A visit was made to the farm of Albino Felipin, a producer from the Mapuche community of Calfucurá.
On January 30, 2025, a visit was conducted to the farm of Albino Felipin, a producer from the Calfucurá Mapuche community, located 60 kilometers from Zapala, Neuquén, Argentina. Albino and the rest of the community members have winter grazing areas in Barda Negra and summer grazing areas in Ñireco because they practice transhumance. In both the summer and winter grazing areas, Albino will work on livestock production using an integrated management approach. On this occasion, the activity took place on his summer pasture and aimed to advance the productive characterization of the Innovation Unit (UI). Members of the Calfucurá community's board of directors, representatives of the Zapala Rural Extension Agency (AER), Rodrigo Navedo and Daniela Raguileo, and Brenda García Falabella from the INTA Bariloche Experimental Station, responsible for the UI characterization process, participated in the event. During the visit, the criteria defined in previous workshops were applied to evaluate the UI's potential for improving livestock production. A survey and walk-through of the site revealed key aspects such as water availability and management, forage quality, and social, production, and marketing factors. The data collected will establish a baseline for measuring progress in productivity, resource efficiency, and environmental impact mitigation. This characterization is key to designing strategies tailored to each community and promoting the adoption of sustainable technologies, with the goal of replicating these experiences in other Mapuche communities and strengthening the resilience of livestock farming in the context of climate change.
