MANQ’A SOSTENIBLE SOCIEDAD CIVIL

MANQ’A was formed in 2014 in El Alto as the project Cooking Schools for Youth in Situations of Povery and Vulnerability. MANQ’A means "food" in the indigenous language aymara. They work to inspire young Bolivians to be successful and create opportunities for a better life through a renewed appreciation and consumption of local, organic products. MANQ’A is part of the Bolivian Gastronomic Integration Movement (Movimiento de Integración Gastronómico Boliviano, MIGA) and together they promote and encourage the wealth and heritage of Bolivian food. Thanks to the success of the project, ICCO together with Melting Pot Bolivia decided to establish MANQ’A SOSTENIBLE SOCIEDAD CIVIL in November 2017, with the goal of bettering the economic opportunities for underprivileged youth by training them to become cooks and food entrepreneurs. Their actions aim at the following target groups concerning the gastronomic food chain: a) Young cooks whose income increases by strengthening their technical training in gastronomy and interpersonal skills as well as new life projects. b) Small producers whose income increases with the rising demand for healthy and organic food products. c) Consumers whose food habits are improved by consuming healthy food made by the young cooks. The validation and success of the MANQ’A model has permitted it to be scaled up at both national and international level with a school in the capital Sucre and one in Colombia. MANQ’A has developed a sustainability strategy, which includes the implementation of social business in continuation of the MANQ’A schools: (i) Social Restaurant and Catering Services, spaces where the young people can show their skills, through creative and innovative gastronomical offers; (ii) Gastronomical Tourism, an experience where the young people guide the costumers/tourists who go on a tour from buying the local product at a popular market, and then going to a cooking class, tasting and sharing food experiences.