Economic Growth Peru Project #46877

Help 85+ llama farmers in Peru access fair work

by Llama Pack Project

Help 85+ llama farmers in Peru access fair work

Project Report | Jun 1, 2021
Report #3 June 2021

By Alejandra Arias-Stella | Co-Founder

Workshop participants.

* You may view the full report on the PDF document attached at the bottom of the report with full size images.

Activities:

2-day intensive trainings for men and women llama farmers to gain necessary skills to provide a sustainable eco-friendly pack service with their llamas to tour operators in their area.

Progress:

After a temporary gap in the workshop implementation due to the delayed rain season which lasted until the beginning of May (usually rain season lasts from mid-December until mid-March but this year there was an intense draught that delayed the cycle), we were able to restart the workshops for Andean Llama Farmers.

This time we had a diverse group that brought together members of 3 different high-Andean communities: Maucau, Cancan and Tacllapata which have the smallest Guilds of Llama Breeders.

Workshop Outcomes so far:

49 llama farmers from 7 high-Andean communities trained.
High participation and acceptance of workshop content.
Reinforcement of Llama Pack Project values and long-term goals.
Opportunity to discuss different challenges faced by llama farmers under current pandemic circumstances.
Training in tourism related skills.
Training in use of llamas for tourism.
Training in COVID-19 prevention under the tourism guidelines.

Training of Tacllapata, Cancan and Maucau Guild Members

19-20 May 2020

The Guilds of Tacllapata and Cancan communities are the smallest Guilds due to their reduced population and such as Maucau community, they are the least integrated in the different tourism circuits of the area however, these three communities have great extensions of land ideal for llama farming and show great enthisiasm in continuing this ancestral tradition.

The Guild of Llama Breeders of Maucau community stands out for their internal organization level which is a great quality required for the success of the long-term goals of the genetic improvement program. One of the challenges they currently face is the lack of connectivity due to the lack of phone signal in their community. During the course they were able to show their organization skills which led to positive outcomes of the different tasks developed during the workshop.

The Guild of Llama Breeders of Tacllapata community stands out for their pride in their natural resources and great pasture quality which makes them enthusiast about participating in the Llama Pack Project. Since there are few families in the area rivalry is not an issue they have to deal with, which is a positive asset for the Llama Pack Project long term goals. During the course they expressed great interest in collaborating with the other partner communities and learning how to better manage their resources for a more productive llama farming.

The Guild of Llama Breeders of Cancan community is similar to Tacllapata in the sense that they have ideal natural resources, and this makes them proud and eager to participate in the project long term goals. However, they face rivalry issues with their neighbor community when trying to participate in different tourism initiatives. Despite this challenge, Guild members continue to be actively involved and found great value in the opportunity to interact with their other more proactive neighbors during the course.

This workshop was unique in the sense that by integrating different Guild members of smaller communities we were able to work on different team-work skills that are usually more challenging when integrating members of bigger communities. All participants found special value in this interaction opportunity and in the COVID-19 prevention guidelines which they had not had access to in their communities and they all actively communicated their enthusiasm in working towards improving their llama breeding practices and natural resource management to be able to reproduce ideal llamas for tourism packing services.

Thank you!

Thanks to all our donors, we continue to work on our long-term goals to improve the livelihood of high-Andean families and protect our fragile mountain ecosystems by promoting the use of llamas as a sustainable, eco-friendly pack alternative. This work allows the Llama Pack Project to stay connected with our llama farmer partners despite the current challenges presented by the global pandemic. Llama farmers are looking forward to their turn to participate on the training course!

We will continue to update our progress on our next report. If you have not yet registered, please make sure to sign up for our newsletter to receive news on the Llama Pack Project here: https://mailchi.mp/c09d3cf9c0e0/llamapackproject

Alejandra Arias-Stella

Llama Pack Project Co-Founder

Location of participating high-Andean communities.

Video about the environmental importance of llamas

Participants practicing a Llama Trek circuit.

The group at the end of the 2-Day Workshop.

