Alpaqueros de Chimboya 1983

Directed by Marianne Eyde

This documentary shows the daily lives of alpaca herders in Chimboya and describes the alpaca fiber marketing system, from the factory in Arequipa through intermediaries to the producers. Large companies advance money to traders or middlemen, who in turn provide advances in cash or food to the producers, to be repaid in wool. To supplement their diet, the farmers make long journeys to the lower valleys to exchange the products they produce on the high plateau, such as wool, textiles, and meat, for agricultural products like corn, barley, and wheat grown by the communities in the lower valleys.