On April 28th, the Native Potato Festival was held in the community of Lares Ayllu, Chañao, located in the province of Calca, district of Lares, Cusco. This event, which aims to promote the sustainable conservation and use of agrobiodiversity (ABD), was carried out within the framework of the GEF-Agrobiodiversity-GIAHS Project of the Ministry of the Environment, the Ministry of Agrarian Development and Irrigation, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, and Profonanpe, in partnership with the District Municipality of Lares.
The Native Potato Festival stands out for its intercultural approach, which underpins the components of traditional agricultural systems, from the cultural landscape in its entirety to the management of crop seeds. These processes are carried out by farming families and rural communities.
In this context, the GEF Agrobiodiversity-SIPAM Project plans in its 2021 Annual Operational Plan to support the strengthening of activities and events that allow the revaluation of traditional agricultural activities, the mechanisms of access, regeneration and adaptation of seeds, as well as propose local mechanisms for the revaluation of traditional practices such as bartering and seed exchange.
This activity is also expected to contribute to obtaining lists of native potato cultivars, one of the requirements for preparing the technical file for the declaration of the Lares district as an Agrobiodiversity Zone.
