Introduction

Andean mountains are cultural landscapes, long dominated by land uses associated with subsistence agriculture where Cavia porcellus L. is considered a cultural and natural resource to improve the quality of life and economic sustainability in the Andean communities (Maldonado, 2019). C. porcellus breeding had had relation to cultural aspects from the gastronomic to the spiritual, which date back to pre-Inca times (^{Arcos Morales et al., 2017}), and most of the production is consumed or exported where the people of the Andes live (^{Mínguez Balaguer et al., 2019}).

It production provides a regular supply of high-quality animal protein which contributes to food security and also provides a small but consistent income to producers (^{Ngoula et al., 2017}). Currently, food security initiatives for small producers consist of prioritizing interventions to support local research and innovation (^{Rybak et al., 2018}).

Andean countries are directly related to family, peasant, and indigenous economies, where women have a significant leadership role transmitted through the generations (^{Patiño Burbano et al., 2019}). C. porcellus feeds mainly forage and does not compete directly with humans for food resources such as corn and wheat (^{Ramirez-Borda et al., 2019}). The natural diet includes a combination of wild fruits, leaves, and forages, specifically those with a short growing season located in its habitat. In confined diets feeds are grass hay for the adult stage and mixtures of hay/alpha for the growth stages and lactating females, C. porcellus being one of the few herbivores that naturally transport Lactobacillus in the gastrointestinal tract (^{Grant, 2014}).

C. porcellus does not adapt quickly to changes in diet and water (^{Shomer et al., 2015}), and the main nutritional requirements consist of 10 to 16% of crude protein (CP) in the adults, and 18-20% in the growth stage, ≥ 15% of fiber, 0.80% of calcium, 0.40% of phosphorus, 6.6 IU/kg of Vitamin A, and 200 mg/kg of vitamin C (^{Cardona-Iglesias et al., 2020}; ^{León et al., 2016}). Animal feeding is considered to be one of the factors that directly affect the production, reproduction, and quality of the carcass and meat in C. porcellus, in fact they grow well with the food waste from kitchens, although it is possible to increase meat production using concentrates and dietary supplements (^{Sánchez-Macías et al., 2018}).

Socio-cultural and economic factors determined the diversity of food resources in the nutritional management in the study area, thus, diets depend on the traditions in the habit of using forage species, the ethnic origin of the producers, the access and distance to places where some species were ancestrally harvested, and the line of transmission of knowledge in the management of production, which is mainly matriarchal (Perilla, 2014). Additional factors could be too traditional knowledge and feeding practices, formal and non-formal education, extension systems, and relationships with the community (Gobernación de Nariño, 2019).

In the study area, some nutrition and feeding practices have been described, however, some productive and reproductive parameters still have low efficiency. According to ^{Caycedo et al. (2011}), the principal food source for C. porcellus corresponds to cultivable pastures, forage trees, and local forages. We describe the current state and scope of nutrition and feeding practices and technology in C. porcellus husbandry, relating to the key drivers that influence the incorporation of suitable technology. The objective was to identify the feeding practices and nutrition and feeding technology implemented and projected in the socio-cultural and natural systems of C. porcellus in the Andes.

Materials and methods

Study area

The farmers for this study were selected at the villages Pasto (Nariño) and Colón, Santiago, and San Francisco (Putumayo) in the South of Colombia (Figure 1). The study area corresponds to Humid Montane and Low Montane Forest, with altitudes between 2000 and 3000 asl, mean annual rainfall from 500 to 2000 mm, and temperatures between 6 and 18°C (^{Holdridge, 1967}). Peasants (57%) and indigenous (43%) populations were surveyed.

Figure 1 Location of the study area 

Results

Discussion

Farmers had a high potential in the diversity of the forage supply that makes up the diets and the development and implementation of feeding practices and technology in nutrition and food. In a study conducted in Cameroon, the results showed that breeding of C. porcellus is carried out by women (54%) and men (46%) in all age groups ranging from 9 to 90 years (^{Herman et al., 2014}), differing from the information reported in the present study. Our results indicate that women in Colombia have contributed significantly more to C. porcellus systems, under family farming conditions (Perilla, 2014).