Attachments:

Report #3 (PDF) (PDF)

6 Attachments

Permalink

Feb 4, 2021
Report #2 February 2021

By Alejandra Arias-Stella | Co-Founder

Training: Sustainable llama pack tourism service.

Project: Help 85+ llama farmers in Peru access fair work

* You may view the full report on the PDF document attached at the bottom of the report with full size images.

Activities:

2-day intensive trainings for men and women llama farmers to gain necessary skills to provide a sustainable eco-friendly pack service with their llamas to tour operators in their area.

Progress:

After a general improvement on the national health crisis due to COVID-19 which led to the ease of pandemic related restrictions the Llama Pack Project was able to begin the implementation of the training workshops for Andean Llama Farmers.

The first communities to participate in the trainings have been Cancha Cancha, Huacahuasi, Quishuaraini and Cuncani. During the months of November and December the first four workshops were implemented with the participation of 40 Andean Llama farmers.

The workshops will continue after the rain season comes to an end around mid-March given that all activities are led outdoors and community activities are currently focused on llama breeding and birthing during the rain season.

Workshop Outcomes:

40 llama farmers from 4 high-Andean communities trained.
High participation and acceptance of workshop content.
Reinforcement of Llama Pack Project values and long-term goals.
Opportunity to discuss different challenges faced by llama farmers under current pandemic circumstances.
Training in tourism related skills.
Training in use of llamas for tourism.
Training in COVID-19 prevention under the tourism guidelines.

Training of Cancha Cancha Guild Members:

18-19 November 2020

The Guild of Llama Breeders of Cancha Cancha community was one of the first two communities to join the Llama Pack Project and is the most active in their continuous participation in training and improve-ment of tourism related services. It is also the Guild with more active female participants which generates a unique positive sense of compe-tition between men and women to prove their ability to handle their llamas for tourism. The women of Cancha Cancha stand out for their kindness and enthusiasm to work with their llamas.

The first 10 llama farmers that participated in the training workshop found special value in the COVID-19 prevention guidelines which they had not had access to in their community and actively communicated their enthusiasm in continuing to work with their llamas once tourism returns.

Training of Huacahuasi Guild Members:

25-26 November 2020

The Guild of Llama Breeders of Huacahuasi community stands out for the friendliness of its members and their openness and extra motivation to participate in trainings related to the work with their llamas and tourism related services. This Guild stands out for its good cooks and also because it is the Guild with the eldest members who transmit their ancestral knowledge on llama, pasture and water management and their cultural legacy.

The first 10 llama farmers that participated in the training workshop found special value in learning how to adapt their ancestral use of llamas to a tourism pack service in a practical way, they also shared their motivation to keep learning about healthy llama breeding and pasture management practices.

Training of Quishuarani Guild Members:

2-3 December 2020

The Guild of Llama Breeders of Quishuaraini community is highly enthusiastic and participative. The women of the Guild are always active and eager to improve their textile production processes. The women of this Guild stand out for its high-quality work in textile crafts. The men of the Guild have been working in an organized rotation of ‘Cacao’, the reproductive male provided by the Llama Pack Project, to breed selectively with their best female llamas.

The first 10 Guild members that participated in the training workshop found special value in having the opportunity to access hands-on activities with the llamas and COVID-19 prevention measures, and shared their interest in promoting the production and sale of their textiles through tourism.

Training of Cuncani Guild Members:

9-10 December 2020

The Gild of Llama Breeders of Cuncani community is the one that currently most works with mules. This Guild stands out on their enthusiasm and evident intention to manage their packing services with llamas despite the challenges this shift presents. They understand and see the negative impacts of mules on their mountain ecosystems, but it is difficult for them to make the change due to the challenging logistics of managing their pastures exclusively for llamas amongst the whole community and getting rid of their mules.

The Guild is currently working on implementing an organized family-based rotation system to have pastures and stances exclusively for their llamas, free of mules, that are recognized by the whole community so that they can better manage the selective breeding of ‘Thor’, the reproductive male provided by the Llama Pack Project, to breed with their best females.

