Access to water and social capital by Heifer Perú

ACCESS TO WATER AND SOCIAL CAPITAL IN THE DRY FOREST RURAL COMMUNITIES OF PIURA Luis Gómez Abramonte Flor de María Chávez Villar

Systematization of experiences WORKING DOCUMENT NO 8

LUIS GÓMEZ ABRAMONTE Luis Gómez Abramonte is an Agricultural Engineer with a Master’s in Environmental Engineering and certificates in Rural Development, Business Administration, Project Design, Agroecology, and Food Security. He has published several documents including: Small Agriculture in the High Piura Valley [Pequeña Agricultura en el Valle del Alto Piura], Agrochemicals in the Piura Region [Agroquímicos en la Región Piura], Compendium of Technical Specifications for 60 Piuran crops [Compendio de fichas técnicas de 60 cultivos de Piura], and a range of articles on environmental topics and the strengthening of rural organizations. Over the past three decades, Luis has worked in different institutions throughout the Piura region, helping to build and/or strengthen the development processes related to water access, technical assistance, skills development for men and women, productive enterprises, promotion of agroecological production, and the strengthening of farmers’ organizations. Since 2000, Luis has been working with Heifer Perú as the Northern Project Coordinator (covering Piura, Lambayeque, and Cajamarca) and is responsable for the design, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of rural development projects.

FLOR DE MARÍA CHÁVEZ VILLAR For the past eighteen years, Flor has worked as a Social Promoter, Facilitator, Project Coordinator, Project Evaluation and Systematization team member, and Gender Consultant. She has worked with women’s organizations (both with farmers and artisans), Resource Committees, Irrigation Committees, rural communities, the Piura Network of Female Authorities, and oﬃcials and authorities from the municipal and regional governments to promote sustainable development with a focus on gender equity. Flor has carried out complementary studies on Gender and Development, Disaster Administration, Damage Assessment and Needs Analysis, Strategic Management for Business Administration, Public Management and Citizen Participation with Gender Equity, and Teaching Management and Gender.

GÓMEZ, Luis; CHÁVEZ, Flor de María. ACCESS TO WATER AND SOCIAL CAPITAL IN THE DRY FOREST RURAL COMMUNITIES OF PIURA Systematization of experiences. Lima: Heifer Perú, 2015. 60 pp. (Working Document Nº 8) Social capital; Water; Dry forest; Gender equity; Quality of life; Advocacy; Rural communities; Improving the environment.

ACCESS TO WATER AND SOCIAL CAPITAL IN THE DRY FOREST RURAL COMMUNITIES OF PIURA Published in the National Peruvian Library with legal number N° 2015-07428 ISBN: 978-612-45054-6-1 June 2015 Printing: 1000 copies

Edited by ©2015 Heifer Project International - Perú Av. Brasil 2948 Magdalena del Mar, Lima 17 - Perú Teléfono: (51) (1) 261-3122 E-mail: oficina.nacional@heiferperu.org www.heifer.org www.heiferperu.org

Authors: Luis Gómez Abramonte - Flor de María Chávez Villar

Photographs: Heifer International Perú Archives Design: Ymagino Publicidad S.A.C. Proofreading: Kimochi Gestión Cultural – Doris Moromisato Miasato Translation: Monica Dykas

Printed by: Ymagino Publicidad S.A.C. Mz. E Lt. 8, II Etapa. Urb. Santa Elisa - Los Olivos (51 1) 528-5843

Printed in Peru in June 2015 All rights reserved. The complete or partial reproduction or distribution (by any means including mechanical, photocopies, electronic, magnetic, or others) of this work is prohibited without former written authorization by the editors, under the established legal sanctions.

ACCESS TO WATER AND SOCIAL CAPITAL IN THE DRY FOREST RURAL COMMUNITIES OF PIURA Luis Gómez Abramonte Flor de María Chávez Villar

Systematization of experiences WORKING DOCUMENT NO 8

ACCESS TO WATER AND SOCIAL CAPITAL IN THE DRY FOREST RURAL COMMUNITIES OF PIURA

Contents PRESENTATION 7 INTRODUCCIÓN 9 1.

LA SITUACIÓN DEL BOSQUE SECO EN PIURA

1.1.

The Piura Region

1.2.

The dry forest in Piura

ACCESS TO WATER, ORGANIZED BY THE GOVERNMENT

HEIFER PERÚ’S EXPERIENCE

3.1.

Process: promotion, organization, and action

3.2.

Location of the four project experiences on water supply

REFLECTIONS ON THE FOUR WATER SUPPLY EXPERIENCES

4.1.

Water supply for human consumption and livestock in the Nuevo Pozo Oscuro Village, San Martín de Sechura Rural Community, Bernal District 28

4.2.

Water supply for human consumption in the San Luis Annex, Juan Velasco Alvarado Franco Rural Community, Morropón District 31

4.3.

Water supply for productive uses in the San Joaquín Annex, San Joaquín de Suyo Rural Community, Ayabaca District

4.4.

Water supply for human consumption in the Río Seco Alto Annex, Carlos Augusto Rivera Rural Community 40

IMPACTS GENERATED BY THE WATER SUPPLY PROJECTS

LESSONS LEARNED

6.1.

Genuine need and justice

6.2.

Full participation and cooperation

6.3.

Gender and family focus

6.4.

Sustainability and self-reliance

BIBLIOGRAPHY 55 ANNEXES 56

ACCESS TO WATER AND SOCIAL CAPITAL IN THE DRY FOREST RURAL COMMUNITIES OF PIURA

> Systematization of experiences

PRESENTATION Over the past year, I have visited Piura on various occasions; on one occasion, I had the opportunity to participate in the activities for the improvement of water access for participant families in Heifer’s projects. The members of these families repeated a simple, but profound phrase, “water is life.” These words did nothing more than express a genuine and deeply felt need, especially in the dry forest context where “water stress” is a permanent condition due to frequent droughts and years of little rain. It is necessary to emphasize that the dry forest needs the summer rains and the ground water, internal rivers that refresh the flora, especially the carob tree, and give life to what could be a desert. It is often necessary to drill 250 meters deep to obtain this ground water. Access to water for human consumption and livestock is of vital importance for the dry forest residents, who are often obligated to walk for hours just to get water. Water is a genuine need and, thus, access to it is an act of justice. During our experience working in the dry forest, we learned that the organization of the residents is of vital importance for their survival. It is always a pleasant surprise to observe that, when the people see a possibility to access water, they quickly look for a way to organize themselves or strengthen their associations in order to achieve this objective. Once having obtained access to the water, the greatest challenge is strengthening the association to maintain and manage the administration of this resource over time. Only full participation and cooperation, as part of the development of their associations, and the improvement of social capital will make it possible for the project-supported activities to be sustained and managed by the community; sustainability and self-reliance are important objectives of Heifer International in its mission to work with communities to end world hunger and poverty and to care for the Earth. The experiences demonstrated in this systematization refer to the process that the families went through to gain access to and manage the water for their productive activities, whether agricultural, livestock, or product transformation. All the activities together were a large investment, not only monetarily but also of time and effort on the part of the participant families, associations, and other actors that made it possible for opportunities to be converted into reality.

ACCESS TO WATER AND SOCIAL CAPITAL IN THE DRY FOREST RURAL COMMUNITIES OF PIURA

On that note, we wish to recognize and thank all the project participants for their involvement. In a very special way, we also want to thank the leaders and members of the grassroots organizations from the following villages and annexes: San Luis (Juan Velasco Alvarado Rural Community), Pozo Oscuro (San Martín de Sechura Rural Community), San Joaquín (San Joaquín de Suyo Rural Community), and Rio Seco (Carlos Augusto Rivera Rural Community); these leaders and community members made it possible for the projects to be executed as they put forth great effort to build solidarity networks to Pass on the Gift with the other members of their communities. In the four experiences highlighted in this document, we have supported 301 families that encompass more than 1,500 individuals. We are grateful to the people who participated in the meetings, workshops, and focus groups during which they shared their testimonies and opinions and made it possible to accomplish this systematization. A special appreciation goes to Luis Gómez Abramonte, Heifer Perú’s Northern Project Coordinator, for his enthusiasm and perseverance that contributed both to the project achievements and the realization of this systematization; and to Flor de María Chávez Villar, Heifer Perú’s consultant for this systematization of experiences. Both Luis and Flor were dedicated to gathering information on the activities, testimonies, and opinions of the various actors and then summarizing, analyzing, and reflecting upon these experiences in order to write this systematization. Likewise, we thank Madeleine Muñoz, Training Officer, for her comments, content enrichment, editing, and, above all, her contributions on social capital. We also thank our consultant, Sandra Anchivilca, for her review of this document. Finally, I would like to highlight that, in addition to Heifer Perú, Heifer International also has an interest in publishing these experiences as it seeks to capitalize upon the knowledge, experiences, and best practices in order to share them with others in the development field. Thank you very much. Alfredo García National Director Heifer Perú Lima, junio de 2015.

> Systematization of experiences

INTRODUCTION Set within Heifer International’s Regional Program SAN SECO, the project “Sustainable livelihoods in the dry forest communities – Piura Umbrella,” executed by Heifer Perú from 2011-2014, prioritized eleven strategic activities. One of those activities was “supporting water access” for human consumption and livestock development; the water access strategy was implemented through the following methods: 1) Support for community initiatives to dig wells; 2) Complementary equipment for building wells that can reach water with greatest flow; 3) Training on well use and maintenance to guarantee sustainability, water availability, and water quality, both for family consumption and sustainable livestock development. Heifer Perú implements these activities within a challenging context where the people try to achieve the conservation and sustainability of water resources that can satisfy all their human needs. At the same time, this challenge implies guaranteeing the sustainability of the natural ecosystems while seeking to advance the development of the productive efforts. The objective of this publication is to portray four experiences on water access and systematize these experiences so that other actors interested in this sector can use these learnings in other projects. The four experiences are from the following areas: San Luis Annex (Juan Velasco Alvarado Rural Community), Nuevo Pozo Oscuro Village (San Martín de Sechura Rural Community), San Joaquín Annex (San Joaquín de Suyo Rural Community), and Rio Seco Annex (Carlos Augusto Rivera Rural Community). Through these experiences, we hope to increase awareness of the importance of water resources in vulnerable ecosystems such as the dry forest. In this way, one can understand why the community members have worked so hard and advocated for these resources. Additionally, we seek to demonstrate how social capital, created around this need, has led to guarantee the right to water; that is, the joint effort from people who are adequately organized can achieve common goals that involve interventions from either the public or private sectors.

ACCESS TO WATER AND SOCIAL CAPITAL IN THE DRY FOREST RURAL COMMUNITIES OF PIURA

Methodology The systematization process was development so that women and men from the selected experiences could analyze what they did, why they did it, and what the results were. Based on the lessons learned, new learning processes were developed so that the participants would seek to improve their practices in the future and so other people and institutions, in other places, can use these lived experiences to help plan and execute their own projects on this topic. The systematization process included four stages:

Bibliographic revision related to the topic; review of Heifer Perú’s internal documentation such as project documents, semesterly reports, and testimonies or reports specific to the water access activities; additionally, we had the opportunity to review the internal documents of the municipalities where we intervened, such as the District Development Plans.

Recovery of the lived process: Reconstruct the history, order and classify the information, and identify key people who actively participate in the implementation process.

Deep reflection: Why did it happen? Analyze, synthesize, and critically interpret the implementation process.

Concluding points: Formulate conclusions and communicate learnings.

To develop this methodology, supported by a “case study approach,” a list of questions was created to be used for the interview guides, surveys, field observation guides, and home visit guides; all of these tools were applied in each of the groups selected for the systematization process. Furthermore, the information was validated in focus groups with the directors of the local organizations that participated in the project, local leaders and authorities, and the project participants themselves. The results of this systematization have been organized into six chapters. The first chapter refers to the context of the region and the dry forest; the second chapter discusses the regulatory procedures and the actions undertaken by the national government to address water supply for local families; the third chapter describes the principal characteristics of each geographic zone and organization where the project was executed; the fourth chapter shows Heifer Perú’s strategies to meet the challenges of water access and the results generated by these experiences; the fifth chapter describes each of the four experiences and the learnings and actions that helped the families and communities to resolve their water supply problems; and finally, the sixth chapter highlights the lessons learned during the execution of the project.

1. CURRENT SITUATION OF PIURA’S DRY FOREST

ACCESS TO WATER AND SOCIAL CAPITAL IN THE DRY FOREST RURAL COMMUNITIES OF PIURA

1.1. The Piura Region The Piura Region is located in Northwestern Peru, 981 kilometers north of the city of Lima. It has a total land area of 35,892 km2, which represents 2.79% of Peru’s territory. The region is divided into eight provinces: Piura, Sullana, Talara, Paita, Sechura, Morropón, Huancabamba, and Ayabaca. The eight provinces are divided into a total of 65 districts, including the recently created district “26 de Octubre” in the Piura Province. According to the National Institute for Statistics and Informatics (INEI for its spelling in Spanish), Piura’s estimated population for 2014 is slightly more than 1.8 million people (6.1% of the national population), thus being the second largest region in terms of population after the Lima Region. Illustration1: Piura Region. Location of the different provinces.

