ECUADOR - Statistics

The Province of Chimborazo
In this central province of the sierra, where Scarboro Missions works, is found Mt Chimborazo. At 6300 meters it is the country's highest mountain. Quichua Indigenous, descendants of the Puruha Indians who were conquered by the Incas 70 years before the Spanish conquest make up 67% of the population. They mostly occupy the rural areas of the province. Chimborazo has 407,876 inhabitants of whom 37% live in the urban areas and 63% in the rural areas. Of the total 51.2% are under 20 years of age. Women represent 52.1% of the general population and 21.1% of these are of child bearing age.

This province has one of the highest indices of poverty in Ecuador. The last few years have produced the greatest migration of people from rural areas to the city. In the rural areas the academic level is very low with a limited educational infrastructure. Illiteracy is 23.4% with indices of 66.4% in rural areas that are predominantly indigenous. The low academic and high illiteracy rate demonstrate the levels of poverty present, especially amongst the indigenous, who lack work opportunities and who are discriminated against in the cities.

Poverty afflicts more than 91% of the rural population, with nearly 60% of these living in extreme poverty. Consequently indices of infant mortality are two and three times those of urban areas. The province of Chimborazo is the most affected with indices above 100 deaths for every 1000 live births. These deaths are caused by the so called "poverty sicknesses", largely respiratory and intestinal infections which can be prevented. In 1994 the rate of maternal death was 1.1 for every 1000 births. A study revealed that in the majority of cases these deaths occurred to women who didn't read or write.

Of the 657,700 hectares of land in the province 30.6% have agricultural and animal use. There is a growing destruction of productive agricultural resources due to elimination of forests, erosion, chemical contamination, small land holdings, and the alteration of traditional agricultural use affecting the soils.

It is worth mentioning the availability of programs offered by NGOs and public institutions. The Ecuadorian economy is in crisis and this situation is expected to worsen conditions considerably for the poor as a result of the new economic measures announced. More than 60 NGOs, in addition to state and church rural development programs, operate in the province offering help in health, education and agricultural areas. These groups and those that receive their support are identified by economists as a "third sector" of the neo-liberal economy, who, unlike the market and government sectors, have social and non-profit objectives. Given the current situation of Ecuador this third sector is likely to increase as popular organisations, both urban and rural, look to each other for alternatives to the future, and as a means to survive the current crisis.

Needs Analysis of the Areas Influenced by the Project Condor:

Population:
100% of the population of the two communities have Quichua as their mother tongue. Half of the population is less than 20 years of age. At this time 56% of the homes have between 1 and 4 children, 40% between 5 and 8 children and 4% more than 8 children.

Gender:
The feasibility and planning studies realised in the two communities reveal the women in clear disadvantage to the men in what refers to the distribution of work, and in opportunities for education and capacity training.

When looking at reproductive activities, for example, we see that the most frequently done jobs (collection of fire wood, collection of water, preparing the foods, washing the clothes, cleaning the house, cleaning the dishes and care of the children) are only the responsibility of the women. The man is responsible for less frequently done jobs (repair the house, care of the sick, making tools, purchase of clothes or tools, purchase of agricultural materials).

Both the men and women receive the support of their sons and daughters who maintain a strict respect for the same division of work.

In the productive activities the same situation is observed. While the women are responsible for the feeding and cleaning of the animals (milking in case of the cows) the man takes charge exclusively of the veterinarian tasks and the commercialising of the animals.

In agriculture the tasks are equally shared by the men and the women. This is the situation in 60% of the cases where the husband doesn't migrate. In the other 40% the situation for the woman is more difficult. In these cases the women must assume as well the community activities (mingas, meetings, etc) and the purchases and commercialising in the urban centres.

The number of children (average of four) results in a multiplication of the tasks and activities mentioned above. As was noted above the opportunities for education and training are principally taken advantage of by the men.

In Pulingui San Pablo a women's organisation with 48 members functions as a result of the first stage of the project. Currently women are in charge of important community responsibilities in the community bank, school parents committee and the health commission. For the first time a woman, Manuela Cayambe, was elected to a position (Vice-President) on the Community Association. However the participation of women in community structures is incipient and non-existant in the neighbouring community of Chorrera Mirador Alto.

Education:
Of the total population in these two communities , 18% are unable to read and write. Of this group the number of illiterate women is twice that of the men. When analysing this situation by age groups we see that 42% of those over 26 are illiterate and for women in this age group the number is 65%, while for the men it is 31%.

For those over 16 but less than 26 all are able to read and write however 49% of these young people suspended their schooling at the end of primary school (after 6 years of education).In neither of the two communities is there a professional who has graduated from a post secondary institution of higher learning. There is one primary bilingual school (Quichua and Spanish) with 3 teachers and 70 students for the two communities. The construction of the community building in the first stage of the Condor Project gave the community a facility for the school and after arduous solicitations to the Ministry of Education a school was created with one teacher the first year and 3 teachers the second year. The school receives children from 4 communities in the area.

