1. Rural extensionists for the extremely poor in Peru
The PATs and Kamayoq models
SEEP Annual Conference 2012
CARE and Practical Action
Gianluca Nardi, Alejandro Rojas, and Daniel Rodriguez

2. Why do CARE Peru and Practical
Action work with rural communities
in the highland?
• While Peru is a middle
income country and
fastest growing economy
in the region
• A sample of 200
households in 2006 in
Puno reported:
– 87% living below the
poverty line and
– 60% below the extreme
poverty line.
– 30% of children under 5 in
the region suffer chronic
malnutrition

3. Different VCs (and similar problems)
• Low Productivity
• Limited access to finance,
• Poor input supply
• Inefficient Commercialization
In a middle income country with a vibrant
economy:
• High potential of local markets
• Relatively resourceful Government, with a focus on
fighting poverty
• Relatively higher cost of interventions

4. A bit of history of rural extension
services in Peru
۩ 70s – offered by the
government, supply
focus
۩ 90s – structural
adjustments,
privatization. Rural
extension only
facilitated by the
Government
۩ Now – NGOs,
associations, issues
around sustainability
and technological
update

5. Different possibilities for Rural
Extension Services
Government rural Companies Producers
extension embedded associations /
services cooperatives
Cons Very limited capacity, • Unreliable in the long Sustainability
especially in remote term, depending on depends upon
areas, and for very contingent market medium term
small producers, conditions institutional capacity
supply focus building processes,
disjoint from tech
innovation quality
control issues
Pros • Access to the newest • Scaling-up potential, Capacity to reach
technologies • economic extremely poor and
• national outreach, sustainability remote communities
• institutional • demand focus
sustainability

6. Different possibilities for Rural
Extension Services
Government Companies Producers
rural extension embedded associations /
services cooperatives
Cons
Pros • Access to the • Scaling-up Capacity to
newest potential, reach extremely
technologies • economic poor and remote
• national sustainability communities PATs
outreach,
• institutional
• demand focus Kamayoq
sustainability

7. Two complementary approaches
successfully collaborate
CARE’s PATs
(Value Chain / Educational /
enterprise development Constructivist approach
Approach)

8. The PATs Model

9. Who are the PATs?
• People from the local communities
and chosen by the communities
• Speaking local languages,
• With or without higher education,
• With vocation to provide assistance
and with potential to be
entrepreneurs,
• Trained to provide Technical
Assistance services to the small
producers either individually or
through a micro-enterprise.
• With a demand driven, market based
approach (fee for services).
9

10. • Families have access to PAT • Families have access to PAT
only for the duration of the in a sustainable manner.
project. • PAT are from the same
• Culture barriers to the community.
provision of PAT. • PAT receive income for
• Unsustainable results services rendered.
• PAT consolidate supply of
• Weak market linkage for small small producers.
farmers • PAT diversify services and
• Producers wasted provide information to
opportunities beyond the life of producers.
the project. • Local youth are engaged in
• Lack of coordination between profitable activities.
technical courses and field
needs
Before After

11. Example of PATs selection
• Leading producers
• 1 to 2 producers from community
• Participate actively in meetings and trainings
• Competency-based assessment (procedural,
attitudinal, knowledge), in the development of
training workshops.
• Graduation:
– Of a total of 120 participants, 82 PAT were able to
graduate.
11

12. The role of the PAT
Buyer – Final Market
12

13. The different roles
NGOs role Private Government
Sector role
• Initial training • The PATs • Enabling
• Initial follow-up or themselves are environment
incubation entrepreneurs •Additional training
• Larger companies opportunities and
can contribute to the technical upgrade
PATs sustainability • Funding
strategy opportunities for
• Access to finance entities providing
initial training /
incubation
• Certification of
PATs skills

14. A better life
• The analysis shows a statistically significant
increase of net incomes of almost 100%
compared with the baseline, two years after the
project finished.
• 64% decrease in poverty incidence from 81%
to 29% during the past 5 years (51% difference).
• The percentage of people able to make savings
is significantly larger in the treatment group
(27.8%) than in the control group (7.5%)
• The % of people reporting that they are living
well or very well is significantly higher in the
treatment group (32.4% vs. 16.7%)

15. Men and Women most important
changes
Women Important changes Men important changes
Place
1. New skills, education 1. Better economic
for the children conditions
2. Better family 2. New knowledge
Huayrapata relationships 3. Giving value to the
3. More participation in cattle raising
public spaces
1. New learning,
education for the 1. New incomes generation
children 2. New knowledge
Huancané 2. More equality within 3. Overcoming poverty
the family
3. More leadership in the
community
Source: Focal groups CARE / IEP

16. The Kamayoq Model
Since 1997 - extension farmers are being trainned: as a strategy
for capacity building for disseminating appropiate technologies
and respond to the tehnical assitance demands of small holders
farmers .

17. Farmer extension model
Approach: Inter-cultural and inter- learning
approach. Meeting local knowledge and modern
science.
Methodology: Training and certification of
extension farmers with demand approach and
skills for innovation and technology transfer.
Key Actor: The Kamayoq
Technology leader in agricultural production and
service provider of technical assistance
Institutional Support Network: Communities,
local authorities. Public institutions, universities.
Research centers. Regional Governments. INIA.
SENASA. Business.
Action Lines: More than 30 validated
production technologies for productive chains,
food security and natural resource
management.
-1000 Kamayoq in 100 Andean communities in Cusco, Cajamarca, Apurimac, Puno, Ayacucho and Ancash.
-200 Kamayoq with skills certification by official agency
-Revenue improved from 30% to 100%, of 10,000 peasant families due to support services complemented by
other actions.

18. PROFESSIONAL PROFILE
OF RURAL EXTENSIONIST
in agriculture

19. KAMAYOQS
CERTIFICATION
SKILLS CERTIFICATION
as a basis of market access strategy for rural
services

20. SKILLS CERTIFICATION
Methodological innovation in the market system
Development Conduct of
Characterization Performing
Coordination and validation competency Skills
of occupational the functional
for analysis in the of the assessment certification
field (productive
Occupational production competition
chain)
field chain rules
identification
Review and approval
of skill standards and
assessment tools
Monitoring and
evaluation of
certification entities
and assessors
To authorize
certification entities
and certification
evaluators
IPEBA: Peruvian Institute of assessment, accreditation
and certification of the quality of basic education and
technical production.

21. Main clients attended by
Kamayoqs ( in Cusco provinces)
Community Families municipalities institutions enterprises

22. Relevance given to the certification process by Kamayoqs
(survey to Kamayoqs in Cusco provinces)
Acknowledges our Allows access to jobs I can help others Community recognition
learning

23. KAMAYOQS CERTIFIED
Alternative to value people skills

24. A new institutional role in the system

25. Some Learned lessons
• Government’s role in scaling up, quality control,
technical update
• Rigorous impact evaluation as a main advocacy tool
• Do not necessarily sell TA. Sell a variety of products
and services. TA can be a post-sale benefit.
• Possibility of adding pedagogical elements to the
service (WE, citizenship, fight discrimination etc.)
• Importance of bottom up selection process for
sustainability / resilience