TALARA

and have varied rainfall depending on the season. One important characteristic of the region is the recurring presence of the El Niño phenomenom that happens in certain regular periods and that has both negative and positive effects on the region. One of the main problems regarding water resources is the contamination of the Chira River and Bajo Piura due to the discharge of wastewater from Piura and Castilla in the drain #1308; this contamination affects the health of the Bajo Piura population which gets its water supply from the river. Piura is among the regions where there are still segments of the population who cannot meet their basic needs for health, education, water and sanitation; these people typically live in challenging geographical territories, such as the high Andean region where there is a lack of development, especially in comparison to the coastal provinces. The development of the Andean region is still slow, despite the efforts undertaken and the potential for growth.

SULLANA

PAITA

PIURA

MORROPÓN

HUAN CABA MBA MBA

AYABACA

SECHURA

The region is characterized by agricultural activities, fishing, mining, hydrocarbon, manufacturing, business, and, to a lesser extent, tourism. There has been an increase in informal metal mining and forestry. Piura has coastal, mountain, and high jungle ecosystems. It has a varied climate; whereas the coast is warm with high temperatures year round, the mountain areas are more temperate

1.2. The dry forest in Piura The dry forests of the northern coast form part of the territory of the Rural Communities where approximately 40,000 families live; these families establish a vital relationship with the ecosystem in which they live, basing this relationship on the development of their diverse productive systems. These productive systems provide foodstuffs for the population and the excess products are sold in the regional and national markets, though under unequal conditions. The population is affected by the floods caused by El Niño; while the floods do help reforest, they also isolate many parts of the population due to the disruption and deterioration of the roads.

> Current situation of Piura’s dry forest

The population is also affected by the droughts (“dry years,” with cyclical periods of four to five years) caused by El Niño and the forest fires brought on by both natural and human causes when the rains stop and the grasses are dry. This situation is aggravated further by the policies that socially exclude the rural communities and favor the large investments of agroexport and mining companies; these policies create social conflicts within the communal structure and contribute to the economic and social precariousness of many families, which is reflected by the high percentage of homes with unmet basic needs. The dry forest in the Piura Region fulfills a fundamental ecological role in the Piuran ecosystem, as it serves as a mattress or cushion against the severe climate (average temperature of 36°C in the summer) that heats up the large expanse of desert and the mid- and low-basin where there are prosperous agricultural fruit plantations (mango, lime, banana) and transitory crops (cotton, corn, rice) that are very important for Piuran agriculture. Additionally, this ecosystem allows for the production and development of a series of tree and shrub species that provide food for the livestock and beekeeping, which in turn benefit the families of the rural communities located in these areas.

The importance of the dry forest TAlso called the equatorial dry forest, it is an ecoregion1 comprising a 100-150 km coastline that extends through Tumbes, Piura, Lambayeque, and

the north of La Libertad, as well as the Marañón Valley. The main productive activities that are developed in the dry forest are goat breeding, timber harvesting, and hillside agriculture. Goat and cattle breeding were introduced during the Spanish conquest; however, the animals have perfectly adapted to the ecosystem which has itself developed survival mechanisms to endure the grazing (Sabogal, 2011). Illustration 2: Basic facts about the equatorial dry forest

Climate: Tropical, warm, and dry. Average annual temperature: between 23-24°C.

Vegetation: dry forest and savanna (carob, sapote, faique,etc.)

Lagoons: Limited and temporary.

Equatorial dry forest in Peru

Terrain: Flat with undulations, more mountainous in the east and south. 1 An ecoregion is a geographic area that is characterized by rather homogeneous conditions in terms of climate, soil, hydrology, flora and fauna, and where the different factors are closely interdependent. Furthermore, it is geographically defined and clearly distinguishable from other areas (Brack, A.; Mendiola, C., 2004).

Soil: Arid, predominantly sandy, saline, loam and clay. Created by: Heifer Perú, based on Brack, A.; Mendiola, C. (2004)

ACCESS TO WATER AND SOCIAL CAPITAL IN THE DRY FOREST RURAL COMMUNITIES OF PIURA

The management of water use in fragile ecosystems, such as the dry forest, is extremely important given that it is characterized by a shortage of and difficult access to this important resource. 90% of the Peruvian population lives in arid, semiarid, and sub-humid ecosystems which represent 38% of the national land area (INRENA, 1998: xvii); this situation has implications for the vulnerability of our country in terms of desertification processes when we take into account the fact that the dry forests constitute the main natural vegetation of the more than 3,000 km of coastline. Furthermore, the dry forest is important for the following reasons:

> > >

It regulates the nutrient, hydrological, and biological cycles on the northern coast.

It is home to thousands of families who directly or indirectly depend on the use of the forest resources, though these resources are not necessarily managed adequately. It is home to the El Ni単o phenomenon, which is the main factor for its conservation, given that this natural phenomenon makes possible the persistence of life in a territory characterized by aridity and desertification.

Water access in the dry forest The ecosystems of arid zones are nuanced by cyclical periods of flooding, averaging 10 years, and prolonged droughts, averaging 3 to 5 years.

The improvement of communal norias and their respective equipment will help to ensure access to better quality water for human consumption and livestock development; this can be achieved through the following actions: 1) Support for community initiatives to dig wells; 2) Equipment for tubewells that are deteriorated; and 3) Training on well use and maintenance to guarantee sustainability, water availability, and water quality, both for family consumption and sustainable livestock development. Norias are traditional wells used to obtain subterranean water and are located a few meters deep. To install a noria, a hole should be dug by the family; water is extracted through a lathe or mill (made of carob wood) which is mechanically driven. In the north of Peru, there exist communal norias that reach 60 meters deep. Of course, the norias require maintenance and, thus, the communities are required to provide a monetary fund to replace damaged ropes or the mill, among other repairs. Another important issue refers to the lack of treatment of the extracted water and its incorrect handling, which causes gastrointestinal problems in humans. The project seeks to provide the following improvements:

Support community initiatives that show important advances in noria implementation, for instance by providing materials such as bricks, cement, and iron to build the inner structure of the well and also providing skilled labor for the proper excavation of the well.

> Current situation of Piura’s dry forest

Complementary support for initiatives in communities that have tubewells that are currently inoperative due to the deterioration of the pumping equipment and whose repair is necessary to continue providing water services.

> >

Support initiatives in communities that have tubewells or communal norias whose cement water tank is damaged and in danger of collapsing. Provide training for the families so that they can: 1) adequately maintain the pumping systems and storage tanks; and 2) properly handle the water to allow for the optimal consumption in terms of quality and salubrity (for both people and livestock).

Social capital in the dry forest The term social capital was first developed in the 1980s and included two aspects: a) social capital conceived as a resource (or a way to access resources) that in combination with other factors leads to benefits for those who possess it; and 2) this specific form of social capital resides in social relations (CEPAL, 2000:7). In the 1990s, the term was reworked and expanded, as can be seen in the World Bank’s definition (1998) that mentions that social capital refers to the institutions, attitudes, and values that govern human interactions and contribute to economic and social development; social capital is not just the sum of the institutions that make up a society, rather it is the glue that keeps them together. This definition has been the point of

reference for many project interventions. Additionally, other aspects of social capital have been emphasized, such as “the integrated set of values, norms, and sociocultural practices that fulfill key roles in the development process. This includes values that are converted into norms, such as trust, solidarity, and reciprocity. These norms are a starting point for the building of networks, organizations, and institutions that allow for social interaction and the development of societies, which in turn generates a series of collateral effects such as identities or social information” (CIES: 2006). But, the social and the economic are always related; norms, institutions, and organizations that promote trust, reciprocal help, and cooperation can contribute to three types of benefits: a) reduce transaction costs; b) produce public goods; and c) facilitate the constitution of effective grassroots organizations, social actors, and health civil societies (CEPAL N° 38, 2000:7). In summary, the importance of social capital not only resides in the fact that it is fundamental for economic development and the promotion of democratic governance, but also because it is the source of: a) social control; b) family support; and c) benefits stemming from extra-familial networks (Alejandro Portes, 1999 p.16). Heifer International’s objective with respect to social capital is to “put project participants on the path to having institutions, relationships, and norms that lead to economic prosperity and sustainable development” (Heifer International, 2015). In the particular case of the dry forest, it has been demonstrated that social capital can be the best defense against the desertification that plagues the country and can mark a course for the wellbeing of our towns, with the condition that those

ACCESS TO WATER AND SOCIAL CAPITAL IN THE DRY FOREST RURAL COMMUNITIES OF PIURA

INTHE1990S,THETERMWASREWORKEDANDEXPANDED, AS CAN BE SEEN IN THE WORLD BANK’S DEFINITION (1998) THAT MENTIONS THAT SOCIAL CAPITAL REFERS TO THE INSTITUTIONS, ATTITUDES, AND VALUES THAT GOVERN HUMAN INTERACTIONS AND CONTRIBUTE TO ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT of us who live in the territory knowhow to respect nature and the other populations who live there (INRENA, 1998:xv). All of this leads us to pose the relationship between the ecological assessment of the dry forest, the historical reflection about the distinct towns that have and continue to live in it, and the political advocacy promoting harmony between nature and the community. It should be mentioned that the rural communities are the main source of social capital among the population. In this sense, through the many years of project interventions by Heifer Perú and other public and non-governmental institutions in the dry forests of Piura, many families, promoters, and leaders have developed social organization and productive skills which have in turn made an important contribution to the strengthening of the communities, the development of their productive activities, and adequate use of the dry forest resources. One of the main organizations in the communities is the Dry Forest Community Center [Central de Comunidades del Bosque Seco (CECOBOSQUE)], a second-level organization made up of rural communities from the Piura Region. CECOBOSQUE was founded in June 2008 and represents 25 of the 33 rural communities located

in the dry forest ecosystem. This organization is the result of a long social development process of the rural communities who together seek to strengthen their management skills, develop political awareness, and, through advocacy, encourage the regional and national governments to include the conservation and sustainable use of the natural resources in their plans and budgets. CECOBOSQUE’s experience and participation is key for the formative processes of political development and national and regional public advocacy. Even though CECOBOSQUE has taken important steps, it still needs to continue strengthening and boosting the socio-productive and organizational development of the 33 rural communities that it represents by developing organizational practices, the sociopolitical development of its leaders, and strengthening the promoters’ technical production skills so they can continue improving the technical assistance provided to the associates. To do this, social capital will be enhanced and relationships will be reinforced with the State and other social actors at the local, regional, and national levels; these activities will allow CECOBOSQUE to position its proposals for alternative rural development that seek to maximize its productive capacities and gain respect for its rights and the sustainable use of its resources

La situaci贸n del bosque seco en Piura

2. WATER ACCESS, ORGANIZED BY THE GOVERNMENT

ACCESS TO WATER AND SOCIAL CAPITAL IN THE DRY FOREST RURAL COMMUNITIES OF PIURA

The State, drinking water and sanitation.

Ministry of Housing for urban areas and the Ministry of Health for rural areas.

According to Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations, drinking water and sanitation are fundamental human rights that should be prioritized. Governments should create laws that integrate the legal framework and the institutions that regulate water to improve the quality of life of the people and ensure the protection of environmental systems, thus guaranteeing the continuity of this resource, both in quantity and quality.

- In the 1980s, the National Drinking Water and Sewage Service (SENAPA, for its name in Spanish) was created under the Ministry of Housing to manage water and sanitation in the urban areas while the Ministry of Health continued to manage it in the rural areas.

Lack of access to water and sanitation causes serious consequences and plays a role in the following problems, which are common in the dry forest population:  In rural areas throughout the country, 32 of every 100 children suffer from chronic child malnutrition (ENDES 2012).  1.5% of children under 5 suffer from acute diarrheal diseases (ENDES 2013).  Malnourished children are at a disadvantage for proper cognitive development, even before starting primary school. In Peru, successive government adminitrations adopted the policy to give control to the rural communities to administer and manage rural water and sanitation: - In the 1960s, by means of the General Law for Basic Rural Sanitation (Nº 13997), it was agreed that the Ministry of Health, through the Basic Rural Sanitation Bureau (DISABAR, for its name in Spanish), would be in charge of the sector and would hand over the built infrastructure to the Community Boards of the user population. - In the 1970s, the management of water and sanitation was under the responsibility of the

- In the 1990s, when the Ministry of the Presidency (PRES) was named the leading actor in the sector, SENAPA and its affiliates were deactivated and transferred to the Municipal Governments through the Service Companies (EPS, for its name in Spanish), institutions which were created in 1994 by the General Law on Sanitation Services (Nº 26338); this law designated responsibility for the services in rural areas to the municipalities and the Community Boards, which were supposed to be financed by “family fees.”. - Starting in 2012, the Ministry of Housing, Construction, and Sanitation (MVCS) and the National Rural Sanitation Program (PRONASAR) conceded the management of the services to the Community Boards to expedite the processes.

