Guayacanal Foundation

Bogotá, Colombia

An Overview Of Our Solution

The Energetic Efficient Model of Arid Zones – MEEPZA, is a proposal of endogenous, sustainable and replicable development for climate change adaptation and mitigation of its effects. This project represents 15 years of research carried out by the Guayacanal foundation in the municipality of Los Santos. The main goail is to inculcate a ”new armony human-nature” through rescuing the dry tropical forest. This activity is carried out by the community for its own benefit. This initiative is led by women who grow plants that are tolerant to extreme conditions. Those plants are vegetal material that is needed for an inclusive business, which principal aim is to produce natural cosmetics and healthy food products like an strategy to promote the knowledge of those species as well as their plantig and plant care techniques

Who is this solution impacting?

Community Type

Rural

Organization type

Sin fines de lucro/No Gubernamental

Ecosystem (select all that apply)

Forests

Population impacted

150 directly, 3000 indirectly

Size of agricultural area

1.103 m squared

Production quantity

6.618 kg

People employed

There are 17 users, their families and their vegetables gardens. There are also 21 users who are implemented their own gardens. Therefore there are 38 families who are involved in the production of jams, preserves, other healthy foods & cosmetics

Describe your solution

A specific guideline has been worked out step by step: the MEEPZA macro-project, a sustainable economy model produced by an applied research process of the Guayacanal Foundation, "Efficient Energy Model for Arid Zones - MEEPZA and its main objectives: "To promote the production of Nopal and other plants in the structure of the tropical dry forest as part of a process of ecological restoration, use and sustainable use of biodiversity." This has demonstrated the viability of an economic model based on the current reality (Drastic reduction of water resources, soils exhausted by unsustainable agricultural practices, feminization of the countryside by migration of its inhabitants to different jobs), supporting us in drought tolerant species and easy handling. Moving towards the next objective: Construction of the Nopal Center for Entrepreneurial Empowerment - CEEN; In this place, the site of an inclusive business, will be agglutinate the agribusiness enterprises developed based on the crops of the project, and some in progress, such as preserves (jams, sauces and pickles based on cactus) and soaps with nopal and other plants of the Bs-T. There are others in the process of formulation such as food for animals as well as process related with energy production.

Describe your implementation

From a monoculture of tobacco and the absence of the nopal as a crop, we have passed to associated crops of nopal, fodder shrubs (Moringa oleifera), leucaena (Leucaena leucocephala), chicken coop (Pithecellobium sweet), guácimo (Guazuma ulmifolia), Arnica (Cnidoscolus aconitifolius), all related with food safety and agribusiness; Introduction of the nopal in the family and animals diet; Agribusiness as a generator of resources at the head of Women for the family. The best way to prove that it has been a solution is the evidence that the nopal cultivation has been extended, by imitation, in Los Santos. If this plant does not exist as a crop, we often listen questions such as "why are you planting thorns?" There are an increase of the number of Nopal crops throughout the municipality, which exceed what we have sown with our users. The collapse of the tobacco economy, which forced us to search for alternatives, The obvious difference in the behavior of plants such as tobacco compared to the plants of the project (opuntia and fodder shrubs) in extreme climatic conditions, Climate change as an opportunity: we are in a summer that comes from 3 years ago and the plant that has supported the survival of animals and allowed good nutritional status (from the backyard birds to the goats and camuros) has been the nopal. This has been the reason for the catapulting of sowing among people who have livestock, even in the "Upper part" of the municipality which is the area with the greatest economic capacity and better climatic conditions, Coincidence with the goals of the municipal government development plan. Key success factors: The credibility of the Guayacanal Foundation in the work area of the project, The MEEPZA users themselves are a testimony to what is being considered as a sustainable economic model, Despite its essential condition is promote food security, the goal has always been profitability because "sustainability goes through profitability,"

External connections

External actors: Our work has begun to be recognized until few years ago. First by the municipal administration and the last year by the departmental government. Participating in the development of the 2012 and 2016 Development Plan document, we managed to include the nopal among its goals. For the current quadrennium, actions of some of our users who reached the board of directors, will contribute to reinforce its presence and began to manage projects with the government. Some of the sectors with which we can connect and for which we have potential are: • Renewable energy is one of our goals for which we are participating in calls. It has already been implemented, with resources of a private entity, at home level. We are part of Red-Biocol. • Animal feed: this idea has already been disclosed with the users and certain experiences of this topic have been made with them for self consumption. In the commercial field and as a pro-bono product we have been working on a formulation of dog biscuits. • Healthy food, is a proposal, already in development, with the ethics required by the project and the crops it promotes (plants with health effects). Nopal preserves (jams, sauces, pickles) and healthy snacks such as cactus cakes, nopal-moringa cookies and amaranth sticks are already available.

What is the environmental or ecological challenge you are targeting with your solution?

