6th April 2005 - Graham Aston
"Travels to Paraguay"
Graham Aston (left) explained that his first contact with South America was via his work associated with VSO and was in fact with Uruguay rather than Paraguay, but as these countries as you will see from the map are in close proximity his most interesting talk revolved around his latest efforts in Paraguay basically helping the indigenous people who in general in that part of the world are considered a minority only worthy of supplying labour.
It was interesting that Graham had worked for Epsom & Ewell Borough Council in the past and had indeed talked to our Club about 5 years ago. He gave a potted history of the country as follows: - The first recorded history of Paraguay began indirectly in 1516 with the failed expedition of Juan Díaz de Solís to the River Plata Estuary, which divides Argentina and Uruguay. But he did not dwell on the years until the disastrous War of the Triple Alliance (1865-70), when Paraguay lost two-thirds of all adult males and much of its territory; Graham stated that women at one stage outnumbered the men by a ratio of 4:1. It stagnated economically for the next half century. In the Chaco War of 1932-35, large, economically important areas (the potential of oil, Graham suggests) were won from Bolivia. The 35-year military dictatorship was only overthrown in 1989 and, despite a marked increase in political infighting in recent years, relatively free and regular presidential elections have been held since then. Ruined by war, pestilence, famine, and foreign indemnities Paraguay was on the verge of disintegration in 1870. But its fertile soil and the country's overall backwardness probably helped it survive.
After the war, Paraguay's mostly rural populace continued to subsist as it had done for centuries, eking out a meagre existence in the hinterland under unimaginably difficult conditions, not starving as in Africa but living on hunted small animals, rats, snakes, crocodiles and abundant fruit such as bananas. Ownership of the Paraguayan economy quickly passed to foreign speculators and adventurers who rushed to take advantage of the rampant chaos and corruption.
Following these last conflict immigrants from European and Middle Eastern began making their way to Paraguay in the decades after the War of the Triple Alliance. The government pursued a pro-immigration policy in an effort to increase population. Government records indicated that approximately 12,000 immigrants entered the port of Asunción between 1882 and 1907, of that total; almost 9,000 came from the Italy, Germany, France, and Spain.
Migrants also arrived from neighbouring Latin American countries, especially Argentina. Most migrants--even many who began their lives in Paraguay's agricultural settlements--typically found their way into urban trades and commerce and became the backbone of the country's small middle class. Middle Easterners tended to remain culturally and socially distinct even after several generations. European and Latin American immigrants were more readily assimilated. Nonetheless, in small towns non-Paraguayan family origins were noted for generations after the original migrant's arrival. Although most minority groups tended to prefer urban life, Japanese immigrants founded and remained in agricultural colonies. Until the twentieth century, Japanese immigration was limited by Paraguay's unwillingness to accept Asian colonists; Japanese themselves preferred the more lucrative opportunities offered by the expanding Brazilian economy.
The colonists made a concerted effort to preserve Japanese language and culture with varying degrees of success. Until the end of World War II, the earliest settlement supported a parallel educational system with subjects taught entirely in Japanese; the colonists eventually limited this to supplemental Japanese language classes. By the late 1960s, many Japanese children could speak in Japanese, Guaraní (this is the indigenous language), and Spanish. But there was strong bias against Japanese-Paraguayan intermarriage.
The Mennonite colonies in the central Chaco (picture of the wet lands left) offered a notable exception to the country's low yields. When Mennonites first arrived in 1926, the central Chaco was a virtual desert. Mennonite pioneers suffered great hardship for at least a generation to make the region's semiarid soils fertile. With time, the Mennonites converted the central Chaco into the major supplier of food for the entire Chaco and made it self-sufficient in almost every crop. The success of the Mennonites was generally attributed to their dedication, superior farming techniques, and access to foreign capital.
The Paraguayan government, eager to develop the Chaco, readily allowed Mennonites to conduct their own schools in German and exempted the immigrants from military service.
Graham indicated many UK immigrants from the Norfolk and other farming communities had formed part of the European input, but few had survived the extremes of temperature from plus 40 degrees Celsius in daytime to freezing temperatures at night. So the Mennonites now represented about 3% of the population numbering about 6 million in an area about the land mass size of the UK.
A "land without people and people without land," a phrase often used to describe Paraguay, helped explain the country's longstanding farming methods. As a traditionally under populated nation, Paraguay suffered from labour shortages and negligent soil practices that favoured clearing new land rather than preserving cultivated land. Because of the poor distribution of land, many farmers could not obtain sufficient income from working their own land and often engaged in seasonal wage labour in Argentina. Cultivation practices typically were slash and burn with little use of crop rotation. New forestlands were then cleared by axe, and the cuttings were burned; little ploughing was done before planting. These practices became increasingly impractical in the 1980s as the market for fertile land tightened, especially in the eastern border region.
The need for maintaining and improving soil fertility was greater than ever by the late 1980s. The use of purchased inputs in agriculture, such as fertilizers, insecticides, farm equipment, and irrigated water, remained low in Paraguay in the 1980s and occurred mostly on large estates. The country's aggregate level of fertilizer use stood at five kilograms per hectare in the mid-1980s, one of the lowest in Latin America. Some fertilizers were produced locally; most were imported from Brazil. Most fertilizer use was targeted at a few specific crops such as wheat, cotton, and soybeans. Although Paraguay's lands were naturally fertile, most agronomists felt there was an increasing need for higher yields rather than more colonization. Insecticide and herbicide use was even less prevalent than fertilizer use. Weed and insect damage was considerable among some crops, another factor contributing to low agricultural productivity. Because most farms were small, the use of mechanized equipment generally was not appropriate for most farmers, and small farmers tended to use simple hand tools, rudimentary vehicles, and animal-pulled ploughs.
