Success Story: Carlos Pilataxi

Carlos Pilataxi finds improved crop production and raised economic income through the help of the Benson Institute.

In each issue of the Review we hope to show that the research sponsored by the Benson Institute results in real improvements in the lives of real people. The success story at the end of each issue will highlight the difference the Institute has made in the life of an individual or family.

Carlos Pilataxi grew up near Riobamba, Ecuador, as one of the world’s approximately one billion subsistence farmers. He grew alfalfa; its sale yielded enough money to buy basic foods, but his family’s diet lacked essential vitamins and nutrients. The Pilataxis were surviving, but like other subsistence farmers, every day was a struggle.

In 1999, two senior students at ESPOCH (a university in Chimborazo, Ecuador), Carmen Valdiviezo and Mónica Zúñiga, worked with the Benson Institute and Professor Eduardo Muñoz as part of a senior thesis to study the changes that improved agricultural practices could make for subsistence farmers. They visited the community of Tunshi-San Nicolás, where the Pilataxis live and immediately recognized that Carlos learns quickly and works hard. These traits made him an ideal candidate to participate in their study.

The changes Valdiviezo and Zúñiga studied were intended to allow a family to be nutritionally and economically self-reliant on one hectare (2.4 acres) of land. They selected crops and animals as well as enhanced production techniques to test improvements to the quality of life.

Subsistence farmers usually produce a single cash crop. Carlos, for example, raised mostly alfalfa. The model taught by the students includes a variety of crops; nutritional needs of the family are the first priority, while obtaining money by selling the excess is secondary. Grains are grown as the primary energy source for family members and their animals; various legumes or seeds provide protein; a vegetable garden is grown to provide minerals and vitamins in the family’s diet; extra land can be used for a cash crop. Carlos planted some alfalfa as before but also planted corn, various legumes, onion, garlic, potatoes, chard, turnips, and other vegetables.

Valdiviezo and Zúñiga also recommended some improved animal production techniques, since animal products have high nutritional value and bring extra income. The Pilataxi family raised laying hens and broiler chickens, guinea pigs, and a goat, for which Elena and the children took primary responsibility.

As a subsistence farmer, Carlos knew that if the project failed his family would have no food. But after a season of hard work, he was amazed by the results; he was able to feed his family well and the sale of extra alfalfa, onions, garlic, chard, and turnips provided extra money. Other farmers in the area saw the difference on the Pilataxi farm and the farmer’s association in San Nicolás formally requested that the Benson Institute teach others the techniques Carlos learned.

Valdiviezo and Zuñiga concluded that improved agricultural practices can make a big difference. Carlos certainly agrees with them, as he was able to provide for his family better than ever. Permanently improving the quality of life of families around the world is a success story that never grows old.