Bogotá, March 7. The main source of subsistence for indigenous groups in the Amazon are the “chargas”, temporary cultivation areas that last between two and three years in which women play a fundamental role, both to feed their communities and to preserve their identity. cultural.
For María Celina Suárez, a member of a women’s group that created the Association of Indigenous Freedom Workers in Mitú, capital of the department of Vaupés (southeast), the work of the chagra is vital for families and the indigenous community.
In this sense, he compares “the wealth of the Western world” to that of indigenous communities.
“For you (…) to have a big store is synonymous with wealth, for us to have a hectare or a quarter of a hectare of chagra with varieties it is a rich woman,” she said.
The chagra guarantees food security in the communities, so much so that its technique of implantation, maintenance and use remains intact in these indigenous communities, although it may be overshadowed by the estrangement of new generations with this practice. .
Moreover, the chagra “is not limited to the sowing, production and food of its community but also to the teaching that is transmitted to sons and daughters”.
CHAGRERA WOMAN For José Valencia, an indigenous Macuna ethnic group, the chagrera woman “does not only go to the chagra to cultivate to have a good production, it is she who gives us life, without her there is nothing”.
Valencia added that the job of men is to protect the wisdom of women “so that they do not get sick” and indicated that they “must be protected like nature”.
It is for these reasons that the role of women farmers must be strengthened and used to maintain their cultural identity, their knowledge of seeds, planting techniques, among other activities, all of which are vital for the maintenance of the “social structure, and the conservation cultural values of Amazonian agrobiodiversity”. EFE
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