Iberavaly Manos Unidas will join forces to carry out the solidarity project called “Sustainable Agricultural Production for Food Security in the Bolivian Community of Achatalas.” An initiative that is part of the Corporate Social Responsibility policies of the financial company, adhered in 2019 to the United Nations Global Compact.
The delegate of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in the guarantee company, Cristina Cordero, has appreciated the commitment of United Hands in Valladolid, a non-governmental organization whose delegate is José María Borge, and has thanked all the Iberaval staff for their involvement and support to this initiative.
For his part, Borge has remarked that the coronavirus crisis has affected many homes in our country in an important way, but is proving even more painful in third world countries.
IN THE FACE OF CLIMATE CHANGE
Regarding the project that reunites Iberaval, as a collaborating entity, and Manos Unidas, as executor, it has been called“Sustainable agricultural production for food security in the Community of Achatalas”.
The main problem in the area is the vulnerability of its population due to low levels of agricultural production and income.
The present there is, in fact, an inefficient and uncompetitive subsistence peasant economy, which, moreover, does not have any state support.
To this is added that human action is there accelerating climate change, since the smallholder practices applied affect poor water management, deforestation due to soil erosion and poor management of natural resources. This circumstance, if it persists over time, will increase the poverty of the community, as well as the food insecurity of the families.
To these circumstances must be added, according to Manos Unidas, a high level of illiteracy, higher among the female group, and the early age of pregnancy of many of the women in the area. Likewise, the population has limited access to basic health services. Health. In 2019, the project financed by Iberaval was also aimed at helping the female group, in this case, from another impoverished territory of Paraguay.
The money obtained for the project has been donated by the workers of the 15 territorial headquarters of the SGR (present in Castilla y León, Madrid, La Rioja and Galicia), to which the company itself has added a supplementary contribution. In total, Iberaval and its staff contribute 2,550.55 euros to this solidarity action.
VULNERABLE FAMILIES
The objective it pursues is to help 16 vulnerable families to protect their environment by favoring techniques that respect the environment that will allow them to optimize resources.
Iberaval is going to contribute, with this donation, to improve the lives of these peasant families who live in poverty and whose main activity is the countryside. In fact, as detailed by Manos Unidas, they are smallholders, with a cultivable land possession of around 2.6 hectares per family.
Although, agricultural production there is very limited, subsistence, so the young people of the area are forced to emigrate to survive and, in this way, provide additional income to their families. Among the destinations they go to to contribute their workforce, is Santa Cruz del Valle, the most populous city in Bolivia, with 2.3 million inhabitants.
The goals to be achieved are the implementation of techniques for the protection of sources and water and soil through the afforestation, conservation and fertilization of agricultural soils, enabling new arable lands under irrigation and optimizing the use of water for agricultural production.
In this context, it is planned to implement comprehensive gardens for all beneficiary families and an educational unit focused on food security.
For this initiative, which will be applied in the municipality of Sopachuy, in the province of Tomina, within the Bolivian department of Chuquisaca, which will benefit 140 people, there is a local partner, which is Prodama. This project promoted by Manos Unidas, it has an expected duration of one year.
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