bachelorThesis
Practicas económicas andinas como alternativas al desarrollo. Caso de estudio de la asociación de productores agroecológicos “Sumak Mikuna” del cantón El Tambo, provincia del Cañar
Fecha
2022-06-14Autor
Guamán Yupa, Segunda Luz María
Institución
Resumen
The association of agroecological producers "SUMAK MIKUNA" of the El Tambo cantón, is part
of the Cóndor-Chuquiragua-Cañari Biocorridor that is located in the province of Cañar. It is a
territory of life that houses various ecosystems of great ecological, economic and cultural
importance, with primary forests, protected areas, and extensive areas of Paramos where the main
sources of WATER are found. But this territory is threatened by anthropic intervention that
generates changes in land use, the greatest threats being the advance of the agricultural frontier,
overgrazing, etc. In this context, the Sumak Mikuna Association, an organization made up of
Cañaris women, who, aware of the environmental problems of their territory, have organized to
work to protect the common goods of their territory, through the practice of economic activities
that promote the use of rational and sustainable of the common goods and the generation of added
value of its products. In this research, the qualitative methodology was used, a case study.
In the first part, the historical construction of the association was carried out, and the current
situation, where it is evident that they have had important achievements. Subsequently, an analysis
was made of the economic practices that the women of the association have been carrying out to
date, such as: Agroecology, dairy farming, rescue of ancestral Andean crops, protection of paramo,
generation of added value, direct marketing from producer to producer consumer, breeding of
minor species. In addition, solidarity practices are analyzed such as: minka, maquimañachi, barter,
under the principles of solidarity, reciprocity and redistribution, with the aim of guaranteeing the
food security of families, caring for the environment.
All these Andean economic practices are based on their comprehensive, holistic and harmonious
worldview of the world, community life, principles and values oriented towards protecting and
conserving common goods and building a society of harmony and balance among all the beings
that we inhabit in the Pachamama. The main objective of these economic practices is to guarantee
family food security, as well as allowing an efficient and sustainable form of production, with the
use of local technology and ancestral knowledge, which allows to care for and conserve the
Pachamama at the same time improving the peasant economy and the living conditions of families.The community economy and the social economy, as a theoretical conception and as a political
practice, are guided by the ethical principle of the reproduction and development of human life
and nature. The Andean economic practices as part of the Andean economy and the Social and
Solidarity Economy entities are aimed at boosting the local economy. They intervene in the locality
where they are, so they constitute an essential element from the cultural, social, economic and
political point of view.
All economic practices are aimed at protecting and conserving common goods. In this way, the
practice of Agroecology contributes to reducing environmental pollution, since it is a cultivation
system that prioritizes the use of local media and technology, as well as the efficient use of water.
The Andean economic practices carried out by the women of the Sumak Mikuna association, make
visible the hard work and contribution of women to the local and national economy, in addition,
through these economic practices they promote alternatives to development in the face of the
multidimensional crisis that we are currently going through in Our country and the world, a small
sample of this is the importance and relevance of ancestral knowledge and knowledge, which
prevailed during the critical time of the pandemic, where communities opted for ancestral
medicine, the use of medicinal plants to counteract the pandemic. Although all this effort is not
recognized by the state, it is and will continue in the daily practice of women.