The main goal is to halt the Tropical Dry Forest degradation as well as incorporate the restoration through strategies like promoting native species that have a potential to encourage food security (human and animal food) and as vegetal material in the agroindustry. This is contributing to recover the agricultural profitability of the “Lower area” of the municipality of Los Santos, Santander, and contribute to improve the adaptation of their economy to climate change. We include with 5 minor species (dato, tuna, albahaca, orégano, verdolaga) and shrubs with agroinustrial potential: moringa (Moringa oleífera), leucaena (Leucaena leucocephala), gallinero (Pithecellobium dulce), guácimo (Guazuma ulmifolia) Arnica (Cnidoscolus aconitifolius), pipo (Sapindus saponaria) which are tolerant to extreme conditions regarding soil and climate. This contribute to promote a sustainable economic vision of the flora in the environment.

Describe the context in which you are operating

Tobacco was the principal species planted in this zone, but this industry collapsed affecting 800 rural families. Additionally, levels of precipitations have decreased form 850 mm to 450 mm throughout 20 years. In fact, since 4 years ago, the departmental government have given water to the population in certain periods of the year. In this zone, there are not job opportunities for women and their domestic activities are not economically rewarded.

http://www.camaradirecta.com/temas/indicadoresantander/indicadores/idh-… http://www.lossantos-santander.gov.co/indicadores_anuales.shtml?apc=bex…

How did you impact natural resource use and greenhouse gas emissions?

As part of the strategy of placing resources at the head of women, the Foundation is working on participatory restoration projects, where tropical dry forest species are known from the economic perspective. Whoever recognizes a species from its economic potential becomes its best guardian. Specifically we have applied it to pipo (Sapindus saponaria), guácimo (Guazuma ulmifolia) and leguminous forage shrubs. An integral part of the workshops is the agroecological approach that involves an intrinsic management of the resources of the environment and continuously develop ideas in order to foster their care through looking at them from the economical view. Likewise, the food workshops related with food security, seek to draw attention to the arable plants such as bledo (amaranth´s relative) and purslane to promote their care and permanence as a cover in the labor lands.

Language(s)

Spanish

Water

Through management of Guayacanal with private companies, it was possible to carry out participatory restoration projects, with and without resources that allowed: Attention in revegetation in two micro-basins that supply aqueducts of the zone: Aqueducts of Paso Chico and of the Lagoon. The methodology was the accompaniment and leadership of Guayacanal and the insistence on the importance of self-management in solving community problems, especially those related to water, as a guarantee of sovere

Food Security/Nutrition

Through the methodology of cooking workshops with original and adapted recipes from the Guayacanal Foundation, it was possible to include the nopal and other dry forest species (such as amaranth and purslane) in the diet. With the announcement of awarding and posting on the website the recipes with plants of the project, different versions of dishes generated by the users are already participating

Economic/Sustainable Development

Income in the head of women. They work in partnership with the project products and also generate or promote personal endeavors through the project. Those have as prerequisite the fulfillment of the objectives of the project on the management and sustainable use of biodiversity

Climate

The biggest gain, not quantified, is the capture of CO2. Mexican experts said that one ha. of nopal captures as much carbon as 2 Has of native forest. Certainly, one of the benefits of the cactus is its MAC condition which contributes to produce biomass. Another gain has been the cultural change towards land management, through the use of the biodiversity of the unwanted plants as a cover.

Sustainability

The implementation of this project has been financed mainly with the resources of the Guayacanal Foundation through consultancies and projects asked by the private sector. Last year, it was received a financial support from the Santander government, that was invested in machinery, within a program of strengthening for innovative companies.
Our needs have led to self-management strategies, both for the project and for the users, that have been assumed as an educational and training challenge to avoid falling into welfare and ensure the sustainability of the project. An example is that we sell nopal cookies to get resources to pay for the making of bricks with nopal slime, which is used in the construction of CEEN.

Return on investment

There has been an investment of more than 300 million of colombian pesos, which has been distributed in the purchase of the property "La Ceiba" where the CEEN infrastructure and the production of MEEPZA products will be developed. In addition, it has been invested in training, materials and supplies. This investment has allowed us to advance in the development of our project, to train rural women and to educate the population about the importance of the tropical dry forest. Likewise, it has been possible to develop a sustainable business with the food and cosmetic products that the users are generating, which has contributed to promote economic independence of rural women, gender equity and empowerment.

How could we successfully replicate this solution elsewhere?

The main idea during the development of MEEPZA is that it could be replicated in other regions of the same conditions (arid and semi-arid zones). The opportunity is getting closer because we have a project, with the same strategies and model, developed in the Guajira, Colombia, which already became a small pilot project in the Educational Unit Akuaipa in Albania – Guajira. This project was well received by the population and it is still carried out. We believe that the key to the success of its replication is to work with women and focus on food security and selling surpluses. There is a strategy that has worked very well with the feminine element and are the workshops of elaboration of products of hygiene for the home, using the species of the project.

Overview