Sustainable Development and Peace With Peru

Rafael's Story

Mr. Rafael Galván, 52 years old, is a rice producer in the La Guatara Community, Macara Canton, Loja Province. He is also the President of the Rice Marketing Committee for the Guatara and Machanguilla areas from the Border Integration Binational Project for Sustainable Development and Peace between Ecuador and Peru (FSUR). He describes his participation in the FSUR Project:

"Here everyone is concerned with his own affairs. Because of this, we are exploited because middlemen pay low prices for our products despite their high quality.

"When FSUR project technicians first came to motivate us and help with the organization, we had some doubts because many people had come and told us lies, offering many things and then never coming back. I told my partners that the Social Ministry of Loja had helped us in the past and that we should trust their staff.

"We were convinced by the technicians' persistence and their proposal to create a formal organization, and we are now working towards creating a positive image of rice from Macara on the national level. Hopefully, this will lead to a quality reputation, a good price for our products, and consistency in the market. As part of this process we have prepared market studies and business plans to seek opportunities and define the product presentation; and we are currently negotiating the sanitary license.

"In a few months we will be offering high quality rice from Macara directly from the producer to the consumer through local supermarket chains. We are very grateful because the project built upon our confidence in our products, and now we are convinced that we can make progress on our own."

How Do We Do This Project and What Are Our Accomplishments to Date?

The Binational Cross Border Project for Sustainable Development and Peace between Peru and Ecuador is implemented in the border communities of El Suyo and Ayabaca in Peru and in Macara and Cariamanga in Ecuador. Because of the border conflict between Peru and Ecuador the developmental, economic and social integration of the people in the area have been limited.

This project promotes the productive and social development of border regions and supports their integration with a focus on environmental protection. The project has two components: rural development and civil society strengthening. Catholic Relief Services' staff from Ecuador and Peru have been working with partner Ecuadorian and Peruvian organizations to implement this project. Five hundred families from both countries are participating.

Farming/Rural Development

The Farming/Rural Development component promotes the production of local products with high market potential, such as corn, peanuts, and rice from Macara. It also strengthens the production of alternative products such as vegetables and short-cycle fruits. This ensures an increase in incomes and in local employment opportunities, and nutritional diversity.

The approach is demand/market-oriented; it promotes the processes of selection, packaging and direct marketing by the same producers that have been organized and trained to prepare business plans and market studies. Among the key outcomes so far has been the formation of six groups of farmers who produced peanuts and rice that were sold to local supermarket chains.

Civil Society

Under the Civil Society component, activities are focused on the formation and organization of groups of producers and local stakeholders. They have begun to see the promising aspects of the production side of the project and are now interested in strengthening their knowledge and technical capacity so that they can plan their development process.

The goal is to have producers take a more proactive role with local government agencies so that their interests are taken into account, and community projects such as road construction are undertaken. Each of the 30 groups has named a representative who will be trained in civic leadership. It is expected that these leaders will play a central role in ensuring that community interests are respected and that the government takes seriously the needs expressed by community members.

At the bi-national level the goal is to strengthen the economical-business and socio-cultural integration across the border through the exchange of products, technologies, experiences and local knowledge.

Background of the Project

Agriculture and Rural Development projects use community participation as an essential element in strengthening local capacity over the medium and long term. The organizational capacity developed by CRS programs in rural areas has resulted in innovative proposals for production and marketing with the active participation of women. Because of their central role in rural production and income generation, women and their families have become important, dynamic participants in the rural economy.