Hi there!
Enjoy ready my latest updates!
Update week 4:
I am now rounding off the interview phase in which I have spoken to 15 different stakeholders, of which 6 super insightful farm visits! Each farmer lives in the highlands where the land is more humid and thus better for farming.
I have visited smaller-scale farms that focus on organic produce and apply principles of permaculture as well as big farms that provide to tourist cruises, supermarkets and restaurants. It has been so interesting hearing their stories. Where one farmer feels a deep connection to restoring the earth and soil, others made it their goal to provide local and healthy sources of food. However, they all agree on one thing: Local production is key to supporting the local community and ecology. On the other hand, most of them also shared that they often feel unacknowledged and -appreciated as many clients would rather import products from the continent and the government does little to de-incentivize this trend.
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An interesting story comes from Romer Ochoa. As he saw the pressing need for a constant supply of local produce, he invested in a hydroponic system. He installed and is maintaining the installation himself and through this, he can save space, water (up to 95%!) and his produce is less vulnerable to plagues and invasive species. Invasive species are a big problem here on Galapagos and threaten native and endemic species heavily. For example, fruit flies, rats, and especially blackberries form a big challenge for the conservation as well as the farming sector.
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A sector of special interest to me is the coffee sector. This sector is relatively new since it was only discovered around 15 years ago that the volcanic soil forms a very fertile soil for the trees to grow in. Additionally, the volcanic rocks that form a nightmare for produce farmers, provide support and strength to the coffee trees. The coffee tree that grows best at these low altitudes (around 450 meters above sea level) is the Sarchimor, a variety of the Coffea Arabica. The interesting thing is: In order to promote the consumption of the local coffee bean, the National Park prohibited the import of any coffee from the mainland. Since then, production, selling, and consumption has skyrocketed. These farmers are doing good business and have opportunities to grow. All whilst supporting the local ecology and economy! As I am already rounding off my time on this island, my goal in the next few weeks will be to discover how the learnings from this coffee sector can support the evolution of local fruit, vegetables, dairy, meat, and fish in the same way.
Update week 6:
The past weeks were all about working towards the close-off of my time on Santa Cruz island. In my first five weeks, I took portraits of the entrepreneurs who work with local food products (e.g. (coffee)farmers, fishers, and restaurant owners) and who kindly welcomed me into their workspaces their homes. To thank them for their contributions and to create space for a small workshop, I hosted a photo exposition where the entrepreneurs as well as their products were presented!
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It was extremely special and gratifying to see the entrepreneurs look at their pictures with so much pride. Additionally, for them to connect with the other entrepreneurs and share their struggles was very valuable to start the discussion on how to move forward in creating a more local food system. For example, we talked about the importance of offering training in marketing and finances in order to compete better with imported products. Additionally, there were a lot of ideas of involving the youth more in agricultural practices.
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The next weeks I will attempt to enrich my current findings by bringing in the views of entrepreneurs on another island, San Cristobal. As the Galapagos Archipelago has four inhabited islands which are all around a 2-hour boat ride from each other, each island has a different culture. It will be interesting to hear how they experience the same issues or what other barriers might come up
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These weeks were also times of a lot of personal highs and lows. I got to travel to different islands, go on tours and experience the extraordinary beauty here, but also got sick and felt the difficulties of setting up and executing a research alone. And missing home of course!
