AMET and the dryer
Loading...
Authors
Practical Action Bolivia
Issue Date
25/08/2017
Type
Language
en
Keywords
Economic Development , Gender
Alternative Title
Abstract
AMET is the acronym for The Association of Entrepreneur Women of Tucupi, which was first founded in 2011 in the community with the same name (on the outskirts of Palos Blancos in the department of La Paz) by a group of women who decided to start their own project to increase their income and improve their quality of life. AMET is made up of 21 women of Tucupi and has already started to work on other projects with the support of Practical Action and Christian Aid. Production Women The idea of forming this association came about on the 27th May when Carmen Apo of 27 years old and a group of her friends in the community were found having a casual joke amongst friends. Since then, Carmen has assumed the head and is the enterprising and solitary leader. In 2014, Carmen was put in contact with Practical Action, upon hearing that they work in communities next to Tucupi, to increase the income of the members of the association and also to facilitate the work of her colleagues and convert them into leaders. “I want these women to be leaders, to be trained in leadership, so this is what we have organised”, she said. “On the basis of the collection and systemization of primary information in 8 communities of the municipal of Palos Blancos, related to the production systems, organisation, participation of the women in spaces of decision, in the name of the project “Women and Forests” you see that the participation and management capacity of the women of the association is effective, as well as being an association that takes into account legal personality”, commented Efrain Chavez, co-ordinator of the project. So that started hard work with AMET as part of the project mentioned before. Before the dryer of cocoa The cocoa dryer is the main project that AMET has with Practical Action in alliance with Christian Aid. The main aim of the project is to improve and increase the quality of the production of cocoa, facilitate the work of the women- since many of them had to go to the Chaco to work- decrease the loses, especially in times of rain and winter, reduce the number of dry days, and offer a grain of quality for commercialisation. It was part of the initial proposal of the Project Women and Forest, in which through the diagnostic it was identified that one of the principle needs raised by the production women of AMET consists in that many families do not have dry tables and if they did they were precarious. It was of high importance to improve them, stating that they had lost beans in the time of rain and winter during the post-drying process (time when there is no sun for many weeks). How does the dryer work? This technology facilitates and speeds up the drying pf cocoa, and also has the capacity to dry 2 quintals of this seed. It is put on top of two big tables that are inside the dryer, they are left there for 2 to 4 days, and they are ready. This is because the dryer has an electro mechanic hybrid system that it is said functions on the basis of electric and solar energy. Together with a remote control panel to control automatic electrical equipment, there is no need for an operator. The electromagnetic components are: a thermoventilator which generates heat, transmitting it in a certain direction, an extractor, which transports air of one environment to another, a control panel, a metallic box that houses elements of electrical protection, control equipment, and a temperature and humidity sensor that monitors the temperature and humidity. On the other hand, solar energy ensures that a greenhouse effect is produced inside the dryer, what reduces the costs of electrical energy. Other advantages are that you can leave the cocoa and collect it when it is ready, it’s said, that the produces don’t have to be permanently with the dryer, as they had to before, to carry out this process in carp, looking to see if the same temperature is maintained inside. This is due to the thermoventilators. Furthermore, the cocoa dryer, it was also implemented into the community agroforestry systems. The association also has seeded crops in the same areas where the dryer is found. The women of AMET has put all their expectations and hope into the dryer, since they are sure that it is the start of hard but rewarding work, and that this will serve to improve the quality of life for them and their families. It is hoped that the partner AMET can ensure their production and offer a product according to the requirements of the market, by lending service and drying cocoa, and project in the future the collecting, drying, and selling cocoa trading entities of this product, such as The Ceibo that up till now is the main interested in purchasing. There also exists the opportunity of expanding the terrain and exporting their products not only inside the country however also outside. The projects duration is planned until the 28 February 2017 and they have already seen results. The partnership association are increasingly more strengthened and united, have amplified their infrastructure for trhe drying process with their own funds, and have built a barn for the fermenting of cocoa based on fermentation crates and a table for pre drying. The drying days have been reduced (to 7 days at normal temperature when there is sun) to 4 days using the technology (in winter). They now carry the production control and sales of cocoa … and dry them for every beneficiary to determine the capacity at the level of association, with the purpose of at the end of the campaign they can obtain exact data of the income of every associate. AMET is receiving positive results with the technology and their dreams of improving and growing are little by little becoming a reality, thanks to the hard team work.