We met Neva and Grant Kaufmann at World Plenary of Friends in Peru and were fascinated by their story. The Kaufmans have lived in Bolivia for several decades but they are not typical Bolivian Friends. They are Conservative Friends who moved to Bolivia from Iowa twenty years ago and became cattle ranchers. They live as simply and as sustainably as possible. Neva is a birthright Friend and Grant was born into a secular Jewish family. With their mostly homemade plain dress, they look like Friends who’ve stepped out of the 19th century.

Grant and Neva moved to an area in the southeast part of Bolivia called the Chaco, where the climate is extremely hot and arid. When they arrived, the pond on their property looked like pea soup.  To make the water drinkable, they had to boil it over a wood fire. The cistern held rainwater, but it rains so rarely the water was insufficient. They couldn’t grow corn because it is too dry. The ground was unproductive.  They lost cattle because there was not enough grass to feed them.

Through the Mennonites they learned about panicum  gatton, a species of grass that grows in shade. They also learned about a system of ranching called sylvopastoralism, which is “the practice of combining forestry and grazing of domesticated animals in a mutually beneficial way.” Instead of cutting down trees to create a monoculture, the Kaufmanns planted panicum grass, which grows under trees and feeds their cattle. As a result of thispractice, the Kaufmanns began to see deer, wild pigs and new species of birds.  As their ranch prospered, neighboring ranchers also began to follow their example.