b'Cristbal crop and livestock farms,action, working together to deliverLiving in the Heifer and its partners are identifyingbaskets of produce to San Cristbals the most destructive pests, evaluatingmost vulnerable populations. Galpagos is a and replicating the most effectiveWith support from Heifer Ecuador, traps and, from there, devising andfarmers also rose to the occasion andresponsibility implementing pest management plans. kept the Eating Our Local Foods fairbecause the The Ministry of Agriculturerunning. With safety measures in place and Livestock also installed threeand a supply of protective equipment likeGalpagos isnt weather stations at different altitudesmasks, gloves and face shields, sales at to measure solar radiation, rainfall,the fair in 2020 totaled almost $310,000.ours. It belongs relative humidity and temperature. And, according to data from the Ministryto the world, and Its important to take into accountof Agriculture and Livestock, local the [weather conditions] and to haveagriculture quadrupled its contributionwe have to take a historical record of the climate,to the islands food market, from 10% said Ernesto Jaramillo, a technicianbefore the pandemic to 40% after. care of it for the at the Ministry of Agriculture andLiving in the Galpagos is aworlds sake.Livestock. We need this data inresponsibility because the Galpagos order to study the behavior ofisnt ours, Vicente said. It belongs JOS VICENTE YPEZpests in relation to the climate. to the world, and we have to take Heifer Ecuador also provided farmerscare of it for the worlds sake. with 65 weed wackers to cut away plantHeifer Ecuador and its Future of Food TOPLEFT Carrins hard work is paying off.Galpagos farmers described their landpests, like the blackberry shrub, andfarmers understand this responsibility. Fernando Zapata, a technicianBefore the greenhouse, she used toas unproductive due to invasive species. 29 backpack sprayers to treat coffeeTogether, they are bolstering the food for the Agency for the Regulation and Control of Biosecurity andmake $200 a month selling her crops.Through the Future of Food program,groves and crops with homemadesystem, realizing a vision of a plentiful Quarantine for Galpagos,Now, she earns double that amount.Heifer Ecuador and the Ministry offertilizer. The mechanical removal withfuture for Galpagos Islanderswhile places a rodent trap on a farmUntil recently, I depended onAgriculture and Livestock are tacklingthe weed wackers reduces the use ofcaring for the sun-soaked home in the agricultural sector of San Cristbal. my husbands work, said Carrin,this obstacle with a united front: Withchemicals, and saves on time and laborthey share with their sea lion, iguana BOTTOMLEFT whose husband travels daily to worka research program featuring 40 Sancosts, said Rodriguez, noting Heifersand giant tortoise neighbors.nA Heifer intervention is tested toon a larger farm to supplement theirwork champions environmentally control the coffee borer, a smallhousehold income. Now, with thisfriendly methods for growing crops.black beetle among the mostgreenhouse, I have income that covers harmful pests to coffee crops. The trap, made from a plasticfood, electricity and the phone. A Pandemic Epiphanywater bottle, contains a vial withWhen the COVID-19 pandemic froze the aromatic essence of coffee. Insects attracted to the scent fallPesky Pests all tourist activity and forced countries into a small amount of alcohol atAsk any farmer in the Galpagosborders closed, the Galpagos Islands the bottles base and die.about their challenges, and pests willlanded in a perilous position. The BOTTOM RIGHT undoubtedly come up. For producersoutlook was dire for a province with a Zoleida Olaya weighs his producegrowing melons or cucumbers,food system over-reliant on imports and at the Eating Our Local Foods fair on San Cristbal Island. Heiferminute slender insects called thripsan economy dependent on visitors.supports producers at the fair,suck the fruits juices. For thoseThe situation for the people working held every Saturday, by providing scales, crates, coolers, tables andgrowing corn, the grey, grub-like fallin tourism was disastrous, said Jos protective equipment like masks. armyworms gorge on plant matter.Vicente Ypez, a retired teacher turned And coffee borer beetles drill holesfarmer. Vicente said tourism was a kind in coffee fruits to lay their eggs.of mirage that obscured the farmers Pests like these, and invasivein the countryside from view, until the species like the prolific blackberrypandemic brought the importance shrub, threaten a fragile ecosystemof food sovereignty into stark relief. and farmer livelihoods with outsizedHeifer Ecuador, the Ministry of consequencesaccording to a livingAgriculture and Livestock and Future conditions survey in 2010, 24% ofof Food farmers like Vicente took 40| HOLIDAY 2021 HEIFER.ORG |41'