The páramos are a unique ecosystem in the Andean highlands and act as key water reservoirs far beyond the region. However, intensive agriculture and cattle farming threaten them. This puts the indigenous farmers who depend on them under great pressure. A SWISSAID project supports them to conserve the páramos – and their livelihoods.
Facts
Aims
The project “Guardians of the páramos” aims to help peasant and indigenous families to improve their livelihoods by protecting and restoring páramo-ecosystems through the adaptation of production systems, and by developing economic prospects for the sustainability of their territories and the local indigenous population. In this way, the project will hopefully reduce poverty and prevent the exodus of young people from their communities in the long term.
The project is financially supported by the SDC.
A cold wind sweeps across the plain, located at 3’500 metres above sea level in the province of Chimborazo in the Ecuadorian high Andes. A group of women and men gather around a map they created themselves; a crucial part of local endeavours to protect and restore the páramos.
The lifeline of the high Andes
The páramos are unwell. Decades of intensive farming in monocultures, the usage of chemicals on the fields, as well as unsuitable cattle farming practices have damaged the sensitive ecosystem. The consequence: depleted soils and erosion, lost knowledge about traditional seeds, huge areas cleared for pasture, and polluted, dried-up water sources. Climate change is exacerbating the situation. Dry periods are becoming longer, and rainy seasons – often accompanied by hail, frost, and sudden drops in temperature – are becoming shorter.
Angel Gilberto Asas Azoguez, a local smallholder, sums it up: “Life here at 4,000 metres altitude is extreme. For a long time, we were able to make a good living from sheep farming. But a few years ago, water shortages became increasingly frequent. If we had continued as before, the páramos around us would have all dried up.”
A scenario that would have been catastrophic. The páramos, both highland steppes and wetlands at once, are the most important freshwater reservoirs of the Andes. In Ecuador and Colombia, where SWISSAID supports their restoration, these ecosystems provide 70 per cent of the water for communities near and far. They also store vast amounts of CO2 and are home to a unique flora and fauna, such as the palm-like frailejones, web-footed salamanders, and the Andean fox.
Healthy nature, healthy communities
A drying up of the water sources would mean the collapse of an entire ecosystem – with consequences for the global climate. Change is needed: only then can farmers continue to lead self-determined lives, create economic prospects for the region, and stop migration to the cities. Together with SWISSAID, local communities have now begun to reduce livestock farming, secure their water supply and develop alternative, sustainable sources of income.
Maria Roldan, 41, farmer
“People are leaving the area because there is no more water and their income is no longer enough to live on. Many children are growing up without their parents. But we have hope. Together with the local authorities and SWISSAID, we are in the process of reviving the páramos. We now have enough water again to supply our new agroecological gardens.”
The first step starts with establishing areas the communities would like to protect; it is only when the ecosystem recovers that it can supply the region with sufficient water. Samue Yaguah, a member of the water committee, elaborates: “With SWISSAID, we examined the soil and mapped the area. The streams higher up are now part of a protected area from which we draw our water. Additionally, we have restricted agricultural activities to lower-lying sites.”
They aim to protect and restore a total of 1,000 hectares of páramos. That takes time. But the first results are already visible, as Eulalia Ortiz, secretary of the municipal administration, happily reports: “It is wonderful to see old native plants come back. I have also spotted deer, rabbits, and other wild animals again here.”
With agroecology towards a brighter future
Change is also needed in agriculture and livestock farming. Though they are the most important sources of income in the high Andes, the way they were formerly practiced was water-intensive and depleted the soil. Furthermore, large areas were burned down to create pasture for livestock. However, the native flora, key to storing water in the soil, only recovered very slowly at the high altitude. SWISSAID therefore supports families to switch to agroecology and develop sustainable irrigation systems.
The farmers also reduced the size of their pastures and livestock. This decreases their income in the short term, but the sustainable cultivation of native vegetable varieties can compensate for those losses in the long term, explains farmer Maria Roldan. In workshops, parents and children learned about traditional vegetables varieties that are well-adapted to the local climate, natural alternatives to chemical fertilisers, and how to produce their own seeds.
The results are impressive: mountains of huge lettuces and cabbages are piled high on the stalls at the local market. The shift from monocultures to agroecological methods using a diversity of seeds allows families now to eat a healthy and balanced diet and earn an additional income from the surplus.
Gladys Manzano, 30, farmer
“Twice a week, we go to an agroecological market to sell our products and exchange seeds and plants. Even though life as a smallholder is very difficult, growing our own food has carried us through serious crises such as the Covid pandemic, which hit our country hard.”
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Women at the forefront
These positive changes are mainly the work of one driving force: the women of the páramos. Many men have moved to the cities to gain an additional income as day labourers. They are rarely at home. Left behind are the women, now bearing both the brunt of household and farming duties – without taking on any official leadership roles.
The SWISSAID project therefore also supports women’s networks that provide a space for women to exchange ideas and learn from each other. The “guardians of the páramos” are now mapping endangered areas and holding workshops on nature conservation and agroecology. Farmer Gladys Manzano, an expert in microorganisms and sustainable soil management, is often on the move to share her knowledge. It is clear: the women’s passionate commitment has visibly changed life in the high Andes for the better – and made it fit for the future.
Rosa Bravo, president of the Hoshuk Yuyay women's association
“As indigenous people and women, it’s twice as hard. We used to have no representation anywhere. Now that so many men have left the area, slowly a rethinking has begun. There are now already smaller villages that have a woman as president. That would have been unthinkable in the past and is a huge step forward.”
Copyright of the images: Saywa Katarhy Masaquiza
