More from www.agroecology.org
— Agroecology links ecology,
culture, economics, and society to sustain agricultural production, healthy environments,
and viable food and farming communities. Let’s go check out how it works in
Quillán, a village east of Ambato, still in the Andes, but at a lower elevation
than other Andean farms we visited.
Nowhere on our tour were the social dimensions of agroecology
more evident than here. In Quillán we start getting a better sense of the
degree to which Ecuadorians work together. We remembered María Fernanda
remarking at the beginning of our tour, “There is no reason to create another
organization in Ecuador!”
Walk with us along a cool tree-canopied path, into a
charming restaurant and out its back door, to tables set in the shade near a
swift, crystal clear stream. Get ready for a delicious organic lunch of trout,
rice, mixed salad, and fresh fruit juice — except for the rice everything was produced
right here at this place.
Then meet Verónica Chiluiso and her mom María Soledad, who run this restaurant, and hear a story of teamwork. Verónica explained that 30+ families of Quillán organized into an association, which in turn is one of the 29 associations that make up the umbrella organization PACAT. More about that later…
Here in Quillán, a dozen families, each with their own
business, some specialize in trout farming, another dozen farm organically with
mixed-plantings, and a third dozen operating restaurants and developing trails in
tourist areas. Little by little they have made Quillán a tourist destination
and environmental education site along the Ruta Nacional de Turismo, on the
Curipisco Bird Observation Trail. It’s a village that young people return to
after college where jobs are available. The community has a committee to look
after the elderly who lack extended family to care for them.
Collaboration has been key to achieving all these things — and
support from various organizations, including PACAT, and Heifer Ecuador through
PACAT. As Verónica put it, “They started out as our collaborators and they have
become our friends.”
During the long bus ride back to Ambato, we Heifer tourists
mull over our place in this long chain of collaboration, friendship, helping
hands.
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