Llamas, alpacas and vicuñas, seen as comedy animals in some cultures, are being taken seriously by the UN’s International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) as potential wealth creators for poor Bolivian Andes communities. It is backing a $14.38 million Enhancement of the Peasant Camelid Economy Support Project aimed at enriching producers of llamas and their relatives, and also encouraging neighbouring microentrepreneurs, especially women and young people. The aim is to provide start-up investment for camelid meat, hide and wool production and related handicraft businesses, as well as Andes eco-tourism services. IFAD’s Roberto Haudry de Soucy said dried camelid meat – called ‘charque’ in Bolivia – is in high demand within the country’s cities. And while nearly 6,000 mountain women are already producing it, they need technical assistance to improve processing, packaging, marketing and distribution. With such help, “the production could easily be doubled”, said Haudry de Soucy. The same applied to camelid-hair handmade textiles.