During the year 2022 we designed and developed, with the support of Ford Argentina, 4 new biosystems together with the schools and rural communities of Vaca Human, Chira and Campo de Cejas in the Department of Salavina, Santiago del Estero and Rivadavia Banda Sur, Salta.
The unprecedented effects of the socio-environmental crisis that we are going through - with the greater recurrence of droughts, desertification, difficulty in accessing water, increased food and energy costs, among others - have a particular impact on informal settlements and rural communities in our country. In the case of the latter, far away as they are from urban centers, they are often completely invisible and devoid of most basic services (water, energy, waste collection, etc.).
Biosystem Project Agrotechnical School 3160, Rivadavia Banda Sur, Salta.
The objective of proposing a sustainable development or a real adaptation to the increasingly adverse effects of Climate Change is not possible without first guaranteeing these essential services and human rights. But, it is clear that the strategies used up to now have not been able to obtain the expected results, which is why it is increasingly urgent and essential to seek, propose and co-create, together with the communities themselves, alternatives that increase their autonomy and resilience and, therefore, their ability to develop specific adaptation and mitigation strategies to the challenges associated with the climate and ecosystem crisis that we are going through.
Dedicated to finding these alternatives, for more than 10 years we have been researching, designing and working together with Ford Argentina and institutions and rural communities in the North of our country, to develop ecosystemic and circular projects that allow them to increase their food, water and energy sovereignty.
During 2022 we added 4 new biosystems: 3 in the schools of the rural communities Vaca Human, Chira and Campo de Cejas, located in the Department of Salavina, Santiago del Estero, and one biosystem in the Agrotechnical School 3160 in Rivadavia Banda Sur, Salta; benefiting more than 400 families and training community members in the use and maintenance of each technology.
What are Biosystems?
Biosystems are semi-closed systems that work in a decentralized and circular way, emulating natural ecosystems. Each one of the biosystems that we develop integrate, under a logic of circular operation, works of access to safe water -through the development of plate cisterns, improvement of catchment areas, first water filters and plunger pumps-, solar collectors, biodigesters, compost bins, orchards and incorporation of native trees contemplating, throughout the process, the on-site training of community members in the use and maintenance of each of the technologies.
Biosystems Vaca human, Chira y Campo de Sejas, Santiago del Espero
In biosystems, each part of the system is in articulation with another to provide feedback. For example, through the use of compost bins and biodigesters, we convert organic waste into biofertilizers that we use for the production of agroecological gardens, which help increase the food sovereignty of communities. These orchards, in turn, are possible thanks to the capture and storage of rainwater, which we achieve thanks to the community construction of plate cisterns, a filter system and manual piston pumps. In addition, this same water is now heated thanks to solar collectors and the biogas produced by the same biodigester, and is used both for cooking food and for various sanitary uses in schools.
In this way, we increase the resilience of communities and their food, water and energy sovereignty while developing concrete actions not only for adaptation but also for mitigation in the fight against Climate Change.