This agrees with the findings of ^{Morales (1994}), who suggests that in conditions of family agriculture, women are typically more responsible for the systems. Finally, Lammer et al. (2009) concluded that C. porcellus management and care is frequently carried out by women and ^{Kouadio Kouakou et al. (2015}) reported a 96.3% participation for the women of Côte d’Ivoire (West Africa).

Gender (p< 0.05 = 0.0156) and education (p< 0.05 = 0.004) differences influenced nutritional management technology adoption in the systems, often determined by culturally defined gender roles and labor divisions in the study area. There are reports of more years of experience in C. porcellus care in Colombia (22 years) compared to producers in the Democratic Republic of Congo (10 years).

Kouakou et al. (2015) reported in in Côte d’Ivoire a high level of literacy (81%) distributed in producers with primary level (32.1%) and university (36.6%). Other available data suggest that reading and writing skills among producers are significantly higher (≥ 90%), compared with the territories of Kalehe (66.7%), Kabare (50%), and Walangu (58.8%) (^{Simtowe et al., 2017}).

Illiteracy levels in producers of C. porcellus reported for Sub-Saharan Africa were 55% (Benin), 19% (Côte d'Ivoire), 29% (Cameroon) and 42% (Democratic Republic of Congo) (^{Faihun et al., 2017}; ^{Herman et al., 2014}; Mass et al., 2016). These were considered high and constitute an obstacle to improved production (^{Ayagirwe et al., 2018}). In contrast, for the case of Colombia, illiteracy levels were distributed between 0% (Nariño) and 1% (Putumayo), which represents an opportunity for its improvement.

The area of C. porcellus systems in Colombia of 0.35 ha (Nariño) and 0.17 ha (Putumayo) is significantly smaller than that reported by ^{Simtowe et al. (2017}) for the Democratic Republic of Congo (1.8 ha). We observed that in Colombia the participating producers in the study fed C. porcellus mostly with locally available forage plants (67%) and few supplements (34%). Also, the use of concentrate has been widely used in locally developed experimental trials in feeding in the study area (Caycedo et al. 20011) with low incorporation within the group of small producers (^{Cardona-Iglesias et al., 2020}; ^{Patiño Burbano et al.,2019}). Our study coincides with the data available for Sub-Saharan Africa (Simtowe et al., 2017) for countries such as Côte d’Ivoire (^{Kouadio Kouakou et al., 2015}), Democratic Republic of Congo (^{Kampemba et al., 2017}), and Tanzania (^{Maass et al., 2016}), where the use of concentrate is restricted and only applied in experimental trials, but generally not at the farm level.

Our analysis shows that the predominant species in the composition of diets corresponded to grasses (Poaceae), local forage resources (Asteraceae), tree resources, legumes (Leguminoseae) and kitchen waste. These results agree with a review article developed by ^{Simtowe et al. (2017}) in sub-Saharan African countries (Côte d’Ivoire, Benin, Cameroon, Gabon, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Tanzania) in which the authors reported that the predominant C. porcellus feeding resources include grasses (Poaceae), herbaceous compounds (Asteraceae), legumes (Leguminosae), and kitchen waste (^{Ayagirwe et al., 2018}; ^{Faihun et al., 2017}; ^{Franklin et al., 2017}; ^{Kampemba et al., 2017}; ^{Kouadio Kouakou et al., 2015}; ^{Ngoula et al., 2017}; ^{Ngoupayou et al., 1995}; Simtowe et al., 2017).

In the study area, the collected data reveal that forage comes from a low proportion of ancestral feeding practices such as collection in the fields or roadsides, being predominantly the implementation of small and large areas for the cultivation of fodder exclusively for C. porcellus feeding. In contrast, high forage collection in the fields and roadsides of the C. porcellus L. systems in sub-Saharan Africa, where the quantities collected depend on the carrying capacity of women. The results for the variable feeding frequency in the study area were coincident with available data to suggest that C. porcellus are generally fed one to three times a day without quantifying the amount (^{Simtowe et al., 2017}).

