Pisaq, Peru

In the Pisaq region of Peru, six Quechua communities have come together to protect and preserve their biocultural traditions. Potatoes are a shared resource and a central element of Quechua culture, with different kinds of potatoes holding respective importance in ceremonial use. The Indigenous people have invited an NPO to participate as a stakeholder to help develop a piece of legislation to protect their shared asset. This has led to the establishment of a protected agroecological region called the Potato Park.

Expanding Definition of Community

The potatoes grown by the Quechua community include a variety of rare species. Recent decades have seen multinational biotech and agricultural corporations evict traditional communities, dismantle traditional agriculture, and claim patents on seeds. In order to prevent the eradication of traditional farming practices and the privatisation of the Quechuas’ shared asset, the Indigenous people joined with Quechua-Aymara Association for Sustainable Livelihoods, an NPO, to develop the Indigenous Biocultural Heritage Area (IBCHA) in 2000. Although commoning practices have been in place among the village community, expanding to include external stakeholders has enabled villagers to preserve and promote potato varieties and biocultural heritage practices.

Forming New Models of Rural Practices

The enactment of the IBCHA led to the Potato Park, a community-led and rights-based approach to conservation that differs from the market-based and profit prioritising models. All six villages are included as stakeholders, with each one electing a chairperson to form an association. Under the IBCHA, the villagers have shared their knowledge on over 200 of its 900 native potato varieties with scientists; this knowledge facilitates experiments to cultivate non-GMO potato varieties that can resist climate change. The Potato Park does not allow the patenting of genetic knowledge, due to the incompatibility of the sacred collective status of the potatoes with private property rights. Not only is this a conservation model that can be emulated in communities that rely heavily on production commons, the Potato Park has produced new business models for the Quechuas such as agro-/eco-tourism, a processing center for natural medicines and soaps, a network of local pharmacies, and a video communications center; these initiatives have helped secure livelihoods for the villages’ youth and have benefited a communal fund that supports the schools, elders, and other community necessities.

References

• Bollier, D. (2015, October 20). The Potato Park of Peru. Patterns of Commoning | The Commons Strategies Group. https://patternsofcommoning.org/the-potato-park-of-peru/