In 2012, the Piuran Regional Government, by way of the Regional Ordinance N° 244-2012/ GRP-CR, approved the Guidelines, Policies, and Basic Strategies for Water and Sanitation in small cities and in rural areas throughout the Piura Region. This ordinance proposes five basic regional policies that consist of:

- Investment in water and sanitation to sensitize the population towards a culture of paying for these services. - Sustainable water resources apt for human consumption. - Healthy sanitiation behaviors, prioritizing the school-aged population.

> Water access, organized by the government

- Participatory management of water and sanitation. - Organization and modernization of the management of water and sanitation services. This ordinance also indicated the basic strategies that should be applied by each sector: Regional Government, Local Government, Regional Housing, Construction, and Sanitation Bureau, Regional Health Bureau, Regional Education Bureau, and the user community.

Water for agriculture Another very important and necessary use of water is technical irrigation, which has been a determining factor for the improvement of food security, agricultural and production growth, and human development in the rural areas of our country. However, water resources and the irrigation infrastructure are unequally distributed throughout the country, thus creating many different realities. The coast, with fertile but dry soil, has impressive water infrastructure thanks to investments in irrigation systems destined for export crops. The Andean and jungle zones, with abundant water resources but rudimentary irrigation infrastructure, are made up of small subsistence farms with crops destined for the local markets; a great portion of the population in these areas is poor. The national government continues to transfer responsibility to the regional and local governments, especially after the 2003 Decentralization Law that established the regional governments. One of the more recent responsibilities of these institutions is the execution of the Technical Irrigation Program. Four river basin agencies

(1. Jequetepeque; 2. Chira – Piura – Chancay – Lambayeque; 3. Chillón – Rímac – Lurín; and 4. Santa) are the entities responsible for the management of water resources. The proliferation of actors with distinct areas of jurisdiction (regions, irrigation districts, river basins) adds to the complexity of the management of water resources at the national and local levels. With this international, national, and regional framework, logic would state that the execution of projects that allow rural communities to access drinking water and sanitation services would be a priority for the local governments. However, for the four annexes and villages analyzed in this document, it has been a long and hard process to achieve the goal of bringing water to their homes and which was only possible thanks to the hard work, commitment, and perseverance of the community leaders. Furthermore, the organized and sustained participation of the population in general, internally organized and then coordinated with the authorities and institutions committed to sustainable development, was fundamental for gaining support in finding a solution to the water access problem.

The organization of the rural communities around water Water is an extremely important resource for the rural communities, not only for their own consumption and use but also for their productive activities. For this reason, Heifer Perú completed this systematization with two main concepts in mind:

Water use for human consumption Water use for production.

ACCESS TO WATER AND SOCIAL CAPITAL IN THE DRY FOREST RURAL COMMUNITIES OF PIURA

It is necessary to indicate that water use for production is of extreme importance for value creation in rural areas, generally characterized by people living in extreme poverty. For example, the relationship between social capital, human capital, natural capital, physical capital, and monetary capital has an impact on the value chain development for rural poverty reduction (Donovan, J., Stoian, D., 2012). Water is a vital resource for the people, not only for its biololgical value, but also for its fundamental role in the Andean culture. Through the Water Committees, Canal Committees, User Boards, and various organizations, the Andean communities administer the water resources in their localities, covering the typical functions of the absent state-run water administration that is often uncapable of supplying water to such a vast and heterogeneous territory as in the Peruvian context (CooperAcci贸n, 2013).

The Rural Communities Law dictates that the communities have the right to use the existing water and that which flows through their land, as well as the basins where these waters begin, whether it be for economic, transport, survival, or cultural purposes. The Integral Management of Water Resources ( GIRH2, for its name in Spanish) is possible thanks to the presense and consensus of the water users, who participate in the decisions that are made in regards to the final uses of the water resources in the basin. The following actors intervene in the GIRH: the State (via the National Water Authority) who is in charge of administering the water resources and its associated goods, the regional and local governments, and the organizations associated with the water users (Irrigation Committee, Rural Communities, among others), accoding to the law N掳 29338.

Illustration 3: Organization of the Rural Communities as water users

USER BOARD (JAAS)

WATER COMMITTEESS

IRRIGATION COMMITTEES

WATER CANAL COMMITTEES

COMMUNITY BOARD OF DIRECTORS

2 GIRH is a process in which interventions are managed and the consensus of the population is fostered with respect to managing the water resources.

1. El acceso al agua, organización desde el estado

3. HEIFER PERÚ’S EXPERIENCE

ACCESS TO WATER AND SOCIAL CAPITAL IN THE DRY FOREST RURAL COMMUNITIES OF PIURA

3.1. Process: promotion, organization, and action Beginning ten years ago, Heifer Perú has maintained a close relationship with the dry forest rural communities in Piura to fight against desertification and benefit the families by conserving the forest and developing sustainable socio-productive activities. These rural communities, which Heifer Perú has accompanied in their development process from the beginning, became members of CECOBOSQUE in 2008. The rural communities have assumed the challenge of providing water with the purpose of creating better living conditions for the families; to do this, we worked simultaneously on various activities:

Promoting the organized participation of the members was a key aspect for the execution of the project. By involving the participants and their organizations and making them feel ownership of the activities and the benefits, it was possible to carry out the activities in a manner in which the participants persistently worked together, maintaining a collaborative and self-managed effort to ensure the sustainability of the project. One of the most vulnerable aspects of rural production is its fragmentation, that is its small size and scale which is not always sufficient to generate sustainable income. Under this “structural” restriction, organization, in its diverse modalities, is the principal – if not the only – way to overcome the fragmentation. For this reason, it is necessary to strengthen the local organization’s management capacity, leadership formation, leadership execution, and the promotion of associative cultures.

We developed training activities related to technical production and social organization directed at men and women, leaders and authorities of the rural communities. This process sought to generate local technical assistance provided by community members; the community promoters trained by Heifer Perú are assuming the responsibility of providing timely and quality technical assistance to the families in the rural communities. The skills development is oriented towards strengthening the leadership capacities of the men and women so that, in turn, the management board of the rural communities is strengthened.

It must be emphasized that these training processes are based on collective reflections on the Cornerstones of Just and Sustainable Development promoted by Heifer International and the values that help improve the whole person and the local organizations. Responsible administration of resources, equity at all levels, justice, and care for the environment are all constituent parts of the daily actions of each person and the coexistence of human beings.

Tangible benefits for the project participants. The selected families received inputs and goods such as sheep, goats, ducks, beekeeping modules, seeds, water access materials and equipment, healthy home materials, and veterinary kits, among others. Additionally, the participants received training and technical assistance to generate and develop productive enterprises that are in harmony with the forest. In this way, the project sought to generate monetary income and complementary sources of healthy food based on agroecology principals.

> Heifer Perú’s experience

In this process, access to and supply of water are vital; thus, Heifer Perú, in conjunction with other institutions (municipalities, NGOs, and the government), supports initiatives such as those which we are presenting here so that the families can finally have access to water.

Families agreed – first during the project presentation stage and then later signing a formal agreement – that the inputs and goods provided to them would, after an established period of time, be shared with new families by means of the Passing on the Gift; in this way, the resources build a chain and establish joint responsibility between families of the participant community and other communities.

The project participants involved themselves in the activities to move forward with the proposal to build the infrastructure for water access and develop technical assistance for the maintenance of this infrastructure. It is key to listen to the proposals and initiatives of the participants in order to together seek the best technical solution and develop the technical file. We must not forget that the technical proposal arises out of the genuine need of the people, and that this proposal must be pertinent to the project. This was a fundamental requirement and, in some cases, Heifer Perú assumed the cost of the specialist who designed the technical file; in other cases, the community or local counterpart assumed the cost of testing the viability of the proposal. Additionally, commitment agreements were signed which guaranteed the continuity and sustainability of the future management, administration, and maintenance of the infrastructure.

Heifer Perú promoted strategic alliances with public and private institutions to develop programatic and investment synergies to more efficiently and effectively promote the development of the rural communities. We were able to create communication channels and meeting spaces between the diverse institutions and organizations, thus establishing networks of actors interested in developing a publicprivate investment project for water access. Whenever possible, letters of intent and formal agreements were signed in which each counterpart committed to providing certain support or resources; it must be considered that proceedings such as these with the national government require more time than is typically set forth in the project.

Lastly, activities were carried out to fulfill commitments established in previous agreements. This fulfillment, as part of the responsible administration, is key for credibility, legitimacy, and the future sustainability of the relationship between the distinct actors.

ACCESS TO WATER AND SOCIAL CAPITAL IN THE DRY FOREST RURAL COMMUNITIES OF PIURA

3.2. Location of the four project experiences on water supply

The Nuevo Pozo Oscuro Village belongs to the Bernal District, Sechura Province, and lies within the San Martin de Sechura Rural Community. According to public records, the village includes 897 hectares and an additional 10,000 hectares of communal dry forest that correspond to 180 families.

Heifer Peru’s project’s intervention zone included three provinces in the Piura Region: Morropón, Ayabaca, and Sechura; the following sections describe the participant communities from these provinces:

The families depend on rainfed agriculture and livestock production to survive. These activities are the families’ source of income; access to water, which is constantly scarce, would give these families greater opportunities for agriculture and livestock production. The 300 inhabitants, and some people from the neighboring Mala Vida Village, get their water supply from three norias: the first is located at the kilometer 962.5 and has been functioning for 24 years, the second is located to the north and has been functioning for 15 years, and the third is located at the kilometer 962 of the Northern Panamerican Highway and has been functioning for 13 years.

a. San Martín de Sechura Rural Community: Pozo Oscuro Village, Bernal District

b. b. Juan Velasco Alvarado Rural Community: San Luis Annex, Morropón District

San Martín de Sechura’s land title, according to the report N°005 from August 28, 1989, includes 45,112.23 hectares; though, the total territory includes 750,000 hectares which are in the process of being recognized or are in dispute with neighboring communities. The population’s principal economic activities include traditional and organic agriculture, fishing (in the ocean and in fresh water in times of flooding), mining, beekeeping, and goat and chicken breeding.

San Luis Juan Velasco Alvarado was founded on May 22, 1987 and was recognized by the resolution N°27289-RG on September 2, 1989. Its central location is the Franco Alto Village; the community is made

> Heifer Perú’s experience

up of four sectors: Talanquera, Franco Alto y Bajo, Zapotal (El Cerezo Annex), and Piedra del Toro (La Unión and San Luis Annexes). Juan Velasco Alvarado’s prinicipal economic activity is agriculture and livestock with the most important crops being rice, yellow corn, yucca, banana, and fruit trees; other crops include cowpea, cocoa, and soy.

Ecuador, and has 150 members. The principal economic activity is family agriculture, which is made up of small plots. The families are also dedicated to raising small animals and cattle on a small scale. Their main crops are rice and corn, accompanied by yucca, banana, sweet potato, and fruit trees.

The Piedra del Toro dry forest has a total area of 745.25 hectares; the San Luis Annex is located within this dry forest at an altitude of 100-800 meters above sea level. This dry forest is part of an ecological and biological corridor with particular characteristics that favor the conservation of biodiversity and the fight against desertification and climate change. The San Luis Annex is located three kilometers from the city of Morropón and was created in 1994 thanks to the recognition achieved by the residents; the first families to settle on the land were: Juan Córdova, Kirina Aguilar, Abraham Huamán, Urbano Vásquez, and Hilda Cantarico. This village obtained its water from the irrigation canals and the river. When getting water from the canals, it was a half-hour journey by donkey or an hour and a half journey on foot. When water was fetched from the river, it was a two-hour journey.

c. San Joaquín de Quiroz Rural Community: San Joaquín Annex, Suyo District San Joaquín de Quiroz, Suyo – Ayabaca, was founded on April 3, 1991 and was recognized by the resolution N°0290-93-RG-DRA-P on December 22, 1993. Its has a land area of 2,408 hectares and 1,250 m2.

Basic services are very limited and, according to the Poverty Map developed by the Cooperation Fund for Development [Fondo de Cooperación para el Desarrollo (FONCODES)], the families live in poverty. The San Joaquín Annex has similar characteristics to the rural community in terms of the economic activities and smallholder farms. In 1998, due to the El Niño phenomenon, the flooding of the Quiroz river destroyed the majority of the croplands and many families lost their plots, thus forcing them to migrate to other areas in search for work. In the San Joaquín Annex, the lack of sufficient water for agricultural activities has generated two main problems: the growth of informal mining and increased migration.

