On December 8, 2020, starting at 10:00 in the morning, at the Marka Kasillunka Producer Association of Andean Organic Products (APPOA), the exchange of experiences and ancestral knowledge between Producers of the Municipality of Jesús de Machaca, Ingavi province, and producers from the Caquiaviri Municipality, Pacajes province, La Paz department, on the production and marketing of Cañahua, where issues of common interest were addressed, such as: planting, crop management, harvest, post-harvest, and marketing.
The objective of the event was to contribute to the strengthening of knowledge and synergies between cañahua producers based on: traditional experiences, good agricultural practices and lessons learned, in production and commercialization processes of both municipalities.
35 people attended, including women and men (canahua producers from communities, ayllus and markas, local authorities, local innovators, APPOA representatives and technicians from both municipalities). The exchange of experiences between producers was organized by the PROINPA Foundation, within the framework of the project "Resilient Production, Marketing and Consumption of Cañahua and Tarwi" financed by Euroclima+ of the European Union.
The participants were received by Luciano Álvarez, Mallku of the Marka Kasillunka, who inaugurated the event stating the following: “welcome to the exchange of ideas, we welcome everyone who came, today we will talk about the production of Cañahua”.
Rene Humeres Tinini, President of APPOA, After 9 years of hard work, he expressed his experience in marketing: “That's how we got up, three years as an association we gave the complementary breakfast to the Municipality of Caquiaviri and for political reasons they prevented us from continuing with this service. In 2014 - 2015, thanks to the support of the institutions, we brought cooked whistle to the Municipality of Chuma - Ayata as a complementary breakfast. Then we reached the external market, through national food companies, the Cañahua product was sent at a promotional price and due to social problems and the pandemic we are stopped. The weakness in the production of Cañahua is that there is no stable market”.
APPOA was founded on May 3, 2011, belongs to the Municipality of Caquiaviri and has Legal Status, 3 allied institutions such as: PROSUCO, Samaritan's Purse and PROINPA, who supported them in the projects that participated.
Testimonials:
Clara Peñasco, from the San Pedro de Tana Community, Municipality Jesus de Machaca, “When we came today we saw that you have a lot of space, sow Cañahua in furrows so that more water is received. We have also seen animals. Sow alpha for your fodder, how nice you live... keep going”.
Dionicio Manchaqui, from Antaquira Villa Belén, Caquiaviri Municipality, “Thank you for joining us, I am here to make the benefits of Cañahua known... it has omega 3 and 9, it is rich in calcium 20%, a nutritious food, we have to consume it to avoid metabolic diseases that exist today”.
Vidal Luna, APPOA Administrator, “We thank you for your visit, brothers of Jesús de Machaca. We must produce big and for that we have to think about the market, the domestic market is small, but we have to drive clean, take care of the worms. It depends on us - how to produce, if we manage well, the production will also perform well and that's how we will get up ".
Felicidad Mamani, Vice President of APPOA of Marka Kasillunka, Caquiaviri Municipality, “Today I came to receive the visit that has arrived from the Municipality of Jesús de Machaca, they work with the production of cañahua and so do we. Two municipalities have met today to find out how cañahua is produced in this municipality and how it is produced in their municipality, that exchange of ideas has been carried out today. It has been very important for me to get to know each other and talk about Cañahua”
Valentín Zenteno, from the Parina Arriba Community, Jesús de Machaca Municipality, held the following: "Today we find ourselves in two municipalities, Jesús de Machaca and Caquiaviri, in the Kasillunka town, where APPOA had been formed to produce Canahua and bring it to the consumer, an example for us, there in Jesús de Machaca we have not yet formed an association, tomorrow we will still form it. They have good thoughts to produce Cañahua and to bring it to the market they would have to be helped, the GAM Caquiaviri has forgotten about this association, but with their own merits they have gone ahead, they obtained the legal status... that they continue forward. We will unite as Cañahua producers to work together, supporting each other to bring the product to the market, we can no longer work alone”.
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