IPS-English ARGENTINA: Microcredit Schemes Run by Indigenous Date: Wed, 14 Jun 2006 17:53:15 -0700 ROMAIPS LA DV CS IN MD WO=20 ARGENTINA: Microcredit Schemes Run by Indigenous Women Reactivate Economy Marcela Valente ABRA PAMPA, Argentina, Jun 14 (IPS) - The Puna plateau region in northeas= tern Argentina has become a showcase for community financial administrati= on, run by women. They have small banks, manage investment and health loa= ns, and are reactivating the economy, for the good of the entire communit= y. Through sound credit management, organised rural indigenous women in the = Puna region have succeeded where government projects based on outright gr= ants have failed: they have started successful, self-sustainable business= projects.=20 The town of Abra Pampa, population 13,000 is considered the capital of th= e Puna region, a high, cold desert area of 35,500 square kilometres, loca= ted in the north and west of the province of Jujuy, 1,800 kilometres nort= hwest of Buenos Aires.=20 In 1999, the Warmi Sayasjunqo (=94perseverant women=94 in Quechua) Founda= tion assessed the conditions in 79 Kolla indigenous communities, dependen= t on subsistence farming and livestock herding, in the environs of Abra P= ampa, many of them in the valleys and hills surrounding the Altiplano. =94We needed to improve the land, fence it to save the pasture for our ow= n animals, buy breeding animals to improve our livestock, buy seeds, lear= n to grow vegetables and make greenhouses, and build hutches and pens to = raise small animals, and we needed help to get the most out of our wool,=94= Florinda Condor=ED, a member of the foundation, told IPS. Based on this assessment, the Avina Foundation, an international organisa= tion that supports sustainable development projects in Latin America, pro= vided a microcredit fund to be used in the area. According to economist Ra=FAl Lloveta, coordinator of the Avina Foundatio= n in Jujuy, the women of Puna successfully met the challenge of setting u= p a network of community banks providing low-cost loans over a wide, spar= sely populated area. And now their organisation is self-sustaining. =94The Warmi set up a system that is different to traditional small-loan = banking, because they use the credits as an instrument to break the vicio= us circle of poverty, as well as to leverage production,=94 Lloveta, an e= xpert on community economics and development, explained to IPS. Members of the communities can apply for loans to boost production and ma= ke headway in markets, but also to buy antibiotics for a sick child. This= type of loan ranges from one to 300 pesos (30 cents of a dollar to 100 d= ollars), payable in one to three months, for example. The Warmi started by calling on communities to elect women delegates, who= were provided with training. =94The leaders must be women. Some families= would not accept that, and sent men. But we told them that unless women = were in charge, we couldn't give them credit,=94 Condor=ED said. For one year, the women received technical help in productive activities = and training in financial management. After that, credit funds were assig= ned, with the amounts depending on each community's needs and their abili= ty to pay the money back. To date some 2,500 loans have been made to about 3,000 families in the Pu= na region, according to Avina's calculations. Each of the 79 communities = in the region has its own =94community bank,=94 coordinated by a =94quipu= =94 (a sort of treasury secretary, in Quechua) who administers the loans. =94Some rural communities with 20 members were allocated 1,500 pesos (500= dollars), and others with 180 members might have 6,500 pesos (2,200 doll= ars) to distribute,=94 Condor=ED explained. Some communities manage a loa= n fund of up to 50,000 pesos (16,000 dollars).