39133 Using traditional knowledge in economic development: The impact of raised field irriga- tion on agricultural production in Puno, Peru T he Andean region of Puno, known often flooded lake and river terrain. as the altiplano, is located at The water-filled canals adjacent to 3,830 meters above sea level. The terrain the platforms provide moisture during Notes is prone to flooding, and thus difficult to the droughts. Sun heats the water in cultivate. In order to deal with this the canals during the day, which situation,Andean indigenous populations protects the crops against the killing displaced huge amounts of soil in order to frost that is often present at high create raised fields that were better altitude. The canals also capture adapted to agricultural use. nutrients and produce organic-rich Raised fields (camellones in Spanish, sediments that can be added to the KI waru waru in Quechua, suka kollus in fields to extend the harvest period.5 Aymara) are elevated platforms of earth, An evaluation of the result of these 1 to 20 meters wide, ten to hundreds of effects was described as follows in meters long, and 0.5 to 1 meter high. the UNESCO database of Best Canals that provided the earth for Practices on Indigenous Knowledge: constructing the platforms surround the Experience shows that the mini- fields. Erickson estimated that raised mum night time temperatures http://www.worldbank.org/afr/ik/default.htm fields cover more than 120,000 hectares reached in [raised field] areas are of the Lake Titicaca basin, but that most two to three degrees centigrade are not currently in use1. Archaeological higher than those of the surround- investigation and agronomic experimen- ing plains. The moisture provided tation, carried out by Erickson and his by the canals lowers the impact of colleagues between 1981 and 1987 with sporadic droughts during the cycle the participation of local farmers, re- and, in the rainy season, prevents vealed that farmers began constructing the subsoil from becoming water- raised fields at some point before logged by ensuring adequate 1000BC. Raised field agriculture thrived drainage. Crop yields, in particular No. 99 in the Puno region during the Tiahuanaco January 2007 civilization but fell into disuse around 1100 AD2; most of the fields were later IK Notes reports periodically on converted into pasture around the Indigenous Knowledge (IK) initiatives colonial haciendas, and then became in Sub-Saharan Africa and occassionally on such initiatives government cooperatives in 1968.3 outside the region. It is published by Raised fields resolved many of the the Africa region's Results and problems that affect agriculture at high Learning Unit as part of an evolving K partnership between the World Bank, altitude4. The technology combines the communities, NGOs, development rehabilitation of marginal soils, drainage institutions, and multilateral improvement, increased water storage, organizations. The views expressed in more efficient use of radiant energy, and this article are those of the authors World Bank attenuation of the effects of frosts. The and should not be attributed to the World Bank Group or its partners in raised platform allows farmers to double this initiative. A webpage on IK is the depth of topsoil for crops, and available at: //www.worldbank.org/afr/ provides dry surfaces in the wet and ik 39133 2 yields of potatoes and other Andean tubers, are 50% to deviation and coefficient of variation observed in data set II 100% higher (...). (...) Studies carried out over the past for the raised fields), and the shortcomings of a costly eight years, covering rotation cycles of five years of NGO staff participation in carrying out raised field rehabili- cultivation plus three years of fallow, and estimated on tation. the basis of an economic life of 20 years, showed a 7% According to Erickson10, many farms abandoned raised annual average increase in profits even after mainte- fields in spite of the increase in crop yield. However, nance costs were deducted. This result has been reasons for abandonment of the raised fields are indepen- achieved in spite of two El Niños.6 dent of the technique's effectiveness for production. Following the apparent success of this experimentation, Among the reasons Erickson found are: Erickson and his colleagues began a small-scale develop- - Competing labor demands: Constructing large blocks of ment project to rehabilitate pre-Hispanic raised field raised fields requires a significant amount of labor at the agriculture in a few indigenous communities of the Lake start, even though this need diminishes when spread out Titicaca basin, specifically in the Puno region. By the late over successive years of cultivation. However, many 1980's nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and govern- farmers migrate for temporary work to cities and mines ment agencies in Peru and Bolivia began to promote raised during a part of the year, which reduces the availability of field rehabilitation projects by providing funding and labor for raised field implementation. assistance for their rehabilitation7. Estimates show that farmers from several hundred Quechua and Aymara - Traditional fallow cycles: Traditionally, farmers plant communities rehabilitated between 500 and 1,500 hectares crops for three years and then leave fields in fallow for up of raised fields in the years before 19908. A restoration to twenty years. This rotation pattern allows for an optimi- project supported by CARE-Peru began in 1991 to con- zation of the potential of exhausted and eroded mountain tinue using the irrigation in Puno. soils, at a relatively low cost. Farmers today apply this traditional rotation technique to raised field agriculture, To evaluate the effectiveness of raised fields for Puno's even though it is