Institutional Strengthening and Support to Indigenous and Peasant Communities in Beni

PSCB

Justification

PSCBeni has been working to support rural and indigenous communities in its area of operation for years, aiming to improve their food sovereignty, cultural promotion, and defense of their rights. This three-year project seeks to expand and consolidate its regular work with this vulnerable population, adopting a more holistic program approach at all levels that incorporates innovation and respect for the environment, the recovery of diversity and ancestral techniques, etc. It aims to enhance the reality of reforestation, implementation, and diversification of crops, and promote gender-equitable strengthening of organizational capacities, leadership, participation, and advocacy in indigenous communities for the effective defense of their economic, social, cultural, and environmental rights, among other goals.

Location

Beni – Bolivia

Local Partner

PSCB (Pastoral Social Caritas Beni)

Objectives

General Objective: To enable families, indigenous and peasant communities, along with their organizations in the Vicariate of Beni, to have the capacities and skills for livelihood management, healthy food, promotion, exercise, and defense of rights, through a strengthened institutional management framework based on human dignity and Care for Our Common Home.

Specific Objective:

  1. Strengthen PSC Beni’s technical and administrative capacities to accompany and support indigenous and peasant communities in the defense of their rights and territories.
  2. Energize processes of sustainable production based on Successional Agroforestry Systems (SAFs) and enhance their food security with healthy and diversified foods, respecting indigenous families’ knowledge and production methods in Beni.
  3. Promote the recovery of cultural identity and defend the rights and territories of indigenous and peasant communities in the area.

Target Population

(218 families).

Project Duration

Budget

Funding

TAU (69.050€) and MISEREOR (249.996€)

Activities:

Objective 1.

  • Implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of the Institutional Strategic Plan 2023 – 2027.
  • Virtual or in-person workshops for technical and administrative staff on life plans.
  • Annual training workshops on conflict resolution, human relations, monitoring, and evaluation methodologies.
  • Annual workshop on caring for our common home, in the context of “Querida Amazonía” dreams.
  • Implementation of an integrated management system and institutional administration.
  • Regular updates of the institutional website and social media with information on actions, services, and products.
  • Development and implementation of communication or marketing strategies.

Objective 2.

  • Ongoing technical monitoring of installed SAF (Successional Agroforestry Systems) plots.
  • Annual experience exchange on the development and management of installed plots to analyze challenges, benefits, and yields.
  • Planting of Pioneer Crops in SAFs.
  • Provision of seeds and seedlings for replacing losses due to weather conditions, pests, and other factors in installed SAF plots.
  • Eight community workshops per year for designing SAFs and identifying new beneficiaries.
  • Establishment of 18 new SAF plots.
  • Creation of a forest nursery on PSC-Beni land with all necessary requirements and health permits.
  • Participation of new leaders in SAF training processes with ECOTOP.
  • Installation of 18 individual family horticultural gardens and 1 collective garden involving 12 women representatives from families in 6 communities with 5 different seed varieties.
  • Annual workshop in each community with beneficiaries of the gardens on organic production and preparation of different organic fertilizers and biopesticides for pest and disease control.
  • Annual fair for exchanging and marketing surplus produce from SAFs and family gardens, starting from the second year.
  • Annual community workshop on healthy eating.
  • Community workshops on food preparation using products from SAFs and family gardens.
  • Preparation of dietary menus for separate groups of men and women.

Objective 3.

  • Leadership training course for community leaders, local chiefs, and community board members.
  • Technical support and training on implementing community-initiated projects for each beneficiary community.
  • Exchange sessions on experiences in training and implementing community-initiated projects.
  • Training on communal life plans.
  • Training in ICT tools for conducting campaigns and advocacy actions in cases of community rights violations.
  • Production of audiovisual materials to showcase community strengthening efforts.
  • Two annual workshops per community on gender-based violence prevention, conducted by the Beni Community Promoters Network.
  • Two annual workshops per community on new masculinities, targeting men.
  • Three workshops on healthy and balanced relationships for young adolescents.
  • Support and advice to indigenous and peasant communities in advocacy and defense actions for their culture and territory.
  • Four workshops per year in each “Cabildo” (indigenous council) to reconstitute their organizational structure.
  • Annual experience exchange on the organizational and cultural reality of indigenous “Cabildos” with their key representatives or authorities.
  • Documentation, printing of memory documents of indigenous “Cabildos” and communities as a missionary heritage.
  • Community meetings to reflect, register, and systematize key elements of the regional indigenous worldview.
  • Production of audiovisuals and mini-documentaries about indigenous “Cabildos” based on their stories and legends (10 minutes, covering culture, rights, economy, threats).