The community is located on the right side of the Las Lomas highway, International Bridge, Macará,

ACCESS TO WATER AND SOCIAL CAPITAL IN THE DRY FOREST RURAL COMMUNITIES OF PIURA

d. Carlos Augusto Rivera Rural Community: Rio Seco Alto Annex

Carlos Augusto Rivera was founded on April 14, 1988. It consists of 1,422 hectares and 105 m2 and is made up of the following annexes: Cascajal, El Mango, and Río Seco Alto. The Río Seco Alto Village pertains to the Frías District, Ayabaca Province; it was previously known as San Victor, then Guanábano Bajo, and finally, as of 49 years ago, Río Seco Alto. Its principal economic activity is agriculture, followed by small-scale livestock breeding and small businesses. During droughts, the men migrate to Paita to work in the fishing industry. Río Seco Alto has 500 inhabitants, with an average of 4-6 people per family. The most frequent illnesses are the flu and diarrhea, due to the consumption of contaminated foods, unboiiled water, and the environmental contamination due to the poor management of solid waste.

2. La experiencia de Heifer

4. REFLECTIONS ON THE FOUR WATER SUPPLY EXPERIENCES

ACCESS TO WATER AND SOCIAL CAPITAL IN THE DRY FOREST RURAL COMMUNITIES OF PIURA

4.1. Water supply for human consumption and livestock development in the Nuevo Pozo Oscuro Village, San Martín de Sechura Rural Community, Bernal Districct From 2001 to 2010, in the Sechura Province, the cities of Sechura and Vice participated in the project “Management of Water and Sanitation Services in four small Peruvian cities” as part of the World Bank’s Water and Sanitation Program. In 2013, the provincial municipality hired consultants to design the pre-investment feasibility study of the project “Improving drinking water services and sewage in the Bernal District.”

Heifer Perú decided to support the project “Water supply for human consumption and livestock in the Nuevo Pozo Oscuro Village” with the main purpose of improving the socioeconomic conditions and quality of life of the population by means of improving the existing infrastructure to make water available for human consumption and livestock development. The central urban zones in Bernal are equipped with basic water, sewage, and lighting services, but many of the peripheral villages lack these services. There are no plans for treating solid waste, rather it is collected and disposed of in open areas close to where the people live.

a) Problem identification The 60 families living around the noria could not obtain a sufficient water supply; even though they took care of the noria’s maintenance and cleaning, the water flow did not increase. Emeterio Chapa Morales, Nuevo Pozo Oscuro Municipal Agent, summarizes the problem and and speaks about the different efforts undertaken to solve it. Generally, the water coming from the water truck costs S/. 10 (about US$3.30) to fill a 100-liter tank; this tank could last a family about 5 days with very limited use for cooking and basic hygiene. On average, a family would spend S/. 40 (US$13) monthly, or approximately 10% of a family’s monetary income.

> Reflections on the four water supply experiences

“We were only able to attain one or two buckets of water per family and that wasn’t enough; we all had to stand in the long line to be able to get a little bit more water for our homes. When there wasn’t enough water, we had to run behind the water trucks that came once a week and buy water. That was the last chance we had to obtain a little more water for our children”.

b) Project experience In 2011, the NGO Research Center for Environmental Management and Development [Centro de Investigación para el Manejo Ambiental y el Desarrollo (CIMAD)], got in touch with the Nuevo Pozo Oscuro leaders and authorities and proposed the idea to work on agroecology and livestock production through training activities as part of the project “Agroecology in the Catacaos Rural Community,” financed by Heifer Perú. As a result of the collaboration between the different actors, the participants, especially Juan Pingo, Emeterio Chapa, José Domitilo Chapa, Edgar Chapa, Victoria Panta, and José Santos, told CIMAD of the need to improve the noria N° 3 as it only supplied minimal amounts of water. Since the village is located in the seasonally dry forest, the process of improving the communal norias to supply water for human consumption and community gardens was a great challenge for CIMAD, who supported the participants in their advocacy activities to gain the support of the regional government and local institutions (Bernal Municipality and Sechura Rural Community, respectively). A tripartite agreement was signed between CIMAD, the Bernal Municipality, and the Nuevo Pozo Oscuro population with the purpose of improving the noria N°3. The improvement included making it 10 meters deeper and equipping

it with a submersible pump, electric motor, PVC pipes, electrical wiring, and an elevated tank. The drilling work was suspended due to a rocky layer that was found at about 1 meter deep. With these improvements, the noria worked well for four months and supplied sufficient water to the surrounding families. However, due to the powerful suction of the pump and the fact that the noria did not produce an adequate amount of water for its proper functioning, the pump overheated and was disabled for about four months; thus, the people had to extract water in the traditional manner. This issue prompted the local authorities and the general population to take action and they invited Heifer Perú, CIMAD, CIPCA, and the Bernal Municipal Mayor to a meeting where they informed the actors of the problem and sought their support to solve the impasse. As a result, a new agreement was signed between the Bernal Municipality, CIPCA, Heifer Perú, and the Nuevo Pozo Oscuro population to dig the noria 20 to 26 meters deeper, improve the water availability, repair the pump, and change the cables. On December 9, 2013, the well and tank were inaugurated in Nuevo Pozo Oscuro to benefit 60 families who depend on water access for the development of their economic activities and improvement of their quality of life.

c) Project relevance The inter-institutional relationships and joint effort between the local population, municipal government who supplied resources, and the international NGOs allowed the Nuevo Pozo Oscuro population to obtain better and greater water access. Thus, the basic need for water was met, thereby eliminating burdensome and time-consuming tasks such as fetching water. Additionally, the families were able to obtain water at a lower cost. All of this has led to an

ACCESS TO WATER AND SOCIAL CAPITAL IN THE DRY FOREST RURAL COMMUNITIES OF PIURA

It is worth highlighting the determined persistence of the participants, considering that the Bernal Municipality is located far away, thus making meetings and advocacy work difficult; the transportation cost between the village and the Municipality is S/. 25 (US$8.30) per person.

e) Project efficacy improvement in health for the 60 families who now habitually follow personal hygiene practices such as taking care of and maintaining the home. The testimony of one of Nuevo Pozo Oscuro’s most representative leaders summarizes the project’s benefits:

“We implemented a vegetable garden, whose production was oriented towards the community’s own consumption. Due to problems with the control box, water was extracted at unsustainable rates and the noria dried up. We are working to repair the control box and, once it is fixed, we will begin working with the garden again. We have taken upon us the commitment to conserve and adequately manage 10,000 hectares of forest; to do this, we created a technical group made up of the regional government, CIMAD, Bernal Municipality, and Heifer Perú”. Emeterio Chapa Morales.

d) Project efficiency Despite the difficulties that arose, the interinstitutional cooperation contributed to efficiently resolving the problem; the water is now supplied in greater quantities and in less time.

The expected project results were achieved: the noria was deepened and the elevated tank was built. Today, the families have access to water 24 hours a day and they do not need to go to other nearby norias to fetch water. Undeniably, those who benefited most from this work are the women and children because they typically do most of the work to fetch water; while the men also help, they only do so when they have time available. Because of this, we can affirm that the project’s efficacy is good.

“Ten years ago, we had to take turns, get up very early, go inside the noria and take out water with buckets. We then had water for an average of three to five hours; but, now, with this construction, we have water all day.” Emeterio Chapa Morales.

f) Sustainable water access. Sustainability is the existence of economic, ecological, social, and political conditions that determine something’s performance in a consistent way through time and space. The sustainability of this project over time depends on two components. The first is economic, which consists of the establishment and payment of fees so that the noria will endure in the future. The second is organizational; the existing leaders should be strengthened and new leaders should be trained to continuously improve the administration of the norias.

> Reflections on the four water supply experiences

h) Future tasks The population is conscious of the fact that there are still pending tasks, including: - Expand the gardens and plant passion fruit and tamarind. - Reforestation with local species that can be used as grazing pasture for the animals. The target population claims to have learned about: gardens, organic fertilizers (such as boil), and forest management as well as topics like gender, human rights, and community organization, though not all members participated. Additionally, the participation of the beneficiaries to complete the construction was sustained and constant; the original project members continued throughout the project, with good relations between the beneficiaries and the authorities.

g) Gender approach In regards to the gender approach, both men and women were involved; however, the men participated to a greater extent because there was a lot of construction work that needed to be done to drill the well, transport materials, etc. Although the women attended the meetings more than the men, this does not mean that they were empowered to make their voices heard, propose ideas, and share their experiences. At the beginning of the project, the women were timid, shameful, and fearful. This can be seen by the structure of the Community Board, where only one of the eight positions is held by a woman and this position is closely linked to the traditional female role. However, with the values-based workshops on self-esteem and leadership, there has been a greater participation of the women in the community and the men are beginning to show them greater respect and recognition of their work.

- Develop a grape-growing project to provide jobs for the local people. - Improve water access. - Build norias to develop small gardens on the edge of the river. - Drill a well and construct an elevated tank.

4.2. Water supply for human consumption in the San Luis Annex, Juan Velasco Alvarado Rural Community, Morrop贸n District In the Morrop贸n Province, during 2012, four water and sanitation projects were implemented in the Chulucanas, Yamango, La Matanza, and Salitral Districts. In 2013, there were also various water and sanitation projects in the Chalaco, Santa Catalina de Mossa, Buenos Aires, Chulucanas, Bigote, La Matanza, and Yamango Districts. However, these types of projects do not generally reach the small towns and villages in each district.

ACCESS TO WATER AND SOCIAL CAPITAL IN THE DRY FOREST RURAL COMMUNITIES OF PIURA

In San Luis, the people initially got their water from the irrigation canals and from the river; later, in 1996, water was supplied by a well. In 2002, the well was electrified and benefited the San Luis and Chorro villages; unfortunately, its pumping capacity diminished and the well thus required urgent maintenance. Heifer Perú decided to financially support the maintenance of the well, but the people, with the leaders’ vision, had a better alternative: capture water from the higher-altitude zones (Caracucho Community) with the purpose of substantially improving the water supply. Now, the families have water 24 hours a day.

a) Problem identification The water consumed by the San Luis population was extremely contaminated and was not treated at all before being consumed. The sources of water, the canals and river, were used for washing clothes, trash disposal, and bathing; additionally, the animals used the water. The consumption of this contaminated water greatly affected the population, causing diarrheal diseases and skin and eye infections. Confronting this lack of safe drinking water, the San Luis population found an efficient solution to be the installation of a hand-pumped well that functioned from 1996 until 2002. In 2002, the District Municipality of Morropón, through an agreement with the El Chorro village, electrified the well so that it could supply water every other day for both the El Chorro and San Luis villages. Later, when the pump broke, the municipality provided another pump, though it was not capable of pumping the water to the storage tank. In 1996, the San Luis, Piedra del Toro, and La Unión villages participated in a joint safe drinking water project financed by Plan International, though it did not work out well for San Luis as the water supply did not reach the village.

In the San Luis village, the people had to wait 19 years for this project to be implemented; it was completed thanks to the effort, commitment, and persistence of a group of leaders from the Rural Community – Vicente Jiménez Velásquez (Sub Chief) and Valentín Calle Paz (President of the Rural Community Board) – and the general population who had the idea to work together, thereby joining forces between their internal organizations. In this way, the people could jointly seek help from institutions such as Heifer Perú to then, with solid backing, go to the local government and solicit its help for the project.

Under these circumstances, Heifer Perú offered financial support to the San Luis population to fix the well; the population decided to carry out the project titled “Access to water for human

> Reflections on the four water supply experiences

consumption in the San Luis Annex, Juan Velasco Alvarado Rural Community, Morropón District.”

Today, the families have water available 24-hours a day; this has given them the possibility to implement small productive gardens.

b) Project experience

“Some families have small gardens in their homes where they plant lettuce and cilantro and also raise small animals.”

For almost 19 years, the San Luis population was well aware of its need for safe drinking water; thus, the implementation of this project was a priority for the population. In 2011, when Heifer Perú announced the possibility of financially supporting the reparation of the well, Vicente Jimenez, a community promoter and local leader, held a meeting with the population and proposed the alternative of getting their water from Jacanacas. It was a unanimous decision to begin working on water catchment; men and women of all ages committed to working on the trench, providing unskilled labor and materials. Coordinations were made with the Santo Domingo Municipality to negotiate with the Caracucho Community (located in the upper part of the sub-basin) so that it would permit the catchment of water from Jacanacas. The project included: 1) the construction of a concrete tank with the capacity to store 8 m3 of water in Santo Domingo; 2) the excavation and plumbing of 9 kilometers of pipes to transfer the water to a 20 m3 treatment tank and then to the public tank located in the education center and the network of households for families living in the San Luis sector. With respect to the productive economic development of the village population, one of the participants mentioned:

“It is undeniable that the economic situation has improved; the money that is saved can now be used for schooling, household utensils, medicine, transportation, etc.” María Huamán Aguilar.