not necessary for fields that are well agricultural sector, it is useful to determine whether the managed. Thus, many raised fields that appear to be benefits of implementing the technique outweigh the costs. abandoned might actually be in fallow. The interpretation of four data sets helped to determine this9. (I) The agricultural yield data (kg/ha) from Puno's - Competition with livestock: Livestock is a significant Chatuma and Caritamaya communities for 1992-93 pro- income source for Quechua farmers. Those who manage vides an assessment of the impact of raised field irrigation raised field areas must choose between rehabilitating the compared to that of mountainside and pampas terrain. The fields and grazing livestock. Because livestock has rela- figures reveal that in general the yields that were produced tively higher market value, farmers often choose livestock with raised fields are higher. (II) A comparison of yields over raised fields. Experiments are currently being carried with and without raised fields in the Puno region (1999- out by individual farmers for integrating raised field agricul- 2005) shows that in most cases agricultural yield was ture with livestock grazing, but this integration of methods superior when raised fields were used. (III) Average presents challenges and has not yet been widely imple- quinoa yields in the Puno region from 1979 to 1998 show a mented. sustained increase in average yields starting in 1990. (IV) - Political instability: The instability caused by Shining Comparing the costs with the revenue yielded from the Path activities in the late 1980's and early 1990's resulted harvest of the same year from the fields managed by in most international aid agencies leaving Peru, including CARE in 1999-2000 leads to the conclusion that the those who were promoting raised fields in Puno. NGO benefits of using raised field irrigation outweigh the costs funding for raised field rehabilitation thus became increas- incurred by CARE. However, the data also demonstrates ingly irregular, and some fields were therefore abandoned. that the investment in CARE's staff participation does not result in an impressive cost/benefit outcome. These reasons for abandonment of the raised fields These interpretations provide evidence that although highlight the fact that raised fields were not a structural the benefits of applying traditional knowledge to an eco- part of agricultural life in Puno before their rehabilitation by nomic sector can potentially outweigh the costs, there are NGOs at the end of the 1980's. The Puno case study is nonetheless inefficiencies in the way that the raised field particular in this regard, since knowledge of the traditional technique was applied to agriculture in Puno. Two of these irrigation technique was re-introduced into farmer commu- challenges are a tendency for farmers to abandon manage- nities after centuries of disuse and was not an inherent part ment of the raised fields (which explains the high standard 39133 3 of community life. This characteristic is exceptional: in the observation that raised fields were improving crop yield18. majority of cases in which traditional knowledge is used in These organizations enabled the reconstruction of 500 development, the knowledge is held by community mem- hectares of raised fields in 72 rural communities in the bers and passed on between generations instead of being Puno region. After they were constructed, operating and reintroduced by exterior research or development organiza- maintaining the systems became the sole responsibility of tions such as Erickson's archaeological team. This excep- the farmers who benefited from using the technology.19 tional status of the Puno case study may account for a However, in the case of both CARE's and PIWA's large part of why raised fields were often abandoned. involvement, projects were subsidized by a combination of Based on these facts and the results of data set IV governmental and international funds20, which led to concerning CARE's financial contributions toward rehabili- farmers remaining dependent on development organizations tating raised fields, it becomes apparent that NGO partici- to finance their raised field agriculture21. Provided with the pation in applying traditional knowledge to development expectation that the funding institutions would continue to implies certain challenges that need to be accounted for. fund these projects, there was limited motivation from the For example, NGOs failed to provide farmers with indi- farmers themselves to consolidate their knowledge of how vidual incentives for rehabilitating the raised fields.A raised fields must be built and managed. The predominance USAID program provided surplus food, which was given to of institutional investment over individual sacrifices to make farmers in exchange for participating in raised field devel- the construction of raised fields possible, meant that when opment projects11. In the mid-1980s the government of the outside funds were suspended there was not a suffi- Peru encouraged rehabilitating raised fields using a system ciently solid foundation in the community for the raised by which farmers contributed their labor to building the fields to be maintained. fields for a low daily wage. To supplement this low income, CARE and PIWA have now ceased managing raised the payment of additional incentives (food, tools and seed) field rehabilitation in Puno, largely due to lack of continued ensured the farmers' participation in projects, thereby funding from their respective international and governmen- creating competition between development agencies12. tal sources22. Both the abandonment of raised fields and However, as a result of this system, farmers ended up in a the inefficiencies of NGO participation in Puno demon- position