Food sovereignty in the Andes

Background information

In the strategic area of food sovereignty, we work with numerous small farmers in the greater Cusco area (PE) and in the catchment area of Lake Titicaca in Bolivia and Peru. These areas lack a varied, balanced and healthy diet. However, extreme weather events such as drought and prolonged extreme cold, which leads to frost, are also increasing in intensity and frequency due to climate change. As a result, the right to food and health cannot be guaranteed for many indigenous smallholder families.

Natural resources are being overexploited - on the one hand by the agro-industrial and state-subsidized cultivation of potatoes and quinoa, and on the other by small farming families looking for strategies to adapt to climate change and trying to meet their food needs.

In recent years, smallholder households have been using more and more pesticides and artificial fertilizers as well as industrial and genetically modified seeds. This leads to additional financial expenditure for households, but also to increasing dependence on the agro-industry and a considerable loss of biodiversity and soil fertility.

Women do the main work of providing for their children and families and do most of the subsistence work in the fields, while men and the younger generation migrate and work as migrant workers or miners. Despite their great achievements, women are disadvantaged in terms of land ownership and having a say in village communities or at communal level. They are only involved in decision-making to a very limited extent. The project work of our partner organizations is changing this. Due to their central role in the household, women are one of the main target groups for project activities.

Project goals

• Smallholder families produce high-quality food according to agroecological principles (SDG 2.4) and eat a healthy and balanced diet throughout the year (SDG 2.1).
• They manage the fields in a resource-conserving manner and in harmony with nature. Soil and water management is sustainable and takes into account new challenges in the context of climate change (SDG 13.1).
• Women and men participate at local and regional level in political processes to promote agroecology and food sovereignty (SDG 16.7).
• Equal opportunities for women and their participation in decision-making processes are particularly promoted (SDG 5.5).
• Where production surpluses occur, work is done on marketing vegetables or produce and income generation (SDG 10.2)

Target groups

Bolivia

• The Bolivian Network for Healthy Soils (PNS) with its 54 member organizations and 106 grassroots organizations, promotes sustainable agriculture at the local level and influences at the political level to improve the living conditions of producers. At the same time, the network works to create a social and solidarity economy throughout Bolivia;
• The Machaqa Amawta Foundation trains small farming families in five village communities from Ayata, Dept. La Paz, in agroecological farming, establishes new outlets for the sale of vegetables, herbs, eggs and guinea pigs, and thus improves their household income;
• Focapaci trains and supports families from economically poor backgrounds in the large city of El Alto so that they can significantly improve their nutritional basis by growing vegetables, herbs and fruit in their greenhouses using organic methods.
• Prodiasure trains smallholder families in two village communities in the municipality of Copacabana in agroecological farming and links the producers with the local hospitality industry. In addition, young people are being trained as environmental activists to lobby for the protection of Lake Titicaca together with young people from Peru.

Peru

• The Centro Bartolomé de las Casas runs the observatory for agroecological agriculture, water and food sovereignty QAWARISUN. They use webinars, podcasts and conferences in Cusco to bring smallholder households into dialog with the wider urban public, universities and other communities.
• The QAWARISUN of the CBC trains smallholder households from 15 Andean village communities in the departments of Apurimac and Cusco in agroecological farming, water management and food sovereignty.
• CBC CBC organizes biodiversity fairs and book fairs in Cusco on water management, agroecological farming, food sovereignty, and climate change, reaching a broad urban public;
• CEDEPAS-Centro trains and supports numerous families in nine village communities in the Arapa region of Puno in the agroecological cultivation of their fields and greenhouses. In addition to this core activity, Cedepas-Centro supports grassroots agricultural organizations in their advocacy work to promote agroecological agriculture and better water management, and works on the installation of irrigation systems and water retention basins and equips households with solar thermal systems and solar-powered water pumps.

Activities

The smallholder families are trained and supported in the following areas:

• Agroecological cultivation methods: Production of liquid and solid fertilizers (Biol, Bocashi, worm fertilizers), rotation methods, intercropping, green manuring, agroforestry;
• Diversification and reappropriation of local seeds;
• Creation of seed banks;
• Improved soil and water management;
• Access to and knowledge about healthy and balanced nutrition
• Creating market access and revenue opportunities;
• Participation in political processes;
• Improve opportunities for women to participate in political processes;
• Lobby and advocate before government institutions to channel additional government funds into sustainable agriculture, water harvesting, and building additional irrigation infrastructure.
• Within the framework of the new partnerships (2020) with the Bolivian Network for Healthy Soils and Agroecological Cultivation (PNS) and the Peruvian Observatory for Agroecological Agriculture, Water and Food Sovereignty of the Centro Bartolomé de las Casas (CBC), further training events will be created for small farmers as well as interested parties from agricultural associations, academia, project staff of other non-profit organizations. In this way, new forms of knowledge transfer for agroecological agriculture in the Andean belt are created, which reach beyond the national borders of Bolivia and Peru to Ecuador, Colombia and Argentina. In addition, the traditional indigenous way of life and spirituality of the southern Andes is being socially valorized, and organic agriculture and sustainable water and soil management are being brought into the focus of authorities and universities. 