Santos Peña Velásquez. The beneficiary population, estimated at 120 families, has improved its health in terms of personal care and hygiene, cleanliness of bathrooms, and washing clothes with clean water. The water in the storage tank is disinfected with chlorine and the Morropón Health Center holds classes on water use and care.

c) Project pertinence Based on the aforementioned testimonies, it can be concluded that the implementation of the project in the San Luis Annex has notably improved water access with regards to the following uses: personal hygiene, household cleanliness, and the installation of small vegetable gardens. In conclusion, this project has been very opportune.

“Before, we washed ourselves with half a can of water, sometimes less; to wash our feet and to clean the bathrooms, we used the water that was previously used for washing clothes.” María Huamán Aguilar.

d) Project efficiency Regarding efficiency, the Community Directors coordinated activities and knocked on various doors; some institutions responded affirmatively while others could not support the project due to budgetary reasons (Regional Government of Piura, Morropón Sub Region). Economic, material, and human resources were leveraged from the

ACCESS TO WATER AND SOCIAL CAPITAL IN THE DRY FOREST RURAL COMMUNITIES OF PIURA

involved institutions as is indicated in the table in Annex 1.

e) Project efficacy Regarding project efficacy, the expected result for this first stage (“Water for everyone”) was achieved. Since the inauguration in November 2013, the population has had access to water 24 hours a day. Previously, the people had to walk an average of two hours to fetch water from the river, which required great physical strength to carry it such long distances. Now, the time saved can be dedicated to working in the garden, attending to the domestic animals, and spending time among family, friends, and neighbors. This household service has alleviated the amount of work for women and children, as 70% of them were the ones responsible for collecting water; the men only did it “when they had time.”

f) Project sustainability Will the sustainability of a project such as that of San Luis continue with the same impetus once the development institutions leave? In the case of San Luis, it can be stated that the sustainability is guaranteed because the population has acquired a deeply rooted culture of organized community work. The families continue working to improve the project and get more institutions involved. Now, in the current electoral context, when the candidates arrive to make their proposals, the population immediately refers to the priority of improving their project for safe drinking water. Attention is now being directed towards opening up a new line on the main street and on the third street to connect them to the water. Currently, there is a new Community Board that has developed a monthly fee of S/. 2 per family, though this fee will later have to be raised to cover the maintenance and repair costs.

“We know that there is still a lot to be done; one of the deficiencies is that we do not have meters. When pipes break, the household economy is hurt. On the positive side, we have organized water fees to develop a fund for permanent infrastructure maintenance.” Sixto Castillo Berrú. San Luis Water Administrative Board.

“Our life has drastically changed because we no longer carry water on our shoulders or with donkeys; our household economy has also changed. We know that we have to care for the environment so that we do not end up without water.”

The Board has a list of the registered users and has formed groups of four people who go out to inspect the connections and pipes when there are water deficiencies or when a user reports a broken pipe. The Board will continue finding ways to collect funds, in addition to soliciting occasional payments when required.

María Huamán Aguilar. Municipal Agent.

“We work together and we do fundraising activities. We want to improve our project bcause we see how beneficial it is; this project has assisted all of the families.” Maura Peña Quispe, beneficiary.

> Reflections on the four water supply experiences

Regarding the learnings obtained, the participants strengthened their management, communication, and public speaking skills. They have also developed greater self-esteem and self-worth (they feel capable, triumphant, and proud of the achieved results). The participants are admired and respected by the people from neighboring villages. There is a good group dynamic that includes adequate coordination to set and achieve targets. The greater community is also committed to the project; the Morropón Health Center holds classes and provides advice on the use and care of water as well as the maintenance of the storage tank. The participation of the local governments has been sporadic, but it is hoped that coordination can be taken up again during the second phase of the project. Therefore, we can deduce that the population has good group dynamics as the original members are still involved and the Board is able to convene the people; the group is very democratic and well coordinated. The commitment level of the group ranges from good to excellent.

three years. This experience has been a life lesson for our children and young people; we hope that they follow after our example and continue improving the village.”

g) Future tasks The population is very excited about this achievement and wants to continue working to improve the living conditions in the village. Among its future priorities with respect to water access, the needs include: - Create another storage tank to hold more water since there is sufficient water available. - Construct the new line on the main street and the third street. - Adorn the village streets with ornamental plants and fruit trees. - Reforest half a hectare of land close to the elevated tank.

Santos Peña Velásquez, Finance Coordinator for the Sanitation Administration Board, states:

- Manage a sewage project for the entire village.

“The project has been a benefit for men, women, and children, for the plants and domestic animals that we raise. The change has been the best thing that has happened in the past

- Health post.

- Parks and green areas for the children.

- Communal works: chapel and school (the children currently go to Morropón to study).

h) Gender approach With respect to gender equity, both men and women participated equally and were engaged in the project implementation. Of course, sometimes the women had a more active and purposeful presence than at other times. The project strengthened the existing leaders and also trained new leaders. The people work in a democratic manner and make decisions by voting in the assembly.

ACCESS TO WATER AND SOCIAL CAPITAL IN THE DRY FOREST RURAL COMMUNITIES OF PIURA

4.3. Water supply for productive uses in the San Joaquín Annex, San Joaquín de Suyo Rural Community, Ayabaca District. Heifer Perú also supported an initiative organized by the Suyo Environmental and Organic Farmers Association [Asociación de Agricultores Medio Ambientalistas Orgánicos de Suyo (AMAOS)] in the San Joaquín Annex in coordination with the Suyo Municipality and the NGO ESCAES; Heifer supported the “Construction of a reservoir” as part of the project “Water supply for production in the San Joaquín Annex, San Joaquín Rural Community, Suyo District, Ayabaca Province;” the purpose of the reservoir was to guarantee sufficient water supply for the agricultural production activities of the AMAOS members and, above all, to better manage the water through technical irrigation systems on the 25 hectares of land owned by the members. In the Suyo District, contamination is an important issue in both regional and local contexts. The informal mining sector is the principal source of contamination; cyanide and other heavy metals that are dumped into the rivers and streams directly affect the agriculture and livestock. This problem is magnified in Suyo because of the lack of agricultural development and the increase in the international price of gold.

The worst part of the problem is that this environmental contamination directly impacts the protected areas, yet there are no standard preventative measures to avert this environmental damage.

a) Problem identification Climate change is causing a reduced availability of water. Added to this is the population growth that leads to greater economic needs; thus, the traditional irrigation systems (using gravity) are becoming obsolete. In 2010, considering the aforementioned factors, the project “Construction of drip irrigation systems in the San Joaquín Rural Community” was implemented in the Suyo District, Ayabaca Province, Piura Region, with the objective of improving the quality of life of the people. Because of the persistence of the people and the dedicated participation of the leaders in the 2010, 2011, and 2012 Participatory Budget Committees, the Suyo Municipality approved S/. 65,000 (US$20,400) that were used by the people to build fences on the 25 hectares and pay for the specialist who designed the technical file and project profile. Subsequently, Heifer Perú and ESCAES, who have participated in the community since 2005 and 2009 respectively, saw the initiative of the people and decided to systematically support the project component “Construction of a reservoir in San Joaquín, Suyo District, Ayabaca Province, Piura Region.”

b) Project experience In 2009, the idea was conceived for a project that would help improve the agricultural production in the area. In 2012, the project “Construction of technical drip irrigation systems in the San Joaquín Rural Community, Suyo District, Ayabaca Province,

> Reflections on the four water supply experiences

Piura Region” was designed and presented to the Participatory Budget Committee, which then approved the project for S/. 65,000 soles (US$20,400); unfortunately, the political term of the Participatory Budget Administration ended and the leaders in the following term did not execute the project. In 2011, the Rural Community presented the project again; the Participatory Budget Committee approved the project and provided S/. 65,000 (US$20,400) to cover the costs of building fences for the 25 hectares and paying for the specialist to design the technical file and project profile. Heifer Perú, since 2008, and ESCAES, since 2009, have been implementing various projects on community organizing and food sovereignty in the Rural Community. These two institutions decided to work together to support the “Construction of the reservoir in San Joaquín,” which started in 2013; the final reservoir has a 655 m3 storage capacity and includes inlet and cleaning pipes. The source of water for the reservoir is the San Joaquín ravine, which has a flow of 5 liters per second during the dry season. To capture the water, the project leaders requested permission from the San Lorenzo Local Water Authority [Autoridad Local de Agua (ALA)]; currently, this procedure is in the process of being approved. The people of San Joaquín formed the Suyo Environmental and Organic Farmers Association [Asociación de Agricultores Medio Ambientalistas Orgánicos de Suyo (AMAOS)] with the purpose of planting crops and generating income fortheir families; another important reason for forming the association and generating income was to avoid the migration of the men who usually left the annex to look for work elsewhere.

This project provides a great reference for other communities that seek alternatives to informal mining and who want to sustainably take advantage of the natural reources. The San Joaquín population hopes, in the right moment, to retrieve water from the natural springs that are unfortunately currently not taken advantage of. The idea is to start producing crops on the available land, without affecting the sustainability of the ecosystem that is characterized by biodiversity of flora and fauna species. The Community Board is very active and has obtained support for improving the quality of life of the people through agreements such as the following:

AGREEMENT BETWEEN ESCAES AND THE RURAL COMMUNITY, through which men and women have been trained in community, experiential, and agricultural tourism and community organizational strengthening. The project agreement included support for fetching water from 2.5 kilometers away with PVC pipes and 600 meters of geomembrane for the reservoir.

At the beginning, 29 people (9 women and 20 men) joined the association; due to work obstacles, 4 men left the group. Thus, out of the 25 hectares of land that were provided for the project, each member has 1 hectare.

ACCESS TO WATER AND SOCIAL CAPITAL IN THE DRY FOREST RURAL COMMUNITIES OF PIURA

AGREEMENT BETWEEN HEIFER PERÚ AND THE RURAL COMMUNITY, including the financing for the technical file, 80 hours of equipment use for the excavation of the reservoir, Resident Engineer, and the inlet, outlet, and overflow pipes.

AGREEMENT WITH THE CHIRA ASSOCIATION for training in agroecology and small animal husbandry; the project provided 90 goats, a grinder mill for pasture grasses, and technical assistance for managing the cocoa crops and value chain.

3 with passion fruit seedlings and 2 with crops oriented towards our own consumption. We are very grateful to all the institutions that have supported this project: ESCAES, Heifer Perú, and the Suyo Municipality.” Sandro Agurto, Livestock Promoter, Former Member of the San Joaquín Rural Community Board. The agricultural production in the selected hectares will improve the family economy by increasing income from the sale of the excess produce and providing jobs to the association’s members and other people from the local area. Furthermore, the project will contribute to a decrease in migration to the cities, greater access to education for young people, and healthy diets, thus reducing child malnutrition.

c) Project pertinence The project pertinence has to do with the importance of the reservoir as its construction serves to improve the agricultural production in the area. The organized group of people has 50 hectares of land; in the first stage, 25 hectares were used to initiate the technical irrigation work while the other 25 hectares are open fields that are being used for pasturage. The association chose to begin planting passion fruit due to its higher profitability; passion fruit produces fruit starting at 6 months and lasts up to 4 years and the price ranges from S/. 0.80 – 2.80 (US$0.25 – 0.88) per kilogram, according to information provided by the members.

“I am very happy with the project; we will begin by planting 5 hectares:

d) Project efficiency Regarding efficiency, this project managed to leverage government resources, international development funding, and investments from the local population. The channeling of resources has been permanent, stable, and responsible; the expected results were achieved.

e) Project efficacy With respect to efficacy, the project met the member’s expectations as they now have access to water and can manage it properly due to the technical irrigation. During the rainy season, there

> Reflections on the four water supply experiences

will be a flow of 15 liters per second, while there will only be 5 liters per second during droughts. Currently, due to two consecutive dry years, there is a flow of only 2 liters per second. The project concluded with the installation of 25 hectares of sprinkler irrigation systems.

f) Project sustainability Project sustainability is based upon the commitment of each of the AMAOS members, who have now been active for four years. The relationship between the association’s leaders and the members is very good and transparent; the leaders are able to convene the members and coordinate activities. There is a work plan and the members actively participate in all activities. They are proud of the external recognition of their achievements that are the product of their effort and perseverance. The project benefits will be maintained when the outside support is finished since a culture of payment has been established for fines and occasional fees. The members are considering the option of charging regular fees during each member’s harvest season.

g) Gender approach Regarding gender equity, the women contributed financially, stated their ideas and opinions in the association meetings, and actively participated in the activities, including preparation of the land, burning discarded materials, and preparing food for the workers. The Leadership Board is made up of seven members, of which three are women who have important roles: Vice President, Financial Secretary, and Treasurer. The group has had active and democratic participation with horizontal communication and decisions being made during assembly meetings. The Leadership Board is elected every two years; the members continue to be trained and acquire new experiences so that they can take on leadership roles both in the association and in other local, district, and regional organizations.

h) Future tasks: The association’s future endeavors include: - Expanding its entrepreneurial vision, especially with regards to “direct market penetration without intermediaries.”

