Conservation of agricultural biodiversity has become an important paradigm in efforts to promote sustainable development throughout the world. This is especially the case in Andean countries, where ex situ conservation of crops has been a focus of attention since the 1970s. In Peru in the early 1990s, researchers and development specialists also focused on in situ conservation and the participation of campesino communities in mountain development processes. They designed the Cajamarca model as a result of several years of experience in rural development projects. This model includes so-called seed fairs (Figure 1) and encourages the creation of local seed banks managed by a conservationist campesino association. The HimalAndes Project, which promotes technical cooperation to support exchange of seeds and local knowledge between mountain agriculture ecosystems, is another recent project with a partial focus on agrobiodiversity conservation in Andean and other countries.
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1 August 2000
Mountain Agrobiodiversity in Peru
Mario E. Tapia