Within the feeding practices and use of technology in C. porcellus systems in Cameroon, most food sources come from agricultural waste and are sometimes supplemented with vegetables and fodder, resulting in low animal productivity (^{Niba et al.,2012}). In the Colombian case, the food base coming from harvest residues is used in a low proportion being predominantly the forage base. However, the results were a coincidence in terms of the low productivity presented by the animals belonging to small producers of C. porcellus. In this sense, at an experimental level, in order to contribute to the correct use of the species management, mixtures of forage and supplements that contribute to the improvement of productive parameters have been developed in different regions.

^{Emile et al. (2017}) studied the voluntary consumption of fresh fodder in Cameroon with species such as Cenchrus clandestinus and Pennisetum purpureum. The voluntary consumption variable had significant differences when chopped Pennisetum purpureum was administered in contrast to unchopped Pennisetum purpureum. These same authors also reported that compared to the legumes evaluated, the level of crude protein and mineral in Cenchrus clandestinus and carbon in Pennisetum purpureum was high. ^{Niba et al. (2012}) reported a high preference of C. porcellus L. for Cenchrus clandestinus compared to concentrate in Cameroon. In a study conducted in Ivory Coast, ^{Kouakou et al. (2013}) reported the use of Panicum maximum and Euphoria heterofila for the evaluation of C. porcellus meat quality. The association of Panicum maximum and Euphoria heterofila is reported to be a forage mixture that significantly improves digestibility, fecundity, birth weight and weaning weight in C. porcellus systems in the Democratic Republic of Congo (^{Bindelle et al., 2007}, 2009).

In the Colombian case, forage resources such as Cenchrus clandestinus and Lolium sp. have been used in mixture with concentrate in the phases of raising and fattening at an experimental level, obtaining a better productive behavior in terms of daily weight gain. During the fattening phase, experimental diets in vivo have been formed by Cenchrus clandestinus, Phalaris arundinacea, Lolium multiflorum, and Trifolium repens, in mixtures between Cenchrus clandestinus and Trifolium repens reporting high values of digestibility. The C. porcellus meat quality has been evaluated through supplementation with forage of Acacia melanoxylon and Lolium hybridum, consolidated as a recommendable alternative for increasing the content of fatty acids in meat.

Some experimental food supplements in Colombia have included the use of Lupinus mutabilis sweet, Dahlia imperialis ortgies, Smallanthus pyramidalis, and Chenopodium quinoa willd. Dietary supplements have integrated the use of Avena sativa hay, plant sources such as Musa sapietum L. flour, Manihot Utilissima pohi and Saccharum officinarum L., Brassica napus, Medicago sativa, animal sources such as Californian red worm meal (Eisenia foetida), and blood meal. Other information available in Colombia suggests that the association of Pennisetum sp. and Boehmeria nivea should be valued for the improvement of the productive behavior.

Producers interviewed in both regions consider that the knowledge and incorporation in their systems of feeding practices and technology in nutrition and food based on local resources are promising opportunities to generate improvements in the productive process and income. The above coincided with what set out in the Strategic Plan for Science, Technology, and Innovation (PECTIA) projected for the C. porcellus chain. We agree with what has been reported about the efforts of South-South cooperation between South America and Sub-Saharan Africa where it is considered a challenge to improve the supply of forage to achieve rapid and alternative access to food and income for women (^{Maass et al., 2016}).

Implications

The study population consisted of peasants and indigenous people from the Pastos, Inga and Kamëntsá ethnic groups, who see in the Andean ecosystem and in the practice of C. porcellus a strategy to reduce the impact on biodiversity, address climate change and generate regional sustainable development. This allows the integration of ancestral knowledge and scientific knowledge, in order to develop a strategy of food security proper to Family Agriculture, not only for subsistence, but also for systems that have had a medium to high level of technological development in the Andean mountains of Colombia. Our findings suggest that women in the study area are repositories of ancestral knowledge. It also reaffirms the role of women and her level of education in the family food security of the inhabitants of the Andes and in the incorporation of circular management technology that promotes bio-economic transition processes in the region.