Regarding learnings obtained during the project, the members gained confidence in public speaking and engaging in dialogue with local authorities. They have also gained knowledge about the participatory budget and how to request funds from it as well as skills for presenting project proposals to public and private entities.

- Use intercropping techniques, such as planting cocoa and peanuts together.

With respect to the environment, the particpants learned about the following practices: organic production, efficient water use, live fences with fruit trees (tamarind, organge, lime, and avocado) and cedar and oak trees, managing and conserving local trees, establishment of a production plant for organic fertilizers, and reforestation with local seedlings such as willow and higuerón.

- Continue strengthening the organization so that all members are trained and know about organizational techniques, accounting, financials, records, registration, and other basic knowledge for adequately managing an organization.

- Improve the drip irrigation system. - Carry out a study to guarantee water during droughts, such as using underground water to maintain the reservoir.

- Train and empower women so that they can occupy important positions and promote their organization.

ACCESS TO WATER AND SOCIAL CAPITAL IN THE DRY FOREST RURAL COMMUNITIES OF PIURA

4.4. Water supply for human consumption in the Río Seco Alto Annex, Carlos Augusto Rivera Rural Community The purpose of the project “Water supply for human consumption in the Río Seco Alto Annex, Carlos Augusto Rivera Rural Community” was to improve water access conditions, in regard to both quantity and quality, especially during droughts. Previously, the community had two wells, though they were insufficient and only provided water for two hours per day; now, with the alternative system, the population has access to water for a greater number of hours and it is better quality water since the well is better protected. The Ayabaca Province, specifically in the Frías District, does not have basic water and sanitation services. 66% of the small towns that have piped water cannot count on it being safe to drink as the incidence of waterborne sicknesses is high. The district capital has sewage services that empty directly into the ravine that is below the town, thus contaminating the environment and harming the health and production activities of the rest of the villages that are located in the middle and lower parts of the Yapatera sub-basin. The Río Seco Alto Annex is not unfamiliar with this problem; improving water acess has cost the leaders and general population great effort,

commitment, and persistence to obtain funding and provide labor to improve the local conditions.

a) Problem identification The Río Seco Alto population initially consumed water from the ravines. In 1986, the Rural Community built two wells that were 9 meters deep; the Ministry of Health provided the reinforced concrete rings and four handpumps (two for each well). In 1997, the community was able to get water from the Abejas Mountain [Cerro las Abejas], located three kilometers away, and it installed a network of piped water pools; the people then carried the water from the pools to their homes. Population growth and the continued droughts affected the water flow and the supply became insufficient. It was necessary to improve the water availability for the families; the solution was implementing the project “Water supply for human consumption in the Río Seco Alto Annex, Carlos Augusto Rivera Rural Community.”

b) Project experience The project “Water supply for human consumption in the Río Seco Alto Annex, Carlos Augusto Rivera Rural Community” has made it possible for the people living in the annex to improve their water access conditions, above all in times of drought or

> Reflections on the four water supply experiences

when the rain water was insufficient. The person who coordinated and managed this work with Heifer Perú was the former community president, Fidel Gonzales.

long distances over uneven ground. Furthermore, the reduced contamination of the water improved the health and hygiene of the people and their homes, thereby reducing diarrheal diseases.

In the Río Seco Annex, there were two wells, one located in the higher part and one in the lower part. Due to technical issues, the higher well, identified with the code IRHS 583, was chosen; this well is 8.50 meters deep (3.30 meters are filled with water) and has a 1.60 meter diameter.

Before, the water was not only contaminated but was also stored in open pools without any type of protection or treatment. The people state that the quality of water in the well is now better because it is protected.

During 2011, a concrete platform, supported by four columns, was built 3.50 meters above the natural ground level. On top of this platform is a 5,000 liter Rotoplast tank where the extracted well water is stored; the water arrives to the tank through a 54-meter long pipe that is buried two inches below ground. The water is suctioned with a 2-horsepower single phase electric pump with 2-inch discharge.

d) Project efficiency The efficient management of the leaders enabled project objectives to be achieved; the leaders obtained economic resources, materials, and human capital with the support of the following institutions: Heifer Perú, Frías Municipality, and the Río Seco Alto population.

e) Project efficacy c) Project pertinence The project was opportune to the extent that it has satisfied the needs of the population: the people now have more hours of water availability per day. The previous deficiency has been covered by this alternative system. There are multiple direct benefits for the population; among the benefits, those most often highlighted are the time saved and the avoidance of health risks from carrying heavy loads of water

The efficacy is measured by results and, in this project, the expected result of increasing the hours of water services in the homes was achieved. In Río Seco Alto, 96 families now have water services every other day: in the high part of the annex, 48 homes receive water from 6 to10 a.m. and 4 to 6 p.m.; in the lower part, 48 homes have water access all day long. This household service has lightened the workload, mainly for women and children who now only have to fill their storage tanks during

ACCESS TO WATER AND SOCIAL CAPITAL IN THE DRY FOREST RURAL COMMUNITIES OF PIURA

the aforementioned hours but no longer have to walk to the wells to collect water. However, the water pressure and availability can still be improved to provide an even better service; improvements include adding a new tank and better organizing the service delivery and time shifts.

g) Gender approach Men and women have participated equally in the project implementation; the women provided support for transporting materials and the men dug the trenches. Some women paid laborers to do their work; for this tactic, a fine of S/. 15.00 soles (US$4.80) was established for those who did not work their 6 hour daily shift. With the implementation of this sanction, there was greater involvement. However, there is still great work to be done; many women do not have a very active or proactive presence as their husbands warn them not to accept any roles or responsibilities that are proposed in the meetings.

h) Future tasks f) Project sustainability Sustainability is guaranteed for RĂo Seco Alto through the Water Administration Board, which has been active since 2014. Furthermore, the Leadership Board has set a monthly fee of S/. 2.50 (US$0.80) per user; however, the leaders are aware that this amount is not sufficient to carry out all maintenance activities, thus they hope to adjust it later. Currently, there is a fund totaling S/. 600.00 (US$193.50), though it will not be sufficient to cover all the costs related to maintainance, patching and repositioning pipes, and repairing the pump, among other needs. There is currently a list of registered users. Leadership skills have also been strengthened and new leaders have been trained. With regards to the management, communication, and voicing of opinions, the group dynamic can be rated between fair and good. Decisions are democratically made in the User General Assembly.

The community members seek to continue improving their water systems, especially regarding the conditions of access, treatment, and sustainability. This year, they will again knock on the doors of diverse institutions that can help them to: - Drill 2 meters deeper in the well and determine the water flow. - Place a buoy that signals the top of the well water. - Raise the elevated tank an additional 3 meters. - Set up another 5,000 liter tank. - Conduct a study of the terrain.

5. IMPACTS GENERATED BY THE WATER SUPPLY PROJECTS

4. Experiencia recuperada de los cuatro casos de abastecimiento del agua

ACCESS TO WATER AND SOCIAL CAPITAL IN THE DRY FOREST RURAL COMMUNITIES OF PIURA

When analyzing the social impact from the experiences that form part of the Piura Umbrella Project, we consider that it was appropriate to work with the rural communities as they are social organizations that are important for the development of the region and the country. The rural communities are made up of hundreds and sometimes thousands of families who are able to advocate for their needs at the local and regional levels to obtain greater financial investments and support for water access projects. These projects are managed both within the communities and also in conjunction with public and private organizations. The rural communities will ensure the sustainability of this essential resource for the famiilies in the dry forest. - A positive environmental impact was achieved with the conservation and adequate management of 5,000 hectares.

a. Improving water access, both for household and productive uses: - Because of the Piura Umbrella Project, through the drilling of norias and the construction of reservoirs, 3,978 families (including those involved in the 4 project experiences summarized in this document) now have access to water for household uses; this change positively impacts food security and quality of life for the families. - As a result of the trainings on well and noria management and maintenance, the four rural communities formed working groups to avoid or overcome the infrastructure failures affecting water use. The technical knowledge gained will help the communities avoid certain expenditures, as the 32 promoters will provide technical sanitary assistance and sustainable maintenance for the aforementioned infrastructure. - Due to the promotion of gender equality, the participation of women in the management of water in their communities increased by 20%.

- Thanks to the skills training on water management, the four communities were able to advocate in local political settings for the improved management of water use and signed agreements with local governments and other private institutions; furthermore, the proposed policies on water management were accepted by the local and/or regional governments.

> Impacts generated by the water supply projects

b. These results created value in the following ways: Impact per family (a)

Before

Travel time Travel costs to access water Doctors visits and medical costs Documents, paperwork, and meeting costs for managing institutional agreements TOTAL

Now

Valorization of Monthly savings previous monthly per family expenditures (Expressed in US (Expressed in Dollars) (b) Nuevos Soles)

24 hours/ month (4 hours/ day x 6 0 hours/ month days/ month) S/ 150.00 / month S/. 0.00 (d)

S/.120.00 (c)

US$ 38.70

S/.150.00

US$.48.38

S/ 10.00 / month

S/. 0.00(e)

S/.10.00

US$ 3.22

S/ 80.00 / month (A minimum of 1 weekly trip to the city)

S/ 0.00

S/.80.00

US$ 25.80

S/.360.00

US$ 116.10

a: Impact per beneficiary family. Time and money savings. b: Exchange rate (US $1.00 = S/. 3.10 Nuevos Soles). April 2015. c: Considering that the daily wage for 8 hours of work is equal to S/. 40.00. d: Local transport cost to arrive to the closest water source is S/. 5.00 on average round-trip. One trip made per day. e: The people no longer get sick from consuming contaminated water and thus do not have to spend money on medicine and doctorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s visits.

Ilustration 4: Numbers showing Social Capital Impacts

3,978 families

1,829 families

20% Increase

5,000 Hectares prepared

88 community promoters, authorities, and leaders

have access to water for both their household and productive uses

in the participation of women and young people in water management tasks

directly benefit from the water access for household uses

for productive uses and are, conserved and sustainably managed

directly benefit from the water access for productive uses

24 hours on average of time saved per month

promote forest conservation and the development of sustainable Family Agriculture.

ACCESS TO WATER AND SOCIAL CAPITAL IN THE DRY FOREST RURAL COMMUNITIES OF PIURA

Ilustration 5: HEIFER – Impact on Social Capital in the Piura Umbrella Project, 2011-2014.

Inputs

Results

Impacts

• Support for the construction and maintenance of water infrastructure (reservoirs, wells) and provision of materials (norias, water purifiers, complementary irrigation systems).

• Access to adequate infrastructure for water services.

• Exercise the right to water use.

• Trainings on agroecology, community development, and technical assistance for sanitation. • Workshops on gender equity and youth participation. • Technical assistance, trainings, and fostering dialoge spaces for CECOBOSQUE.

• Formation of community and communication promoters. • Strengthened organizational capacities of the rural communities. • Greater participation of women and young people in the community management activities. • Strengthened the institutional capacities of CECOBOSQUE: greater regional participation (better proposals) with a focus on gender equity and community development. Promotion of the conservation and sustainable management of natural resources (water, forest, soil).

• Technical knowledge about sanitation, water management, and organization. • Visualization of the woman’s role in communal spaces and greater employment opportunities for young people. • Strengthened the political advocacy skills of rural communities regarding the local and regional processes for managing their resources and food security. • Strengthened the social capital in the communities; member families increased their participation and trust in their organization’s management and relationship with the local government.

Created by: Heifer Perú, with the support of Sandra Anchivilca.

c. Cooperation and participation impacts in the four project experiences regarding water access A total of 301 families (1,500 people) participated directly in the 4 rural communities during the implementation process of the different components; they achieved adequate conditions for water access and supply for human consumption and the development of their

livestock and agricultural production. In addition to these families, there are another 1,000 families that live in the annexes and villages of neighboring communities; these families indirectly benefited from all the changes generated in the economicproductive, ecological, and social dynamics, as well as the impact of having continuous water access. This result has ended long eras of exclusion in which the people were not attended to by those who had the responsibility to do so; furthermore, the women and children, who generally were

> Impacts generated by the water supply projects

responsible for traveling long distances to fetch water, obtain significant health benefits now that they no longer have to carry out the burdensome task of fetching water. The rural families freed up their time, generating spaces to carry out other activities. A synergy was created between the public (district municipalities) and private (international and local development organizations) institutions that were aligned with the community’s water access objectives. These organizations respected the families’ initiatives and prudently added complementary technical proposals and financial resources to complete each of the works.

It was evident that the population was well aware and trained to maximize its active participation in each of the executed projects; men and women, organized into various groups, contributed long days of work and complementary financial support. This practice of being involved in their community’s development also contributed to the exercise of democratic practices and the strengthening of decision-making and management mechanisms. Incorporating the gender equity approach in the projects was very positive as it opened doors for the families to break down barriers so that women could actively participate and make decisions in spaces that were typically reserved for men.