The first 10 Guild members that participated in the training workshop found special value on the tourism related topics and shared their concern about finding team-work difficult as they found many times their own family quarrels interfered with this goal, but they appreciated being able to discuss this challenge to find ways to overcome it.

Thank you!

Alejandra Arias-Stella

Llama Pack Project Co-Founder

Location of participating high-Andean communities.

Llama farmers practicing hand disinfection steps.

Rufino in front of llamas to mark their pace.

Savena practicing equipment disinfection.

Packing the llamas for a trial trek.

Attachments:

Report #2 (PDF)

7 Attachments

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Oct 6, 2020
Report #1 October 2020

By Alejandra Arias-Stella | Co-Founder

1. Coordination visit to Cancha Cancha community.

Project: Help 85+ llama farmers in Peru access fair work

* You may view the full report on the PDF document attached at the bottom of the report.

Activities:

2-day intensive trainings for men and women llama farmers to gain necessary skills to provide a sustainable eco-friendly pack services with their llamas to tour operators in their area.

Progress:

Strict stay at home orders have prevented the Llama Pack Project to take any action yet to implement the 2-day intensive trainings for Andean Llama Farmers. During this time, we have maintained phone communication with llama farmers on a weekly basis to check on community health status and discuss workshop logistics. Community members are healthy and looking forward to the workshops.

Challenge:

While COVID cases in Cusco area had remained low compared to other cities in Peru during the Accelerator Campaign, by the end of July which is when GlobalGiving had scheduled disbursement of funds for the project implementation, cases had started to increase exponentially leading to extreme mandatory quarantine measures in our location in order to protect the health and safety of the local population. Measures included stay at home orders, limited public transportation between districts, no social gatherings amongst other prohibitions.

View images 2 and 3 at the bottom of the report: Charts about new daily Covid-19 cases and deaths in Peru.

Additionally, economic reactivation of tourism related activities which had initially been scheduled for August were postponed to October, further limiting the possibility of implementing the workshops. Since October 1^st economic reactivation of tourism related activities has partially initiated so we are currently working on meeting all the government requirements to be able to start the workshops.

Temporary measures:

In the meantime, we looked for alternative sources of income for the Llama Pack Project and llama farmers that could be managed with minimal risk, social distancing and in line with government measures. Given agriculture related activities were allowed during these times, we launched “Llama Power”, a brand of natural llama-based fertilizer, as a pilot project which has allowed us to generate income both for the Llama Pack Project and Andean llama farmers by selling it to local organic farmers.

View image 4 at the bottom of the report: Juana and Lourdes, members of the Guild of Llama Breeders of Sutoc-Paccha, gathering raw material for the Llama Power fertilizer pilot project.

View images 5 and 6 at the bottom of the report: Providing Llama Power for a local organic agriculture initiative. This sale allowed Luis´s family to buy a phone for one of his daughters to attend virtual school classes.

Next steps:

Although our country is still in state of emergency limiting several freedom rights, the extreme quarantine of Cusco region has been lifted on October 1^st which should set in place several measures that will allow us to implement the workshops with government authorization. We have already started visiting the communities so that the Guild of Llama Breeders can choose which members will attend the first workshops.

View image 1 at the top of the report: Coordination visit to Cancha Cancha community on Friday October 2nd.

Thank you!

Thanks to all our donors, we have had something to look forward to during these difficult times. Llama farmers continue to look forward to the opportunity that the intensive trainings will provide to their families upon tourism reactivation and so do we!

We hope to bring you excellent news and outcomes on our next report. If you have not yet registered, please make sure to sign up for our newsletter to receive news on the Llama Pack Project here: https://mailchi.mp/c09d3cf9c0e0/llamapackproject

Alejandra Arias-Stella

Llama Pack Project Co-Founder

2. Daily new Covid-19 cases in Peru.

3. Daily new Covid-19 deaths in Peru.

4. Juana and Lourdes gathering raw material.

5. Distribution of Llama Power fertilizer.

6. Llama Power, llama-based natural fertilizer.

Links:

Attachments:

Report #1 (PDF)

7 Attachments

Permalink

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