Resumen

ALEJUA ALVAREZ, Hilda  y  RODRIGUEZ, Manuel. Caracterización del circuito caprino en el sector villa Araure  (estado Lara, Venezuela). Agroalim [online]. 2006, vol.11, n.23, pp.111-121. ISSN 1316-0354.

Abstract This article is the product of descriptive, not experimental, field research, applied to a group of 15 goat producers from Villa Araure, Lara State.  The objective is to describe the circuit in the area.  The methodology used was an adaptation of a proposal by Martin et al. (1999) using a diagnostic study and strategic analysis identifying the strengths, opportunities, weaknesses and threats to the circuit.  The information was collected using an open ended and closed questionnaire and direct and participant observation.  In the study, antecedents and general aspects of the circuit were identified.  The goat raising tradition, the availability of electricity in the community, excellent external roadways, as well as deficient internal roads and the lack of aqueducts, public health and education services were emphasized. Rainfall is very low and occurs in two annual peaks that determine the scarce pasture resources and the seasonal production.  The circuit is important regionally, its local actors being:  suppliers of goods to the city of Carora, producers, local buyers and middlemen, transformers, retailers and consumers.  The primary byproducts of the circuit are meat, milk (cheese) and manure in growing demand.  The main strengths are a result of an opening to change, horizontal coordination, labor and decentralized commercial channels to the extent that the primary weakness identified were adverse climate, deficiency in water resources and the zoological technical management of the herd.  As opportunities, the existence of potential markets and the presence of a milk processor in the area were identified as opportunities, while the desertification, the lack of concrete and effective area policies, goat rustling, and the flight of laborers from the countryside were the main threats.

Palabras clave : circuit; goats; meat; milk; Villa Araure; Lara; Venezuela.