From ecological and family practices to a social and solidarity economy. The experience of the Association of Ecological Producers of the Chillón Valley

Abstract

This research seeks to answer whether the organization and production dynamics of the “Association of Ecological Producers of the Chillón Valley” (APEVCH), located in the lower Chillón valley basin, represent a social and solidarity-based economic system. To accomplish this, interviews have been carried out mainly with the members of the board of directors structured on four axes. The first one is about the recovery of memory to understand what led to the formation of the APEVCH; the second one is oriented to describe the internal relations to analyze the way they are organized; the third one is about the external relations, which is devoted to investigating the networks with government actors, local actors and their economic deployment (markets); and the fourth axis refers to the future perspectives. All this is to unravel the dynamics practiced in APEVCH. The experience showed that a mode of production is practiced under ecological notions, which generate practices oriented mainly to the satisfaction of the basic needs of farmers and their families, while the surplus production is oriented to trade. In turn, this generates relationships that are presented within the association and are based mainly on solidarity.