=20 Today these communities handle one million pesos (333,000 dollars), a muc= h greater sum than the initial capital, and their productivity conditions= have improved even more than those of their urban-dwelling neighbours. Condor=ED borrowed 5,000 pesos (1,600 dollars) to fence her 1,000 square = metres of land. This was at the beginning of the project. =94A roll of wi= re cost 45 pesos (15 dollars) and posts cost three pesos (one dollar) eac= h. Now, because of increased demand, rolls of wire have gone up to 200 pe= sos, and posts are 12 pesos,=94 she said. The price increases indicate that the economy has been reactivated. =94Be= fore, nobody bought anything because nobody had any money. Now people hav= e money, and that's why the prices have gone up,=94 the Warmi representat= ive said. She has also borrowed money to improve her vegetable garden, bu= y seeds, obtain the use of a tractor, and buy breeding stock. Llama wool has become more profitable. Each llama provides up to two kilo= s of wool per year. Store owners in Abra Pampa used to buy the wool for 1= 0 cents of a dollar per kilo, even though it commanded nearly five dollar= s a kilo in Buenos Aires.=20 The Warmi opened its own store and paid more than its competitors. =94We = paid producers up to eight or 10 pesos (2.70 or 3.30 dollars) a kilo,=94 = said Condor=ED. Lacking suppliers, the other store owners were forced to raise their pric= es, which have now stabilised at four pesos (1.30 dollars), more than ten= times the former value. The Foundation contacted shops in Buenos Aires and the provincial capital= of Jujuy, who send their buyers to the Warmi store in Puna to purchase t= he typical woollen goods of the region: pullovers, ponchos, gloves, socks= and bedspreads. The women also take out loans to raise chinchillas, rabbits, chickens and= trout. They get training and receive help to build greenhouses, in order= to diversify their produce. They buy weaving looms and knitting machines= , or equipment to process salt, which is plentiful in the south of Puna. They never miss an opportunity for more training, or for making an invest= ment. However, this potential seems to go unrecognised by the municipal governm= ent. =94People here have no entrepreneurial tradition, or experience of f= orming associations. There is a great deal of mistrust,=94 the head of th= e Social Action Department in Abra Pampa, Silvia Alanis, told IPS. =94Then there's the big problem of the lack of markets. There's no one to= sell to, and they end up selling to each other,=94 added Alanis, whose p= rogramme of stipends for the women of the town of Abra Pampa has been uns= uccessful. She said that in the last few years, the national government funded 30 pr= ojects of the Manos a la Obra (=94Let's Get to Work=94) programme, design= ed to promote small producers' activities by providing money for tools. E= ach project receives a grant of 15,000 pesos (5,000 dollars), which does = not have to be repaid. But only two of those projects have prospered. =94They were given tools f= or making crafts, they bought some inputs to improve their fields, but in= stead of improving their livestock they sold the animals to each other. I= t was as if they were content to have enough to barely subsist on,=94 Ala= nis commented.=20 In Lloveta's opinion, trust is the key factor. =94The Warmi aims at recre= ating the spirit of cooperation based on trust between the members of a c= ommunity.=94 In contrast, the government institutions that provide subsid= ies and stipends have lost prestige in the last few years, he added.=20 =94The people who receive subsidies feel as if they are the target of =91= clientelist' practices, as they have been at many other times, and even w= hen they are not asked to do so they feel they are expected to vote a cer= tain way, or be submissive, in return,=94 the Avina economist said. The Warmi, on the other hand, opposes subsidies because it believes that = =94they rob recipients of their dignity,=94 and works instead to create a= system that is not dependent on aid grants, but is self-sustaining. ***** + HEALTH-ARGENTINA: Women's Care Blossoms at the Desert's Edge (http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=3D33523) + HEALTH: Northwestern Argentina - a =94Paradise=94 Only for the Tourists (http://www.ipsnews.net/print.asp?idnews=3D33456) + ARGENTINA: Kolla Indians Fight to Protect Their Land (http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=3D33538) + ARGENTINA: Indigenous People Camp Out in Plaza to Demand Land Rights (http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=3D33582) + DEVELOPMENT-ARGENTINA: The Forgotten North (http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=3D32351) + Avina Foundation (http://www.avina.net/web/avinawebsite.nsf/page?open) (END/IPS/LA DV MD CS IN WO/TRASP-VD-SW/MV/AC/06) =20 =3D 06150233 ORP005 NNNN