Populace had limited access to health care; the health-care system was beset by a number of problems. First of all, the proportion of the national budget allocated to health decreased as a result of the economic downturn of the early 1980s. In addition, international health agencies noted a lack of coordination among the agencies and institutes whose work affected health. Mechanisms for gathering information about the delivery of health services were inadequate; even the reporting of vital events and infectious diseases were limited. Government health services also lacked many necessary supplies. Finally, the heavy concentration of doctors and other health providers in urban areas resulted in a shortage of personnel for rural residents.
In response to these problems, the government designed a broadly based program to augment community health organization and increase community participation. The program's objectives included upgrading the training of lay midwives, expanding health education, training traditional health practitioners and other volunteers, increasing the number of health centres in rural areas, and integrating health-care services with existing community organizations. Other priorities included lowering the morbidity and mortality rates among mothers and young children, controlling infectious diseases and diseases that could be checked through vaccination, and improving child nutrition. . Sanitary conditions were not adequate to ensure proper food storage and processing. The main sources of contamination were un-pasteurized milk and meat products processed in poorly refrigerated slaughterhouses. Housing was rudimentary in much of the country; some 80 percent of Paraguayan homes were owner sub standard built. Flooding along the country's major rivers and their tributaries destroyed much housing around Asunción and other river cities.
Many residents continued to live in ramshackle huts years after the floods. Provision of services in such settlements was typically inadequate. The presence of rodents and insects represented a significant health risk.
In question time, one member enquired about the way that Paraguay derived it’s income and Graham explained about the giant dam constructed, in fact this project had been a recent programme on UK TV under the title Mega Structures, some details follow:- The Itaipú hydroelectric power plant is the largest development of its kind in operation in the world. Built from 1975 to 1991, in a joint development on the Paraná River, Itaipú represents the efforts and accomplishments of two neighbouring countries.
The power plant's generating units add up a reliable output of 75 million MWh a year. Because the Paraguayan parliament demanded early on that they receive a fair share of the project's work, Paraguay was officially earmarked for 50 percent of all major contracts. In reality, Paraguay's small industrial sector was no match for Brazil's more technologically advanced industries. Observers believed that Brazilian companies actually rendered 75 percent of the total workload and provided almost all the key inputs such as steel, cement, machinery, and special technical expertise, electricity was first generated in 1984.
A sprawling, varied and often unforgiving wilderness, Paraguay's Chaco bridges more than 100,000 square miles between the grassy Argentine Pampa, the towering Andes Mountains and the world's largest wetland. The name "Chaco" comes from Quechua natives, who were so impressed by vast herds of mammals that they called the region "great hunting ground." The Chaco remains a safe haven for roaming predators including puma, jaguar and the mane wolf, one of the world's most threatened species. It also serves as a Mecca for birds, including the pink flamingo and the ostrich-like ñandú, as well as a handful of species found nowhere else on Earth. Although a refuge for wildlife, the Chaco is less hospitable to humans because of its scissor-sharp brush land, scarce water and extreme temperatures.
This harsh brush land and the effect on a human unprotected foot has lead Graham and his team to provide elementary but adequate footwear to offset this basic need of the poorer communities, he outlined there is a vast gap between the very rich and the minority people living on an income of 50 US dollars a month.
CLICK here for a sequence of Graham's pictures
Even today, few Paraguayans venture west of the Paraguay River. The Chaco spans 60 percent of Paraguay but supports just 3 percent of the country's population. Only one partially paved road, the Ruta Trans Chaco, traverses the region. Yet even the remote Chaco faces pressure from unsustainable cattle ranching and population growth.
Paraguay has taken steps to overcome its political, economic and geographic isolation and now welcomes visitors. The country has a relaxed riverside capital, impressive Jesuit missions, several national parks and the vast, arid Chaco - one of South America's great wilderness areas.
This was a most fascinating presentation, without any prepared notes or visual system, Graham kept us all captivated with his knowledge and enthusiasm on the Paraguay problems and possible solutions and after a due vote of thanks our membership concluded with generous applause, thank you Graham.
Full country name: Républica del Paraguay
Area: 407,000 sq km
Population: 5.58 million
People: 95% Mestizo
Language: Guarani, Spanish
Religion: 97% Roman Catholic, 3% Mennonite and other Protestants
Government: constitutional republic
Head of State: President Nicanor Duarte Frutos
Main provisions of Food Safety legislation with detailed explanation.
General Food Hygiene and Temperature Control Regulations 1995 with comprehensive practical guide to legislation - (this has been a much acclaimed feature of earlier editions)
Much expanded health and safety section
Examination question bank, includes tips for students.
Case studies included.
Latest statistics.
Detailed guidance on Assured Safe Catering.
Incorporates law relevant to Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Recommended for the use of Intermediate, Diploma and Degree level exams.
Standard reference book for environmental health departments, lecturers, caterers, the retail food industry and all others involved in the food chain.
CLICK the picture the books to find out more about Graham's book.
