Photo by: Gaia Luziatelli
Promoting Agro-Biodiversity
in the Andean Communities
From oblivion to sustainable growth
By: Martín Zúñiga
T he
producer of native potatoes,
barley, quinoa, olluco and peas
in Peru with more than 15,000
hectares concentrated in the
districts of Tayacaja and Aco-
bamba. Ironically, 80% of this
province’s population lives in
a state of poverty. It continues
to persist through agriculture
though its production is basi-
Over the years, the govern- cally for self-consumption.
ment has not prioritized the
Besides the fact that people
national budget for develop-
ment programs or social im- in these provinces lack sup-
pact projects in areas that are port from the government, the
hard-hit by rains, cold and larger problem stems from big
famine. Cajamarca, Huan- companies taking advantage of
cavelica, Amazonas, Apurimac them. Local farmers are poorly
and Junín are provinces that paid by businessmen who pur-
chase their products at very low
struggle with this problem.
prices. The money they obtain
The province of Huancavel- is barely enough to cover their
ica for instance, is the first basic expenses and to continue
Peruvian
econo-
my is known to be one of the
least risky economies in Lat-
in America. The World Bank
identifies it as one of the fast-
est-growing countries in the
region. Despite this, there are
aspects masked by these figures
that need to be given attention.
PERU
production.
Taking matters into their
own hands to address poverty
and promote agriculture and
sustainable development, the
Association of Guardians of
Native Potatoes from the Cen-
ter of Peru (AGUAPAN) was
founded.
AGUAPAN is an associa-
tion of 50 custodian farmers
from five departments in Peru
(Pasco, Lima, Huánuco, Huan-
cavelica and Junín). AGUA-
PAN is financed by HZPC - a
Dutch potato-breeding com-
pany that allocates a sum to
this association annually as an
acknowledgement of the im-
portance of the conservation
and selection work done by
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