Minka (communal work)

[2][3][4] Mink'a can adopt different ways of expressing community, such as the construction of public buildings and infrastructure, or benefit a person or family, such as needing help when harvesting potatoes or other agricultural products.

Usually, the mink'a labor is without salary, such as in the public works projects of Ocra, a campesino community in the Andes.

An example of this type of reciprocity is the development of agricultural activities among a dozen neighbors in traditional productive units, or the building of a community kitchen with personal tools and local materials.

The families participated in the construction of premises, irrigation canals, as well as helped in the farm operations of the disabled, and cared for orphans and the elderly.

Due to the great migration to the cities of the Peruvian coast, mink'a became widespread in the coastal areas of Peru - mostly however within smaller communities where local "taxation" consisting of labor is more feasible than a monetary tax to realize community projects.