2.5 kg of potato seeds for an old farmer in Peru

Peru's great tuber: comeback of the vitamin-rich highland potato

Food security through the knowledge of the elderly in Peru

"The potato is like us humans, it only really thrives when we show it respect and love," says 78-year-old Doña Elena from Huanta in the Peruvian Andes. In Peru - the country of origin of the potato - there are over 3,800 different types of potato. The old highland inhabitants in particular contribute enormous knowledge about the cultivation, care and preservation of these potato varieties. For thousands of years, farmers on the highlands have successfully grown the vitamin-rich tuber. However, a lot changed when a brutal civil war broke out in the mountains.

need

Food security for older people and their families in the Andes of Peru.

activity

Purchasing potato seeds and promoting the transfer of knowledge about traditional cultivation methods.

Measurable performance

Number of villages supplied with potato seeds.

Result

More and more balanced nutrition, less poorly paid day laborer work, improved psychological well-being of the villagers.

Systemically relevant impact

Self-sufficiency in basic foodstuffs is assured. The relationship between old and young has improved and the elderly are valued. The transfer of knowledge contributes to the preservation of potato diversity.

background

Until the early 1980s, it was not uncommon in Peru for a village community to own up to 500 varieties of potato. But then the civil war broke out. The internal conflict was unleashed by the Maoist Shining Path party and is estimated to have cost Peru 70,000 lives. Most of them died in the rural region of Ayacucho; they were mainly indigenous Quechua and farm workers. Ten thousand more people fled. Their houses fell into disrepair and their fields became overgrown. This had long-term consequences and is evident today, among other things, in an unstable supply of basic foodstuffs. When the survivors returned to the villages at the end of the 1990s, their knowledge of food security had disappeared along with the old people. The old seed routes and regional networks of mutual aid had collapsed or were only known to a few.

The good deed

With the support of HelpAge partner Asociación Pacha Uyway (APU), the "old wise men" of the region, who still possess many potato varieties and the secret of caring for them, are now trying to pass this knowledge back on to the children. Under the guidance of the elders, the young people are reorganizing the seed routes between the villages, exchanging the old potato varieties and reviving the old rituals. This improves the village communities' control over their staple foods and brings the generations closer together again. The market dependency and supply risk of the 330 small farming families involved are thus reduced and their food security is secured.

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