CONTRIBUTIONS PROVIDED BY THE MUNICIPALITIES, NGOS, AND THE PARTICIPANTS IN THE FOUR WATER ACCESS PROJECTS

PROJECT Water supply for human consumption in the San Luis Annex, Juan Velasco Alvarado Franco Rural Community, Morropón District. Water supply for productive uses in the San Joaquín Annex, San Joaquín de Suyo Rural Community, Ayabaca District. Water supply for human consumption in the Río Seco Alto Annex, Carlos Augusto Rivera Rural Community. Water supply for human consumption and livestock in the Nuevo Pozo Oscuro Village, San Martín de Sechura Rural Community, Bernal District. TOTAL INVESTMENTS

CONTRIBUTIONS PER INSTITUTION (US $) Municipal Local NGO TOTAL District HEIFER Organization ESCAES Government

Direct Beneficiary Families

16.009

1.387

10.317

27.713

120

9.915

23.123

6.282

12.201 51.522

1.167

400

3.024

4.591

1.601

4.269

3.024

8.894

28.691

29.180

22.646 12.201 92.719

301

ACCESS TO WATER AND SOCIAL CAPITAL IN THE DRY FOREST RURAL COMMUNITIES OF PIURA

In conclusion, taking into account the calculation of benefits (measuring the social, economic, and environmental results) and costs (financing from the different organizations) that were generated by the implementation of these four water supply project experiences, it should be noted that the total economic investment put forth can be recovered in almost three months. Per family unit USD

Number of direct participant families

Investment USD

$ 308(a)

301

Benefits USD

$ 348(b)

301

Difference

$ 40

(a)

Investment per family over the 4 years.

0 (b)

Total (USD)

Comments

$ 92,719

Total 4-year investment for projects that started in 2011 and ended in 2014. Total savings calculation, does not include $ 104,748 income from the increased agricultural production, livestock, or forestry activities. Three months after completing the projects, $ 12,029 the benefits exceed the investment.

Quarterly savings calculation per family in USD (116.10 USD x 3 months).

4. Experiencia recuperada de los cuatro casos de abastecimiento del agua

6. LESSONS LEARNED

ACCESS TO WATER AND SOCIAL CAPITAL IN THE DRY FOREST RURAL COMMUNITIES OF PIURA

Heifer International has developed 12 working principles, which we call Cornerstones for Just and Sustainable Development. These Cornerstones help us build our program and we consider them to be essential for the achievement of effective and sustainable development with the organized participation of the community and family members. All of this enables us to work towards the sustainability and selfreliance of the actions and activities that we promote. Using a few of these Cornerstones as guides, we present the lessons learned from the four project experiences presented in this document:

6.1. Genuine Need and Justice. Water as a basic need is converted into a method for enhancing organizational skills, advocacy, and administration. Satisfying basic needs or achieving a better quality of life, both at the family and community levels, constitutes interesting mobilization strategies for affected populations. Furthermore, this strategy can be converted into an instrument for the development and strengthening of human capabilities, beyond merely infrastructural skills towards the personal benefit of the people. Water access in many rural areas is based upon wells, streams, or community water supply centers, which are often far away from the familiesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; homes. It is very common for the families to pave the way and propose methods for solving their water access problems; however, the key point is how to reconcile the individual or group interests with that of the entire population, especially when the need has to do with access to an essential resource such as water. It was strategic to join together the visible need and the solutions presented by the people with other elements that supported the technical, financial, social, and environmental feasibility of the proposal. It was from this starting point that the people could identify with the project and commited to actively participate in each of the project experiences. When a project is collectively executed and achieves the expected results, the population perceives positive social impacts insofar as it recognizes the felt need. An example is that the

project helped to generate important savings in terms of both time and work. The beneficiaries now perceive and value that the time and labor savings allow them to realize other activities. The joint identification and selection of the most appropriate alternative to solve the lack of water generated a feeling of belonging to the organization which led to commitment and active participation of the families in each stage of the project implementation. To develop projects with rural populations related to human, livestock, and agricultural water needs, the most appropriate technologies should be chosen; to do this, it is necessary to take into account the technical criteria in order to obtain systems that are correctly designed, built, and maintained. Project success is guaranteed by working with a technical file and a specialist that can guide and supervise the work. The sustainability of water systems is related to the execution of projects that take into account the diverse technology options (gravity systems, pumps, rainwater, etc.) that respond to the needs of the people, their skills and ability to contribute, and the cost of the services. These variables were all considered in the four projects, thus resulting in sustainable systems. In these specific cases, the people chose to construct elevated tanks to store the well water and then distribute it to the people through underground pipes. During project implementation, horizontal relationships were prioritized for voicing opinions and making decisions; for example, the planning stage was marked by the participatory and permanent involvement of all AMAOS members. All of this made it possible to successfully implement the project.

> Lessons learned

6.2. Full Participation The institutional coordination between public and private actors was a key strategy for aligning the shared interests in household water supply, joining synergies, and leveraging financial resources that made it possible to implement the documented project experiences in the planned time period and with the desired quality. Rural communities generally lack a system that can supply safe drinking water to their people, or they may have a system that is in very poor shape but they do not have the financial capacity to repair it on their own. Satisfying the basic needs of the population is a central responsibility of the government; the government should be able to adapt its interventions so as to strengthen the skills of the people while also considering the particular reality of each area, community, or region and without imposing its own agenda. In the same way, the private development organizations should pace their activities based on the real needs of the people and the development of their skills. Thus, building synergies, ties, communication methods, and partnerships and identifying each actor’s strengths and commitments has enabled the project to be implemented efficiently and successfully. The joint participation, in this case, has been a process that occurred with the synergy of various actors: the Municipalities of Suyo, Bernal, Morropón, and Santo Domingo; the Regional Government; rural communities; local NGOs; and Heifer Perú. All of the actors were aligned by their common interest in providing water to the people. In the present case, the commitments assumed by the previously mentioned institutions resulted in positive alliances; each institution defined its level of support, controlled its financial investments, ensured the correct implementation of technical details of each component, and coordinated the components with the larger development proposals in each of the communities.

The participation of the municipality, with its support for the management and activities carried out by the community, is very important because of its legal support, independent of the amount of financial resources provided. The involvement of NGOs is also valuable because it helps the communities feel like they are not alone, but rather are accompanied. The technical aspects of a project are fundamental, but the financial participation of various actors is also important to guarantee the availability of money when it is needed. The financial participation of various actors in these four project experiences improved the feasibility of project implementation. The organized participation of the community members was a key factor in the project implementation. The community organizations assumed the projects as their own, thus developing a sense of appropriation that guaranteed the project’s continuity and sustainability. An organized process requires leaders who, with their tenacity and persistence, are able to develop collective action in their community to achieve the set goals. The people did not think they would be able to solve the weak presence of the State. However, as they became more organized, they felt like they could achieve the established goal, despite the difficulties of access, dispersed populations, and population growth. The people and Community Board acknowledged the achievement of the project objectives. The success of the project is due to the following processes: adequate management, leveraging resources, harmonization, monitoring, supervision, formation of working groups, and making and following through with commitments, among others. The methods of cooperation and communal work, organized through mingas (traditional communal working groups), express the solidarity and collective values that make it possible to implement water access projects. This working technique played an important role in the implementation of the projects.

ACCESS TO WATER AND SOCIAL CAPITAL IN THE DRY FOREST RURAL COMMUNITIES OF PIURA

The funding strategy (manual labor and financial contributions) that the families implemented should also be highlighted as it generated a greater commitment to participate in and carefully inspect each of the components that were implemented.

6.3. Gender and family focus Incoporating a gender approach in any type of project, more than just water access projects, enables the breaking of barriers that have traditionally limited women’s active participation and ability to make decisions. To do this, it is necessary to strengthen the gender approach in the training processes ad promote women’s participation within the local organizations and the community. The participation of men and women in the community assemblies enabled decisions to be made in an opportune manner; it also contributed to the participatory approach for the planning, organization, and construction activities.

The increased participation of women as community board members or leaders makes it possible to say that there is a “critical mass” of women who are developing skills and growing. Though they currently only occupy nominal or symbolic positions, the mere involvement in the group helps the women to develop their skills and gain confidence. The gender quota system has also helped to ensure the representation of women’s interests in the Leadership Board, in addition to generating discussions about the rights and roles of women; this can be seen as the first step towards awareness in increasing women’s participation. The implementation of these projects gave women the chance to raise their self-esteem, improve their personal hygiene conditions, access greater quantitites of and better quality water for cooking purposes, provide water to their animals, and have more time available to participate in the trainings and community activities (assemblies and work committees). The gender approach has allowed for greater group integration to manage water resources and has improved the women’s performance in the assemblies and work committees, as they now participate actively.

Regarding gender components, the awarenessbuilding and training processes should be directed towards all the local organizations in order to help change attitudes and behaviors between men and women and thus achieve more integral and equitable participation.

6.4. Sustainability and self-reliance

It is important to note that the women and children were the ones who suffered the most from lack of water access because they were the ones who typically had to travel long distances to fetch water and thus satisfy the basic needs of their households; this responsibility not only meant that the women and children had less time for their productive activites and school, but it also caused serious health consequences. Through the four projects implemented, the families, and above all the women, reduced their workload and thus now have more time to carry out other activities.

Projects that seek to resolve the problems related to water access, supply, and use should pay close attention to the sustainability of the water system.

The majority of communities do not have an organization that is prepared to adequately and sustainably administer the water systems. Thus, it is not sufficient to just build infrastructure and think that the population will then have permanent access to water. It is important that the families and

> Lessons learned

organizations commit to working on and managing the water system. Financial contributions of the families should be equal to the real value of the water to ensure adequate funding for needed repairs or repositioning. The sanitary treatment of the water should be required to guarantee established quality standards. Furthermore, the communities should make commitments related to the conservation (reforestation, building fences, and protecting wetlands) of water sources to avoid unwarranted depletion. Lastly, agreed upon rules and reliable mechanisms should be set to ensure transparency in the management of financial resources. Substantial effort should be devoted to training the communities on organizational management and administration as well as the operation and maintenance of the water system. Due to the weak organization and lack of training of the community members, a small group of people, and sometimes only one person, manage the resources and mobilize themselves to solve the problems. The people from the San Luis Village are a good example of the value of creating social capital and building a strong organization; the people have advanced social organizational skills, which greatly facilitated the implementation of the project. Many times, the efficiency and sustainability of a project depends on the self-sufficiency of the organization. Key factors for the proper functioning and sustainability of the water supply systems in the rural communities include the commitment of the population, the multisectoral work, and the transparent management of financial resources. It is worth highlighting that the project experiences mentioned in this document are part of larger, holistic development projects carried out by the development NGOs together with the rural communities and district municipalities. Thus, the participation and commitments obtained for the implementation of the water systems are expressions of advances being achieved in the larger projects; within the larger projects, the participants have improved their technical

productive skills for agricultural production focused on agrecology and food security, enhanced their community management skills, and changed their attitudes (both men and women) to promote equitable participation. The sum of all these elements favored the successful results achieved in the water access projects. The foundation of the coordination, sustainability, and multisectoral work was the commitment of the community members, both as individuals and within their local organizations. Without the developed social capital in these communities, the water would not have arrived to these areas of the dry forest. Thus, strengthening local organizations in their ability to obtain active participation from community members should be seen as a necessary condition for the success of any development initiative. When men and women are properly organized, they can more adequately contribute to the democratic practices and decision-making, thereby strengthening their rights as citizens to participate in management and decision-making processes. Project sustainability is partly due to the ability of the organization to generate resources, especially financial resources. Having funds available allows the organization to attend to unforeseen circumstances, such as maintenance and repairs needed for the proper functioning of the irrigation system. Therefore, it is strategic for organizations to establish self-financing mechanisms such as occasional fees or fines, taking into account the idea of establishing a certain percentage per member according to his/her production. The local organization is important to establish water use rules and to guarantee the systemâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s sustainability. According to the experiences highlighted in this document, the post-project sustainability of the local groups rests upon the permanent compatibility between three factos: the formal organization, cooperation (group work), and knowledge of easily adaptable technologies. The leveraging of funds was a strategy that the local organizations capitalized on, thus making it possible to bring together resources from

ACCESS TO WATER AND SOCIAL CAPITAL IN THE DRY FOREST RURAL COMMUNITIES OF PIURA

various actors who guaranteed the execution of the project. Furthermore, these actors put to test the capacity of the organizations, respect for the commitments made, and the ability of the population to identify with a common objective. For the sustainable maintenance and administration of the infrastructure built in these projects, the water supply will be based on the effort (community work days) and financial contributions (consumption fees) of the community members. Thus, the establishment of a monetary fee should be based upon the actual maintenance costs, decided upon with the participation of community leaders, and accepted by all those who use the service. In this way, the people will be more willing to pay the fee. When establishing the fee, the organization should take into account all of the costs associated with guaranteeing a sustainable water supply, both in

terms of quality and quantity. It is important for government projects to consider the return on social investments in infrastructure projects for highly vulnerable populations. An important topic in this present reflection is the weight that the population and policymakers give to the intangible impacts of the project (cooperation, participation, associativity, leadership formation, social dimensions, etc.) to ensure sustainability and self-reliance. Many time, more importance is given to the tangible changes (the actual built infrastructure) because of its visibility, concrete result, and practical use. However, as we have seen in the water access projects mentioned in this document, the intangibles are just as important as the tangibles; it is necessary to make these intangibles visible by looking at the organized actions and participation of the participants and users of the water service.

