At low tide, the Piangüeras (women that collect
Pianguas) set off for the mangroves in Santa Bárbara, a small fishing village
in Colombia, to search for Pianguas, a mollusc that lives under the mudflats of
the mangroves. It's not an easy job: the women are bitten by mosquitoes and
have to take care that fish don’t bite their calves in the shallow water. The
wage for four hours of work: less than five euros, from which the expenses for
gasoline still must be deducted. The Piangüeras increasingly have to use
motorboats to reach distant areas, because many collection points in the area
nearby have long since been harvested and need some time for the stock to
recover.
The
livelihoods of the region with coastal mangrove forest are highly dependent on
traditional fishing concepts. In general, women are collecting Pianguas,
because it requires relatively few operating expenses and women have limited
access in receiving credits. The demand for Pianguas from the region is
increasing, the main market being Ecuador and the Colombian Pacific coast. The
access to the whole Colombian market especially the metropolitan regions such
as Medellin and Bogotá, is still limited, due to high logistic costs and lack
of cold supply chain integration. Local prices for seafood and fish are low,
but operating costs are elevated and driven by high fuel prices. Therefore, the
local fishermen and women are driven to increase harvesting efforts to an
ecologically critical level in order to obtain a minimum salary. Furthermore, these
communities and the mangrove forests are highly vulnerable due to climate
change, deforestation and rising water temperatures and sea levels (IUCN,
2010). Therefore, the communities depend on the conservation of the mangroves,
which is closely connected to assuring the sustainability of Pianguas and other
local seafood and fishing resources. Local projects on the Pacific coast of
Colombia support the reforestation of the mangrove forests but are not
sufficient to tackle existing problems. The multitude of risks has a direct
impact on the economic stability and development of these coastal communities.
How can sustainable development be promoted in the Nariño region?
This
is - roughly speaking - the central research question of
"InnoPiangua", a joint project of the Universidad de los Andes in
Bogotá and the HTW Berlin under the direction of Prof. Dr. Barbara Praetorius
(HTW) and Gordon Wilmsmeier (Uniandes) with their project partners: Autoridad
Nacional de la Acuicultura y Pesca (AUNAP), Fundación Calidris, Torqueedo, WWF
Colombia, with strong support from local communities of the Consejo Comunitario
Esfuerzo Pescador in Iscuandé, Nariño. The project is co-financed by INNPULSA,
Colombia and the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), Germany.
As
the situation is highly complex it is important to consider the whole value
chain, from the collectors of the Piangua to the consumer. Besides the
ecological component, also the social, economic and political factors have to
be considered.
Ecological sustainability: How can we prevent the Piangua from dying out?
The answer is simple: in order to preserve the
population, the amount of collected Pianguas must not exceed the amount that
grows back. Currently, Pianguas are often harvested before they can reproduce.
"InnoPiangua" has started to equip the canoes of the Piangüeras with
electric motors. In this way they save the money for petrol, which is much more
expensive in rural areas than in cities. It has already been shown that women
collect fewer shells because they have lower fuel costs. This does not only
protect the population, but the use of less fuel also means less pollution of
the environment and less noise for humans and animals.
The
improved mobility concept with greater geographical reach allows for rotating
harvesting areas and can thus be expected to improve the sustainability of
these economic activities. The proposed e-mobility concept is expected to
improve working conditions and harvesting strategies, to reduce and avoid
further expansion of the motorization of the fishing fleet, and to contribute to
building new sustainable supply chains in the region.
Social sustainability: Why do women collect Pianguas and men catch fish?
In the Nariño region, men earn their living as
fishermen and are therefore the main income earner. The women collect Pianguas
to supplement their income. It’s how the gender roles have been set until now,
but this seems to be changing. The electric boats are making the Piangüeras increasingly
independent and they are beginning to organize themselves into cooperatives. More and more Piangüeras do not longer give their catch to the fishermen at their terms but negotiate
with the buyers themselves. "InnoPiangua" can therefore be understood
as an empowerment towards equality as well.
Economic sustainability: What happens if everyone only drives electric boats?
First of all, that's a nice idea: no more exhaust
fumes, no more engine sounds. But what about the filling station attendants and
the mechanics who are currently repairing the diesel and petrol engines? “InnoPiangua"
is also looking for solutions to this problem. The filling stations could be
converted into e-filling stations. The mechanics could be retrained to become
electricians, because they need people who can maintain the electric motors,
which are less susceptible to faults, and can install and check solar panels.
Political sustainability: What does research have to do with diplomacy?
Colombia is characterized by social inequality, and
the Nariño region is one of the poorest in the country. Researchers here need
negotiating skills. Which interests are being pursued by the mayor in the city
or the leader in the countryside? Where do you possibly tread on toes of
guerrillas or paramilitaries? In addition, there are the expectations of other
stakeholders: fishermen, mussel collectors, gas station attendants, logistics
companies that transport the goods, restaurant owners, consumers. “InnoPiangua”
is investigating how these demands are compatible with each other and how they
correspond to the market.
The
project develops an integrated innovative mobility strategy considering the
economic, social, gender and environmental conditions and evaluates the
potentials for combining renewable energy (e.g. photovoltaic, hydrokinetic,
etc.) and alternative mobility options (i.e. electromobility) at the local
level. It combines the dimensions of local fisheries, nautical e-mobility, and
innovative supply chain solutions, always with a strong involvement of the
locals.
Furthermore,
the approach is holistic and scalable to other sites in Colombia and the Latin
American region and potentially transferable to other sectors reliant on small
scale waterborne mobility (e.g. ecotourism). It also opens space for new supply
chain strategies and for new market opportunities for the business partners
involved.
“InnoPiangua”
is just a start. In the end the project will hopefully be continued at a larger
scale in the future.
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