Project progress

In 2023, our partner organizations carried out a total of eleven projects that reached around 6,500 participants in Peru and Bolivia.

BOLIVIA

Machaca Amawta Foundation (regular project)

• Five strategies were introduced and implemented to increase the area under cultivation and improve the productivity of the existing agricultural land (agroforestry systems, living barriers, cultivation networks, soil improvement, integrated pest control, seed conservation and production).
• Four peer-to-peer strategies (production methods, processing, marketing and advocacy) were implemented.
• Three new products for sale were identified and promoted (honey, vegetables, corn flour).
• Start of training in entrepreneurship, marketing and production costs of the three identified products.

Machaca Amawta Foundation (DRR project)

• Installation of 30 micro-irrigation systems for families in five communities and two communal irrigation systems in two communities in the Ayata district.
• 80 families in the Ayata district were trained in water management and water harvesting methods for sustainable food production and food security.

Focapaci

• Seed producers have increased their expertise in the areas of seed production, harvesting and storage.
• Food production in the greenhouses was diversified thanks to indigenous seeds (e.g. parsley, coriander and celery).
• Five workshops were held to exchange experiences in seed production at national level. Further workshops were held with food producers in their greenhouses on the topic of biointensive cultivation for agroecological production and food preparation.
• Four neighborhood fairs were held, offering organic products, healthy food and training and education spaces. Pupils, authorities, neighbors and other people involved in organic production also took part. 
• The network of agroecological promoters who lead the development processes in the districts has been expanded.
• Technological innovations have been introduced in the irrigation systems, enabling more efficient use of water and thus improving the availability of water for the families involved in the project.

Bolivian Network for Healthy Soils (PNS)

• Across the country, 92 technicians from 40 institutions are passing on their knowledge and innovative techniques to marginalized and vulnerable smallholder communities. 
• Civil society agendas have been revised to include topics such as gender-sensitive sustainable agriculture, resilience to climate change and models for healthy food production.  
• Six alliances were formed between consumer groups and agroecological producers.
• 5100 rural and peri-urban smallholders were intensively trained in the use of sustainable, agroecological farming methods.

Fundapim

• 45 smallholder families were trained in agroecological methods in coordination with the authorities.
• The management of the water catchment areas was improved in cooperation with the authorities.

PERU

Cedepas-Centro, regular project

• Three community organizations, two producer associations and three water user organizations were involved in sustainable water management.
• Measures (reforestation, ditch excavation, construction of water retention basins, etc.) are being implemented to protect and restore water sources, water quality and efficient water use.
• Advocacy has been carried out at local government level. Local governments are responding positively.
• Technologies based on renewable energies have been introduced for water treatment and environmental hygiene. 30 families can use them.

Cedepas-Centro, DRR project

• In the project area, a mapping and adjustment of water consumption patterns was carried out (springs, wetlands and rivers), which are used for food production and housing construction. 
• 32 greenhouses, which were financed by the Peruvian state and had been lying fallow, were restored, maintained and renovated. This has benefited 32 families.

IDECA, DRR project

• Together with the target population, three micro reservoirs, two rustic water channels and a community greenhouse were built. A total of 23 families benefit from this.
• Six workshops and forums were also held on various topics: sustainable water management, recreation and conservation of wetlands and high Andean "bofedales", utilization of natural and cultivated pastures, integrated watershed management, rediscovery of traditional technologies in water management.

CBC, regular project

• 112 smallholder farmers have received training and technical support in agroecology and have largely implemented what they have learned.
• In the communities of Apurimac, experiments were conducted with native plants, seeds were distributed to residents and regular checks were carried out to assess progress.
• Internships were organized to share and exchange (traditional) knowledge based on the experiences of outstanding communities in the field of agroecological food production. 
• Agroecological practices were continued in the departments of Cusco, Apurimac, Madre de Dios and Puno
• The Qawarisun network was strengthened through joint actions and synergies with organizations in four neighbouring countries (Ecuador, Colombia, Bolivia) and regional platforms, and was able to achieve impact through social media and joint online events. 
• A photo exhibition and a short film about agroecological food production as an alternative to the neoliberal development model were shown in two Spanish cities. This made it possible to convince a broad public of the urgency of a paradigm shift in agricultural production.

CBC, DRR project

• 110 people from marginalized and vulnerable groups in Apruimac learned how they can better mitigate climate-related risks and how they can increasingly participate in and influence social and political processes.
• 16 Representatives of farmers' organizations (high Andean alpaca and llama breeders) have higher competencies in dealing with climate-related risks in the highlands of Apurímac (especially during prolonged snowfall and cold).

Due to drastic phases of drought and prolonged cold spells in the project regions in Bolivia and Peru, which can be attributed to climate change as well as to the weather phenomena La Niña and El Niño, Mission 21 is currently working together with its partner organizations in Peru and Bolivia to upgrade the projects in the area of food sovereignty to include the component of disaster prevention. This involves intensive work on infrastructure in the form of infiltration trenches, water retention basins and reforestation for long-term water harvesting.

These measures help to reduce the risks posed by periods of drought. They will be complemented over the next year by a long-term strategy of reforestation, which will help to moisten the soils.