Principal Investigator

Jeffrey Alwang, professor, Agricultural and Applied Economics
Virginia Tech

Overview

Most households in rural watershed regions of the Andes rely on agriculture or other natural-resource based activities for their livelihoods. SANREM researchers are monitoring the social, economic, and environmental effects of livelihood changes in watersheds of Chimbo, Ecuador, and Tiraque, Bolivia. The aim is to improve farm families’ lives and incomes by finding profitable alternatives, to identify constraints to adopting these alternatives, and to encourage genetic diversity in crop selection.

Having completed initial community surveys of natural resources and human assets, the SANREM team has begun analyzing soil erosion and monitoring stream flows, rainfall, and weather patterns. Geographic information system (GIS) data are being used to show areas of highest productivity and where soil loss and erosion are most likely. Researchers and farmers are experimenting with conservation techniques such as contour plowing and integrated pest management. Alternative crops such as blackberry, avocado, lemon, tree tomato, kanuahua, maca, and strawberry are being tested for their potential to raise family incomes. In Bolivia, a field study is analyzing how potato producers decide which varieties to plant. In Ecuador, researchers are studying whether the current marketing system for profitable dairy products discourages farmers from participating. While biodiversity is being studied in both countries, researchers have already gathered data in Ecuador’s Illangama and Alumbre watersheds on aquatic species and chemical composition of water in streams.

Training and capacity-building are central to this project. Professionals from Ecuador and Bolivia participated in February 2008 watershed modeling workshops at Virginia Tech. Integrated resource management and soil conservation training was conducted in Ecuador. A watershed modeling workshop in Bolivia is set for late summer 2008. SANREM is also encouraging cross-community study tours, offering undergraduate internships in watershed management, and supporting graduate students in the host countries and at U.S. institutions. Scientific work is ongoing in farmer fields, in experiment stations, and at U.S. universities.

The project reports several major findings to date.

• Evidence shows that two alternatives have high economic returns: reduced application of agrochemicals, particularly integrated pest management for potatoes; and low-cost conservation techniques to improve soil quality.

• An inventory of biodiversity and a study of the effects of human activities on this biodiversity show that the Ecuadoran watershed is ecologically diverse, but many plant and animal species are threatened by land fragmentation.

• The main sources of water quality problems in Ecuador’s Chimbo River are urban, not agricultural.

• Access to water is becoming increasingly problematic for household consumers as well as municipal, agricultural, and potential industrial water users. The project and its partners are investigating how water allocation decisions are made, with the hope of developing more equitable policies.

• Natural resource-intensive activities such as cultivation of medicinal plants represent an important income-earning alternative.