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The harshest drought in the last 60 years is not a distant memory in Umpuco, in Puno, southern Peru. At more than 4,100 meters above sea level, this Quechua community still resists in that rugged area of the Peruvian Altiplano, where every drop of water is critical for survival. “Some of our alpacas aborted, others were born prematurely and others simply died,” laments Saida Tipo Apaza, 22 years old. Like most women at these altitudes, she is dedicated to raising alpacas and the business of their fiber, considered, after the vicuña, one of the finest among camelids. He 60% of this production chain is in the hands of women who, like her, have turned the country into the world’s leading producer of its fiber, with exports that exceed 90 million dollars a year.
However, last year, Puno, home to the largest population of alpacas, endured the driest month in six decades, according to Senamhi, the National Meteorological and Hydrological Service of Peru. In January, during what was supposed to be the rainy season, up to 23 days went by without a single drop of water falling. “The elders said that the drought was going to last more than two years, like in the past. We plan to sell everything, our alpacas, our llamas…”, remembers the alpaker.
To resist, many families in Umpuco were left with barely half of their Suri and Huacaya alpacas, the preferred breed in the national and international industry. “This year is different. For example, now all the hatchlings are alive. But the fear persists that the drought will return,” says Tipo, while she knits a vest the color of the semi-arid landscape that surrounds her.
Rains have never been abundant on this side of the Altiplano, where agriculture is almost impossible. “Our ancestors were dedicated to raising alpacas to barter, in exchange for chuño [fécula de papa]”, corn, potatoes, quinoa and fruits,” says Nivia Cutipa, 49 years old and one of the precursors of the Asvicup Alpaca Associationmade up of 28 women and two men from the community who raise more than 1,500 alpacas.
A lot has changed since then. This South American camelid is increasingly threatened by the climate crisis, which has made ancient weather patterns unpredictable in the high Andean areas. From prolonged droughts to frosts of 20 degrees below zero and the retreat of glaciers, they have altered the life cycle of alpacas and that of the communities that care for them.
One of the ecosystems most affected by these alterations are the high Andean grasslands, where herds graze. “Alpacas are very sensitive to changes and the fineness of their fiber comes from good breeding,” says Cutipa. She, like the rest of the women in the community, is in charge of caring for them, shearing them, classifying their fiber and weaving threads and garments. “But if the grasslands are degraded and there is little water, the fiber is not of good quality.”
Harvest the rain
Now the dry season in Umpuco is very close. So that the crisis of the past is not repeated, these women have revived an ancient technique: the sowing and harvesting of water. This practice, rooted in the Andes since before the Incas, consists of collecting rainwater from the highest areas (planting) to later recover it in the lowest areas (harvesting). It is an effort to rescue ancestral knowledge, like that of Avelina Mamani’s family.
“Before, our ancestors lived in harmony with the Pachamama, they performed rituals, they made irrigation canals,” says the 52-year-old alpaca farmer, who had been weaving since she was a child with her mother. “The water came beautifully from our springs, but the community itself has lost all those customs.”
Since last year, the Umpuco alpaca association has been working to recover this ancestral knowledge with the Global Environment Facility Small Grants Program, which leads the Ministry of the Environment and implements the United Nations Development Program. This program works as an innovation laboratory for the communities of those landscapes that concentrate great biodiversity and, at the same time, are highly vulnerable.
“Over these years we have achieved a model that takes advantage of natural infrastructure to conserve water with a participatory approach from the communities, in which they themselves define their priorities,” highlights Manuel Mavila, national coordinator of this program. In this seventh phase, it operates in the high Andean landscapes of Cusco, Puno and Tacna. “It is also a model that promotes exchange so that these innovations are replicated and scaled throughout the landscape.”
To sow water in Umpuco, the alpacas have captured water from the Japulaya spring at the heights of the community, which they then channel through a pipe of more than 1,000 meters. Each has also built 1,250 meters of infiltration ditches, channels that prevent rain runoff and retain water, and they have recovered 700 hectares of their grasslands with native grasses from the Andes, such as chillihua. (Festuca dolichophylla), which favors water retention.
On the other hand, to harvest water, the association has installed eight reservoirs that have the capacity to store up to 120,000 liters of water, which are used for sprinkler irrigation, a system that simulates rain in the dry season.
The planting and harvesting of water is already one of the adaptation measures of the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC), which represent Peru’s commitment to the Paris Agreement to limit an average increase in global temperature to 1.5 ºC and adapt to the climate crisis. In 2019, the Peruvian State recognized its importance by declaring it of national interest and public need.
“It is crucial to comply with these climate commitments, even more so if they are carried out by the communities that experience the most severe impacts of climate change,” says Mirbel Epiquiere, general director of Biological Diversity of the Ministry of the Environment, in an email. “We must understand that if we do not manage the effects of climate change, we will not be able to implement any development agenda. For Peru, as one of the most affected countries, influencing this relationship is key for the future.”
Despite this climatic resistance, migration has become inevitable in Umpuco and other communities in the Altiplano. According to him Internal Displacement Monitoring Center29,000 Peruvians migrated within the country due to disasters in 2022. In total, 8.7 million people in the world were displaced by phenomena such as floods, storms, droughts, forest fires and extreme temperatures.
But this exile is also related, to a large extent, to the absence of a fair market and the lack of opportunities. “Our grandmothers did not know the value of the fineness of the fiber,” says Nivia Cutipa. “We saw so much sacrifice from them so that in the end it was the middlemen who set the price for the finest fibers. That’s why we organized ourselves and started talking about added value.”
Almost all the fiber produced in Peru is marketed through intermediaries and without any value-added process. Samuel Ramos, president of the Umpuco alpaca association, explains it with statistics. An alpaca can produce up to two and a half kilos of fiber per year. And while a kilo of fiber sells for three dollars, not including the added value, that of thread exceeds 54 dollars. “A good spinner can make up to 200 grams a day,” adds the producer. “And a good knitter can finish a sweater in four days, which can sell for $65. That made us realize that by giving added value we earn more.”
Hence, one of the main strategies of the Small Donations Program has been to improve the techniques of alpaca farmers to add greater value to alpaca fiber. They now produce higher quality threads and garments, have registered a collective trademark and are getting advice on entering new sales spaces in Puno. “But there are still challenges in its commercialization, due to the distance from the market and the dependence on tourism, which usually falls in times of crisis,” highlights Mavila, coordinator of said program.
In addition, there are those who haggle the price of their fabrics, while in boutiques in Lima they pay about 240 dollars for a sweater and 100 for a scarf. “Sometimes they don’t understand the work behind each garment and we accept out of necessity,” warns Nivia Cutipa, who trains alpaqueras from other high Andean areas. “We would love to have a point of sale in the capital and reach international fairs, we are working on those dreams.”
There are many dreams of Umpuco that rest on his alpacas. But above all that of a different future for the youngest. “We want to continue preserving our knowledge and leave those lessons to our children, who are migrating to the mine, to the city,” Cutipa laments. “We want them to see that there are opportunities and you can live much better in our community.”
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