where they were working for a development strate that traditional knowledge is more likely to be agency or NGO rather than for their own farming enter- beneficial to local economic growth if it is maintained prise. It is therefore not surprising that most of the rehabili- within the community itself rather than promoted by tated raised fields that were abandoned in the 1990's had detached organizations. Ultimately, educating each new been constructed by communities or by large groups of generation in the community on its traditional knowledge farmers working together and not individually13. In the can optimize the potential for this knowledge to contribute community projects, "poor organization and leadership, to development solutions. internal tensions, and land tenure problems within commu- nities worked against long-term sustained commitment to communal farming of large raised field plots"14. This Endnotes happened because individual farmers were not educated on 1Erickson, Clark, "Agricultural Landscapes as World the potential value that the raised fields had for their crops, Heritage: Raised FieldAgriculture in Bolivia and Peru", in so they lacked individual incentive to implement them. Managing Change: Sustainable Approaches to the These facts led to adverse results in managing the raised Conservation of the Built Environment, Ed. Jeanne- field projects, in spite of the irrigation's potential to increase Marie Teutonico and Frank Matero, Getty Conservation yields substantially. In response to these difficulties, the Institute, LosAngeles, 2003, pp. 181-204. "Project for the Rehabilitation of the Andean Waru Waru 2http://www.unesco.org/most/bpik19-2.htm Region" (PIWA, by its Spanish acronym15) initiated its 3Ibid. activities inAugust 1989: through a community outreach 4 system, PIWAprovided technical and scientific knowledge Erickson, Clark and D. Brinkmeier, "Raised field to sustain the operation and dynamic of raised field sys- rehabilitation projects in the northern Lake Titicaca basin", tems.16 PIWA incorporated various local organizations such unpublished report to the Interamerican Foundation, as rural communities, mothers clubs, families and schools, Washington, D.C., 1991. to spread knowledge of raised field technology throughout 5Informe Final del Seminario-Taller sobre Tecnologías the communities.17 A few Peruvian governmental organiza- Alternativas para Aumentar la Disponibilidad de Agua en tions also provided subsidies to PIWA, as a result of the América Latina, Lima, Peru, 19-22 Sept. 1995, OAS/ 39133 4 UNEP. See also Tapia, Mario E. and Mairano Banegas, 12Erickson, Clark and D. Brinkmeier, "Raised field "HumanAdaptation to a High-Risk Environment: rehabilitation projects in the northern Lake Titicaca basin", Camellones or Waru Waru: TraditionalAgricultural Tech- unpublished report to the Interamerican Foundation, nology of the Peruvian Andes", Journal of Farming Washington, D.C., 1991. Systems Research-Extension 1 (1): 93-98. 13Erickson, Clark, "Agricultural Landscapes as World 6Kolata, A.L., O. Rivera, J.C. Ramirez, and E. Gemio, Heritage: Raised FieldAgriculture in Bolivia and Peru", in "Rehabilitating raised-field agriculture in the southern Lake Managing Change: Sustainable Approaches to the Titicaca basin of Bolivia", in Tiwanaku and Its Hinter- Conservation of the Built Environment, Ed. Jeanne- land: Archaeology and Paleoecology of an Andean Marie Teutonico and Frank Matero, Getty Conservation Civilization, Vol. 1, Agroecology, ed. A.L. Kolata 203-30, Institute, LosAngeles, 2003, pp. 181-204. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press. 14PIWA or PIWANDES: Proyecto Interinstitutional de 7PIWA, Priorización de las Áreas Potenciales para la Rehabilitación Waru Waru (de los Andes) reconstrucción de waru waru en el Altiplano de Puno, 15This was done with the financial support of the Swiss Programa Interinstitucional de Waru Waru, INADE/PELT- Agency for the Development and Cooperation COTESU, Puno, Peru, 1994. (COSUDE). 8A more complete analysis can be found in the author's 16Ibid. master's thesis, "Using traditional knowledge in economic 17 development: The impact of raised field irrigation on Among these were the Instituto Nacional de agricultural production in Puno, Peru", dir. Dr. Patrick InvestigaciónAgropecuaria yAgroindustrial (INIAA), the Messerlin, Institut d'Études Politiques de Paris (GEM), Centro de Investigación Agropecuaria Salcedo (CIAS) and June 2006. the Centro de Proyectos Integrales Andinos (CEPIA). 18 9Erickson, Clark, "Agricultural Landscapes as World Source Book, IETC Technical Publication Series, Heritage: Raised FieldAgriculture in Bolivia and Peru", in UNEP International Environmental Technology Centre, Managing Change: Sustainable Approaches to the Osaka/Shiga, Japan, 1997. Conservation of the Built Environment, Ed. Jeanne- 19in large part the Netherlands, with the support of the Marie Teutonico and Frank Matero, Getty Conservation NUFFIC or Netherlands Organization for International Institute, LosAngeles, 2003, pp. 181-204. Cooperation in Higher Education. See www.unesco.org/ 10Erickson, Clark and D. Brinkmeier, "Raised field most/bpik19-2.htm rehabilitation projects in the northern Lake Titicaca basin", 20Middleton, M., interview with Jaime Villena, Executive unpublished report to the Interamerican Foundation, Director for PIWANDES, Feb. 2006. Washington, D.C., 1991. 21Ibid. 11Garaycochea, I., "Community-based organizations and rural development with a particular reference to Andean peasant communities", Master's thesis, Reading University, Reading, England. This IK Note was written by Melisande Middleton, graduate of Stanford University and the Institut d´Etudes Politiques de Paris, with a specialization in international economics. If you have questions, please email melisandem@gmail.com.