producers Members Committee, the 4 de Octubre Committee, the Santa Lucia Committee, and the San Jorge Committee; are located within the Municipality of Santa Rosa del Aguaray. The
15 de Mayo Committee is located within the Municipality of Tacuati, a settlement known as Planta Uno. These organizations’ members have demonstrated interest and responsibility in their work throughout the entire planning.
With regards to human capital, one of the positive effects rising from the program included the creation of a feeling of camaraderie among the committee members. This is very important since there was a great deal of distrust and fear among them in the past regarding the socialization of their products.
These committees have become much more selective when accepting new members, since thanks to the profits they obtained, their attitude towards work has become much more serious and focused. They do not accept any individual, and they take into account each candidate’s background before accepting their membership application. Likewise, it is important to note the participation of women, who formed their own committee and saw very positive results. The program’s gender component is a major success for the region.
Economic data from the Committees
During the project’s initial phase, a baseline was developed taking into account each Committee’s socio-economic data. This information was compared with the data projected for the first and second harvest.
In the tables below, each Committee’s economic reality is described, taking into account the surface sowed and the profits obtained during the first and second harvest.
IDEA also develops sustainable soils management programs, through environmentally friendly productive techniques, thus obtaining an important recovery of fertile soil.
Regarding agricultural production, a total of 400 hectares have been sowed during the first year, and 476 ¾ hectares during the second year. The crops vary: sesame, corn, cotton, yucca, peanut, tobacco, spurge, tomato, onion, peppers, etc.
The crop that gave the highest yield and profit during the first year was sesame, which reached very convenient market prices compared to previous years.
Profits for the Second Year—2009
Social Component
This component was carried out with the help of a social worker who carried out workshops and talks on Health and Education.
The social component seeks to develop capacities within each of the committee members, allowing them to carry out their productive activities based on the region’s social reality.
Besides the activities related to capacity building, there were also sports events, drawing competitions, among others, in order to encourage young adults and adolescents to have a greater interest in school and healthy competition.
In cooperation with Fundacion Paraguaya
www.fundacionparaguaya.org.py
