Sustainability website / Case Studies 2005 / Xstrata copper / Minera Alumbrera supports primary agricultural producers to establish sustainable businesses

Minera Alumbrera supports primary agricultural producers to establish sustainable businesses

Minera Alumbrera is supporting a wide range of agricultural projects aimed at providing local communities with the skills needed to establish sustainable businesses. Eighty per cent of producers from the Belén District are small farmers who own between one and five hectares of arable land. The average age of producers is between 60 and 65 years and typically land is cultivated traditionally with rudimentary tools and irrigation systems, and poor-quality seeds.

To provide local farmers with an insight into modern agricultural production techniques, Alumbrera helped to organise the First Cooperative Symposium in 2005 to provide 150 producers with training in agricultural theory. Producer associations were also established as a result to provide further training opportunities.

Alumbrera has worked in conjunction with the Irrigation Department of Catamarca and irrigation companies to distribute irrigation water in the region to increase the surface area under cultivation, improve water storage capacity and extend harvest times. As a result, in the Belén district, 12,000 hectares are now under irrigation, 80% of which is used for fruit and nut production.

Belén is the heart of the walnut region in Catamarca and, in 2005, farmers prepared a 2.5 hectare area of land for 500 plants used as root stock for grafting American walnut varieties. Alumbrera donated a cold chamber, instrumental in keeping the walnut grafts active. Eighty per cent of grafted plants have achieved significantly higher production rates and are attracting superior prices per kilogram compared with the old variety.

Following consultation with the Belén community, which identified a need to diversify crop production, Alumbrera is supporting the varietal re-engineering of agricultural products such as grapevines and nuts, and the optimisation of crops such as pepper, cumin and anise. Alumbrera signed an agreement with the Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA), the Municipality of Belén (Belén) and the Agencia de Extensión Rural in 2005 to help establish a nursery to propagate improved fruit and nut varieties.

In addition, Minera Alumbrera contributed 17,000 plants and more than 2,000 rolls of fence wire to a project to increase grape production by 1,200 tonnes. Twenty-three small-scale grape producers and their families in Hualfín worked together to prepare 30 hectares of new grapevines and stone fruit trees. The project is expected to provide stable jobs for more than 200 people over three years and 150 permanent jobs at full production. Stage two commenced in 2005, with Alumbrera providing an additional 22 small farmers with supplies of wire for 16 hectares of vineyard plantings, petrol for use by supervising engineers, and farm equipment and agrochemicals.

A further 300 producers from the Belén District are participating in a range of projects supported by Minera Alumbrera to produce higher quality paprika through improved training on production and drying technologies.

The Pro-Huerta Programme in Catamarca, run by INTA, provides materials for building greenhouses and permanent technical assistance and training in greenhouse vegetable production – the most efficient means of growing food in this mountainous region. The greenhouses are constructed using mud bricks with a plastic covering, replaced annually. Materials are funded by Alumbrera, while the construction is performed by the community members, students and parents. Greenhouses are also being constructed as part of the Greenhouse Gardens and Farms Development and Training Programme, which enables 23 schools to produce food from greenhouses. A further three greenhouses currently under construction and another six have been provided with materials. Xstrata Provincial Affairs Manager Jorge Montaldi said the schools were located in very poor areas where most families rely on raising cattle to barter for food and clothing.

"The sale of excess produce from the greenhouses is being considered, which could help provide fresh food to families and build the schools' economic resources," he said. "More than 2,300 students benefit from the programme and families are starting to replicate this technique with small vegetable gardens at home."