Ilustration 6: The weight of intangible social impacts

INTANGIB

TANGIBLE Building in fra water manstructure for agment

Created by: Heifer PerĂş, with the support of Sandra Anchivilca.

Strengthe ning communitthe rural ies Water ma for male anagement training nd female leaders Encouragin take respo g the rural comm nsibili unitie of their naty for the managems to tural resou ent rces

Bibliografía

BIBLIOGRAPHY • BANCO MUNDIAL (1998). The Initiative on Defining, Monitoring and Measuring Social Capital. Review and Program Description, Social Capital Initiative Working Paper 1. Washington, D.C.: World Bank. Taken from: El capital social en el nuevo institucionalismo económico by Paula Rodríguez Modroño, in: http://www.academia.edu/3502859/ •

BRACK, Antonio y MENDIOLA, Celia. 2004 “Enciclopedia Ecología del Perú”. Lima: http:// www.peruecologico.com.pe/libro.htm.

• CIES. 2004. Aspectos teóricos del Capital Social y elementos para su uso en el análisis de la realidad. Lima. Working document. Winner of the CIES Decentralization Network contest, study undertaken by economist Mario Tello in:http://departamento.pucp.edu.pe/ ciencias-sociales/files/2012/06/Aspectos teoricoscapitalsocial.pdf • COOPERACCION, 2013. Comunidades Campesinas y Gestión del Agua. Lima: Cooperaccion. • DONOVAN, Jason. and STOIAN, Dietmar, 2012 5 Capitales: Una herramienta para evaluar los impactos del desarrollo de cadenas de valor sobre la pobreza. Costa Rica: Centro Agronómico Tropical de Investigación y Enseñanza (CATIE). 1ra Edición. •

DURSTON, Jhon. 2000 ¿Qué es Capital Social Comunitario? Santiago de Chile: CEPAL: Serie Políticas Sociales N° 38.

•

INEI. Perú Encuesta Demográfica y de Salud Familiar ENDES continua 2012. Informe Nacional y Departamental. Lima, 2012.

•

INEI. Perú Encuesta Demográfica y de Salud Familiar ENDES continua 2013. Informe Nacional y Departamental. Lima, 2013.

•

Fitzpatrick, Ellen. “SROI Working Document”. Global PME Meeting. Vietnam, 2014.

• INRENA, 1998. “Bosques secos y desertificación: Memorias del Seminario Internacional. Proyecto Algarrobo”. Proyecto Algarrobo. Perú. •

LEY RECURSOS HÍDRICOS (Ley N° 29338), 2009. Lima.

• LEY DE GENERAL DE COMUNIDADES CAMPESINAS (Ley N° 24656), 1987. Lima. • MOTA, Laura 2002. El capital social: Un paradigma en el actual debate sobre el desarrollo. Tendencias y problemas. México: Espiral: Estudios sobre Estado y Sociedad Vol. N° 25. • PORTES, Alejandro. 1999. “Capital Social: sus orígenes y aplicaciones en la sociología moderna”. In: De igual a igual, el desafío del Estado ante los nuevos problemas sociales. Buenos Aires: Fondo de Cultura Económica. • PERU: REGLAMENTO DE LEY N° 29338 (Reglamento de la Ley de Recursos Hídricos), 2010. Lima. •

SABOGAL, Ana. 2011. Estudio de la vegetación y el pastoreo en los bosques secos del norte del Perú con énfasis en la distribución de Ipomoea carnea Jacq. Lima: INTE - PUCP: Sociedad Geográfica de Lima.

ACCESO AL AGUA Y CAPITAL SOCIAL EN LAS COMUNIDADES CAMPESINAS DEL BOSQUE SECO DE PIURA

ANNEXES ANNEX 1:

FOCUS GROUPS: VALIDATING THE SYSTEMATIZATION RESULTS 1. PARTICIPANTS FROM NUEVO POZO OSCURO VILLAGE - San Martín de Sechura Rural Community 1. Clemente Chapa Morales 2. José Domitilo Chapa Chunga 3. Victoria Pingo Panta 4. María Pingo Llenque 5. Genara Chapa Morales 6. Asunción Pingo Panta 7. Emeterio Chapa Morales 8. Humberto Purizaca Ruíz 9. Juan Pingo 2. PARTICIPANTS FROM SAN LUIS ANNEX – Juan Velasco Alvarado Rural Community 1. Sixto Calle Berrú, Project beneficiary 2. Manuel Velásquez García, Resident 3. Laurentino Chumacero Montalbán, Lieutenant Governor 4. Vicente Jiménez Velásquez, Community Board Member 5. Horacio Mondragón Ramírez, Resident 6. José Isaías Córdova Córdova, Water Administration Board 7. Doroteo Mezones, Secretary 8. Eufemia Castillo Aguilar, Resident 9. Maura Peña Quispe, Project beneficiary 10. María Huamán Aguilar, Municipal Agent 11. Santos Isoé Peña Velásquez, Community Board Member 12. Cleofé Castillo Castillo, Resident 13. Ericka Yelitza Velásquez García, Resident

3. PARTICIPANTS FROM SAN JOAQUÍN ANNEX– San Joaquín de Suyo Rural Community 1. Melquiades Rosillo 2. Eduardo Chinchay 3. William Merino 4. Teodoro Merino 5. Denis Chávez 6. Franklin Cortés 7. Sandro Agurto 8. Eduardo Merino 9. Hildebrando Correa 10. Urbano Troncos 11. Santos Ortiz 4. PARTICPANTS FROM RÍO SECO ALTO ANNEX – Carlos Augusto Rivera Rural Community 1. Fidel González 2. Juan Urteaga 3. Efraín Rivera 4. Rolando Saavedra 5. Hortelia Berrú 6. Amparo Gallo 7. Bertha Juárez 8. Martha Antón 9. Cruz María Calle 10. Jaime González 11. Silvia Calle 12. Natividad González 13. Gamaniel Calle 14. Javier Calle 15. Everando Calle 16. Hermelinda Calle

Anexos

ANNEX 2:

or perform other administrative procedures in order to exercise their right to water.

SUMMARY OF THE LEGAL WATER FRAMEWORK FOR RURAL COMMUNITIES3

The rural communities and native communities are organized around the natural sources of water, watersheds and sub-basins, according to their needs and customs. The traditional organizations from these communities have the same rights as the other user organizations (Law N° 29338, Art. XXXII).

The right to water The right to water and sanitation is a basic human right to be able to fully enjoy life and other human rights (United Nations, 2010). Water is a public resource. The law regulates the use of this resource for citizens, rural communities, companies, and others. This resource is so important that the Millennium Development Goals planted the global goal to “halve the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation” (MDG, 2000). In 2009, Peru implemented the Water Resources Law (Law N° 29338), with the purpose of regulating the use and integrated management of water resources, the responsibilities of the State and distinct actors involved with the management, and the goods associated with water:

“Water has sociocultural value, economic value, and environmental value, thus its use should be based on an integrated management and the equilibrium between these different values” (Law N° 29338, Art. III, Principle 1) The abovementioned law recognizes that traditional organizations from the rural communities have the same rights as other organizations that have access to water. Thus, they are not obligated to form user organizations

Synthesis prepared by Sandra Anchivilca.

Thus, the State recognizes the substantial role of the communities:

The State respects the uses and customs of the rural communities and native communities, as well as their right to use the water that runs through their land, as long as they do not oppose the Law. The State promotes the ancestral knowledge and technologies related to water (Law N° 29338, Art. III, Principle 5). Peru is characterized by the mountain ranges that pass through its territory. For this reason, the watershed4 becomes the most fundamental management unit given that there are many interactions between the people and their ways of life and productive economic activitie.

Water use is such that, due to the distinct social users along the basin, many times the people ignore that the resource is unique and that what is done in one part affects the rest of the users in one way or another. This situation thus leads to competition for water use. 4 The watershed is a territory with a unique natural drainage system that drains its waters from its source in the high mountains through small rivers that drain into a major river that eventually leads to the ocean or through pouring its water into a single lake (CooperAcción, 2013).

ACCESO AL AGUA Y CAPITAL SOCIAL EN LAS COMUNIDADES CAMPESINAS DEL BOSQUE SECO DE PIURA

Therefore: The State recognizes and respects rural communities and native communities’s right to use the existing water or that which runs through their lands, as well as the basins where these waters are born, for economic, transport, survival, and cultural ends, as established in the Political Constitution of Peru in the norms regarding communtiies and the Law (Law N° 29338, Art. LXIV). Faced with this problem, the State created the National Management System for Water Resources [Sistema Nacional de Gestión de

Recursos Hídricos (SNGRH)], which has the purpose of “sustainably taking advantage of, conserving, and increasing the water resources, as well as fulfilling the national policies, strategies, and plans for water resources at all levels of the government and with the participation of the distinct water users.”. Therefore, this water policy seeks to promote participatory, equitable, and sustainable management of water resources; this type of management would provide a solution for social, socio-environmental, and territorial conflicts, among others, that are caused by an inadequate water management policy.

Ilustration 7: Members of the National Management System for Water Resources

Advisors for Watershed Resources: - Achieve the active and sustained participation of the other SNGRH members

Public entities linked to the water resources management

NATIONAL WATER AUTHORITY: - Highest authority governing body of the SNGRH

NATIONAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEM FOR WATER RESOURCES

- Inter and intrasectoral coordination. - Environment, Agriculture, among others.

USER ORGANIZATIONS:

REGIONAL AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:

- Organized participation in the management and sustainable use of water resources. - Water Boards, Committees, and Commissions.

- Create water resource management plans. - Control and surveillance.

Rural Communities and Native Communities.

Created by: Heifer Perú, with information from the Legal Regulation N° 29338

SECTORS:

Anexos

ANNEX 3: Social Return on Investment (SROI) Analysis The SROI approach consists in visualizing the impact of the value creation in the social, economic, and environmental dimensions. The costs and benefits show how change is created by means of measuring social, economic, and environmental results. In the project cycle, we find that value creation generally only takes into account the impact in economic/financial terms as this impact is tangible. However, that is not the only type of value or impact that a project creates; intangible impacts should not be ignored.

For example, when social capital impacts are taken into account, the project generally prioritizes the creation and/or strengthening of marketoriented organizations. When considering these observations, the SROI approach emerges with the purpose of managing the value of project impacts. This approach explains how value is created, for example how the rural communities understand the created value, manage it, and experience it.

Ilustration 8: SROI Approach

SROI VISUALIZE THE CREATION OF SOCIAL, ECONOMIC, AND ENVIRONMENTAL VALUES

PRINCIPLES

STEPS

Involve stakeholders

Determine the scope and identify key stakeholders

Understand what changes

Document a theory of change, linking inputs, outputs, and outcomes

Value the things that matter

Include materials that might aďŹ&#x20AC;ect the stakeholders

Map outcomes and how to value them

Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t overclaim

Establish impact generated by the project

Be transparent

Calculate SROI

Created by: Dr. Ellen Fitzpatrick, Profesor at the Clinton School of Public Services in Little Rock, Arkansas. Presentation at the Global PME Meeting for Heifer International. Vietnam (2014).

Verify results

Document the process

Heifer is an international development organization that has been working in Peru permanently since 1984. Our mission is to work with communities to end world hunger and poverty and to care for the Earth. Our vision is a world where communities live together in peace, equitably sharing the resources of a healthy planet. PASSING ON THE GIFT "Passing on the Gift" is what makes Heifer International unique. This cornerstone began with the sharing of animals, where all those who received an animal or resources committed themselves to giving the same number of oďŹ&#x20AC;spring to another family in need, and in this way becoming donors who can extend their support to new families. Currently, Passing on the Gift applies to all kinds of support; for example, Passing on the Gift promotes sharing agricultural resources (seeds, inputs, agricultural materials), healthy homes materials (improved cookstoves, food, etc.), and intangible assets (passing on knowledge and skills) between participant families called "Originals" and the â&#x20AC;&#x153;Passing on the Gift" families. In Peru, Heifer International has developed Passing on the Gift chains in many communities and local organizations for many years; these chains have become a self-sustaining and self-managed practice that is maintained when Heifer concludes its project intervention. One of the reasons why this practice is possible is that families and communities in the rural areas of Peru have their own social and spiritual values that form part of their culture; "ayni" or "minka" (mutual aid or community work) are examples of this. Thus "Passing on the Gift" is not a strange or new idea but, rather, is a proposal that supports the valuation of the local culture.