Workshops are now being held on different themes relevant to the community life and it is expected that these communities increasing relations with local NGOs and Government ministries will offer them more opportunities for specific learning experiences.

Housing and Health:
The two communities have a drinking water system by gravity which they jointly administer themselves. Electrification is in the works as a contract was signed in October 1998 for the both communities. The Provincial Council is supporting 80% of the cost of this project.

Land:

Only 20% of the cultivable land has access to water for irrigation. The irrigation that exists is concentrated in the 44% of the families with properties greater than 1 hectare. The other 56% of property owners do not dispose of irrigation water for their agricultural activities. 20% of the community's members possess properties greater than 15 hectares, this representing 58% of the cultivable land. Unlike many communities in Chimborazo these two communities have legal title to water spring sources (total of 28 litres/second) that are not being used and which are appropiate to be part of an irrigation system so that crops can be cultivated all year round.

Animal Production:
In the two communities there is an average of 2.5 cattle and 17 sheep per family. However one can appreciate important differences in the family situations. 20% of the families possess between 7 and 15 head of cattle each, representing 41% of the total number of existing cattle. The 20% of the families who have the less concentrate 55 of the total number of cattle. Similarly 20% of the families concentrate 57% of the total number of existing sheep in the communities. The situation studied permits us to estimate a total number of 1670 sheep and 212 cattle within the two communities. Over grazing of paramo grass land, is a serious factor for the alarming erosion of arable lands in the area. Three other communities, members of the Federation, have introduced alpaca herds at the same level, which unlike the sheep, are native to the area and do not destroy the habitat.

Agricultural Production:
Agricultural production occupies a secondary role in these two communities. At the time of the studies the fields were in full production with the following results. There was no cultivation greater than 2 hectares. 72% of the population cultivated potatoes, 60% barley and 38% broad beans. In the majority of cases the production came from plots less than 1 hectare and the final product is being used for home consumption. In each community there is a production of some 30 hectares of potatoes, 28 hectares of barley and some 10 hectares of broad beans. An irrigation system would permit year production and reduce the risks of crop loss. Greater production could be harvested on less land, reducing the need to farm the steep slopes which are highly subject to erosion.

Critical Conditions:

Migration:
In the project area 40% of the heads of families complement the family's earnings by offering their unskilled workforce in the urban centres, largely Guayaquil. They are construction workers, small merchants and agricultural workers on the banana and sugar estates. The skills acquired by these migrants in their sojourns outside the community are needed to develop alternative sources of income and consequently it is expected they will become involved in new community productive initiatives.

An advantage of working in the native communities is the collective form of work, known as mingas, to work on projects that benefit the entire community (harvests, schools, community centres, irrigation projects). Migration of men limits the mingas and consequently work is completed at a slower pace and can be reason for grumbling by those men who remain in the community.

These native communities have strong family units that are weakened with migration, reason enough to look at alternative productive projects to increase local employment. Profits from these activities will be used to create more jobs in the community.

Religion:
In the two communities 60% of the population identify themselves as Catholic and 34% as Evangelicals. In parts of Chimborazo the relations between Catholics and Evangelicals are conflictive and even violent. However, largely due to the leaders of the two communities of the project, this conflictive situation does not repeat itself here. Because of the distance the institutional church support has not been as thorough and when the pastors of the different Churches come to celebrate, as at Christmas time, the community members insist that since there is only one God then there will only be one celebration. The pastors have had to conform with ecumenical celebrations. This ecumenical relationship will continue to be strengthened as the children of all the members study in the same school.

Ecology:
The nature of this project is to balance the interests of the local inhabitants with the interests of the Park's ecosystems. The Park authorities while having had good intentions have been ineffective for want of budget and authority in controlling the ecological destruction to the Park area. They are supportive of this current project being presented to CIDA as outlined in the attached letter from the Chief of the Park.

It is well known that sheep, having been an animal introduced to the area, have feeding habits which run against the conservation of soils and the ecology. This aspect will be controlled with the gradual introduction of alpacas.

The two benefiting communities as well as the other member communities of the Native Farmer's Federation because of their condition of being park inhabitants are obliged to undertake only those activities ecologically sustainable and for this reason require economic support. All of the project components are being implemented because of their compatibility with the ecology of the region and their potential to create alternative sources of employment and income for the local inhabitants (See environmental assessment for more detail).

Environmental Education:
The participatory studies realised in the two communities demonstrate that the inhabitants in representing the distinct sectors of the communal territory, the natural resources, and in their 'future vision' lack terminology which speak of the importance of the water, the wind, the sun, the plant life, the fragility of the soil, the absence of forests and conservation works. This will be the parting point for the construction of pedagogical programs and to measure the impact of the educational work carried out by the project.

Government Plans for Park Areas:
The Ministry of Environment is currently reducing its presence in the Park areas to a normative and supervisory role. It is encouraging local communities and NGOs to assume a greater responsibility in the management of Park areas. This policy change creates a degree of urgency to prepare the native communities for their participation. The current project proposal includes environmental education for the conservation of the park areas and at the same time economic incentives to develop activities that are in the best interests of the regions ecosystems.

 

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