I wrote this article while travelling and researching in Venezuela in April 2007. This is a reflection of the country's move toward agrarian reform, food security, endogenous production, local control, and communal power.
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Whoever said goats and sheep aren´t interesting? This weekend, I received my baptism into the world of popular participation in the world of small and medium-sized agricultural production, particularly goats and sheep. The municipality of Pedro Leon Torres, and the city of Carora in Venezuela is hosting the 1st Bolivarian Goat, Sheep, and Artesans Fair this weekend on the exposition grounds in Carora. This might seem mundane to some, but to the hundreds of small family farmers and producers that have gathered here, and to Torres´ Mayor Julio Chavez, it is an historic and poignant moment.
The local agricultural fair grounds, which have always been municipal property, have for years been the exclusive stomping grounds of the local agricultural oligarchy -- big ranchers who have controlled and dominated local production for centuries. The exposition grounds were their exclusive enclave. When Mayor Julio Chavez won the municipal elections two and a half years ago, the exposition grounds were reclaimed by the city and renamed simply ¨The Fair Grounds.¨ The municipal offices of citizen participation and popular power, the municipal water company and the institute of endogenous development now occupy the abandoned buildings. When they were kicked out, the oligarchs predicted the demise of the grounds; claimed that they would fall quickly into disrepair; and bragged that no-one had the capability of managing the grounds but them. They publicly called the poor farmers and the municipal government ¨pendejos¨ (in Venezuela, this roughly translates as idiot, in some other countries in Latin American, it has a different meaning). How wrong they were!! The offices bustle with activity and the presence of social promoters, communal council members, and local citizens – it´s hard to differentiate who is who. I was trying to remember the last time I felt truly welcome in my own municipal government offices.
At last night´s opening of the fair, Mayor Julio Chavez gave a rousing speech – saying that the fair grounds now belong to the people. He dedicated the fair to the hundreds of campesinos who have died as a result of latifundismo (enormous land holdings in private hands). More than 200 proud goat and sheep producers from four municipalities in the state of Lara paraded through the fair grounds, dressed in red, and trotting their best goats and sheep alongside them. Their faces beamed with the obvious pride that comes with recognition of their role in the endogenous agricultural production of the country and the government´s plan for food sovereignty and security. For example, currently, half of Venezuela´s milk is imported, and Venezuela´s milk consumption is far below the international requirements established by the United Nations (80:120 litres of milk per year). However, through a recent technology agreement with the government of Iran, Venezuela´s communal councils are opening and operating seven dairy product producing plants across the country to make up for the deficiency. The municipality is hoping that one of those seven plants will be located in Torres. The municipality of Torres also has signed agreements with the governments of the Canary Islands and Northern Brazil to share technology and the experiences of local goat producers. The goat producers are now enjoying the support of the national institutions for agricultural and production, as it should be.
The mayor spoke of how this is the first time in history where the historically marginalized goat producers, who have survived on goat production for over 400 years, will become the protagonists of economic liberation, creating a new economic model based on small and medium-scale endogenous production. Apparently, the goat has always been considered the ¨cow of the poor¨ – that is why these poor farmers were looked down upon for centuries. Mayor Luis Plaza from the neighbouring municipality of Jimenez recounts how supposed experts continue to question the nutritional value of goat milk and cheese, saying that its nutritional worth has yet to be proven. The farmers know otherwise, having survived on its vitamin-laden richness for centuries. The Mayor recounts how his own child was given goat milk to help cure muscular problems in her infancy.
Meanwhile, this weekend in Carora, the 208 local small scale producers will participate proudly in this Bolivarian Fair – judging their goats for milk production, holding workshops, sharing experiences, exchanging ideas. Personally, I can´t wait to sample the Coconut Goat, the milk and the delicious cheese developed right here by the goat producers of Venezuela in the State of Lara.
************************************************************************************
Whoever said goats and sheep aren´t interesting? This weekend, I received my baptism into the world of popular participation in the world of small and medium-sized agricultural production, particularly goats and sheep. The municipality of Pedro Leon Torres, and the city of Carora in Venezuela is hosting the 1st Bolivarian Goat, Sheep, and Artesans Fair this weekend on the exposition grounds in Carora. This might seem mundane to some, but to the hundreds of small family farmers and producers that have gathered here, and to Torres´ Mayor Julio Chavez, it is an historic and poignant moment.
The local agricultural fair grounds, which have always been municipal property, have for years been the exclusive stomping grounds of the local agricultural oligarchy -- big ranchers who have controlled and dominated local production for centuries. The exposition grounds were their exclusive enclave. When Mayor Julio Chavez won the municipal elections two and a half years ago, the exposition grounds were reclaimed by the city and renamed simply ¨The Fair Grounds.¨ The municipal offices of citizen participation and popular power, the municipal water company and the institute of endogenous development now occupy the abandoned buildings. When they were kicked out, the oligarchs predicted the demise of the grounds; claimed that they would fall quickly into disrepair; and bragged that no-one had the capability of managing the grounds but them. They publicly called the poor farmers and the municipal government ¨pendejos¨ (in Venezuela, this roughly translates as idiot, in some other countries in Latin American, it has a different meaning). How wrong they were!! The offices bustle with activity and the presence of social promoters, communal council members, and local citizens – it´s hard to differentiate who is who. I was trying to remember the last time I felt truly welcome in my own municipal government offices.
At last night´s opening of the fair, Mayor Julio Chavez gave a rousing speech – saying that the fair grounds now belong to the people. He dedicated the fair to the hundreds of campesinos who have died as a result of latifundismo (enormous land holdings in private hands). More than 200 proud goat and sheep producers from four municipalities in the state of Lara paraded through the fair grounds, dressed in red, and trotting their best goats and sheep alongside them. Their faces beamed with the obvious pride that comes with recognition of their role in the endogenous agricultural production of the country and the government´s plan for food sovereignty and security. For example, currently, half of Venezuela´s milk is imported, and Venezuela´s milk consumption is far below the international requirements established by the United Nations (80:120 litres of milk per year). However, through a recent technology agreement with the government of Iran, Venezuela´s communal councils are opening and operating seven dairy product producing plants across the country to make up for the deficiency. The municipality is hoping that one of those seven plants will be located in Torres. The municipality of Torres also has signed agreements with the governments of the Canary Islands and Northern Brazil to share technology and the experiences of local goat producers. The goat producers are now enjoying the support of the national institutions for agricultural and production, as it should be.
The mayor spoke of how this is the first time in history where the historically marginalized goat producers, who have survived on goat production for over 400 years, will become the protagonists of economic liberation, creating a new economic model based on small and medium-scale endogenous production. Apparently, the goat has always been considered the ¨cow of the poor¨ – that is why these poor farmers were looked down upon for centuries. Mayor Luis Plaza from the neighbouring municipality of Jimenez recounts how supposed experts continue to question the nutritional value of goat milk and cheese, saying that its nutritional worth has yet to be proven. The farmers know otherwise, having survived on its vitamin-laden richness for centuries. The Mayor recounts how his own child was given goat milk to help cure muscular problems in her infancy.
Meanwhile, this weekend in Carora, the 208 local small scale producers will participate proudly in this Bolivarian Fair – judging their goats for milk production, holding workshops, sharing experiences, exchanging ideas. Personally, I can´t wait to sample the Coconut Goat, the milk and the delicious cheese developed right here by the goat producers of Venezuela in the State of Lara.
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