Supporting regional initiatives to take advantage of experience and to disseminate methodologies for the training of those people and bodies involved in the rural development of the Andean region

Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Venezuela, Chile



Summary of Activities

Supporting the capitalization and dissemination of rural development experiences in the Andean region.

All the Andean countries, des­pite differing political contexts, are confronted by new challen­ges in the areas of rural and local development, and, in par­ticular in terms of developing local democracy platforms; ensuring improved manage­ment of natural resources; reinforcing the representation of rural farmer's organiza­tions and consolidating their role in the production, and bolstering processing and marketing networks. These new challenges force development players to use new working methods. Training courses and methodological documents are in short supply or are not tailored to the local context. Against this backdrop, the RURALTER platform strives to improve the techniques used by the development players operating in the Andean region, thanks to the development, systematization, and circulation of techniques and methods used for their work. This involves promoting efforts to put in place working methods on a comprehensive basis using different organizations' approaches and experiences, and ensuring that they are widely deployed.

RURALTER is a consortium operating in the Andean region and is composed of 7 institutions, 4 European (AVSF, SNV Holland, CIEDEL and Intercoopération) and 3 Andean (CAMAREN of Ecuador, Escuela para el Desarollo of Peru, AGRARIA of Chile).

Through its involvement in RURALTER, AVSF aims to assist in the consolidation of the consortium and to assist in the production of documentation of shared experiences .

Location

Bolivie, Equateur, Pérou, Venezuela, Colombie et Chili.

Beneficiaries

The programme beneficiaries are:

• Development professionals (leaders and directors of local development institutions, representatives and technicians from public and private institutions, public bodies etc).
• Teachers and trainers (of specialist centres, universities, professional training bodies).
• Local government functionaries or representatives of social or grassroot agricultural movements.

Through its individual professional projects, each beneficiary in effect becomes a partner in RURALTER's activities and further promotes the impact of the organisation's regional programmes.

Partners

• Financial partners: European Commission, French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, SNV Hollande, Swiss Inter-cooperation
  
• Technical and institutional:

In Ecuador

• CAMAREN (Consorcio para la capacitacion en el Manejo de los recursos Naturales Renovables), an Ecuadorian consortium created in 1996 by various private entities (CECCA, CESA, CREA, CARE, FEPP, IEDECA and RAFE) and public bodies (the Universities of Cuenca and Loja) which presents training initiatives touching on the sustainable management of natural resources (water, high altitude regions, forests, soils).

In Peru

• ESCUELA PARA EL DESAROLLO , an institution founded in 1991 by four Peruvian bodies, CIPCA, CEDEP, COINCIDE and DESCO, to facilitate training (its principal function) and provide organisational support (advice and assistance given to institutions; involvement in the debate and the provision of information), achieved through the continuity of its work, its well developed capacities and abilities, its internal structure and its importance to the public.

In Chile

• AGRARIA, institution specialising in agricultural technical support and well-renowned in Chile.

In Bolivia and Venezuela

The choice of a Bolivian and Venezuelan partner has not yet been made because of the time required to establish and consolidate the consortium in its member countries.

In Europe

• CIEDEL , le Centre International d'Etudes pour le Développement Local (International Study Centre for Local Development) based in Lyon, Franceis a University Institute, which specialises in the training and education of development professionals in both the northern and southern hemispheres. CIEDEL has collaborated with CICDA for many years to establish RURALTER, particularly to improve the education of those involved in training in Andean countries.

• SNV , a Dutch voluntary service organisation that has worked for many years in the Andean region on themes complimentary or similar to those of the programme (particularly resource management). It is keen to increase its impact (particularly through the systematic arrangement of evidence and its publication and distribution) at a regional level through its active participation in the consortium.

• Intercoopération , a Swiss voluntary services organisation working in the same three countries (Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador) on themes and processes similar to those of the programme and equally interested in amplifying its activities through its participation in RURALTER (particularly in the field of training and education).