Agrobiodiversity fairs

Between 2001 and 2005, the National Institute of Agrarian Innovation (INIA), together with several governmental and non-governmental organizations, organized a series of agrobiodiversity fairs. . The main objectives were to document the diversity of native crops and typical dishes made from them; and to facilitate the exchange of seeds among the participating farmers. The agrobiodiversity fairs were carried out in coordination with the local government authorities featuring ‘Seed Fairs’ and ‘Foods/Dishes Festival Contest’, taking advantage of the Patron Saint Festivals celebrated in the participating villages. The winners received prizes such as organic fertilizers, farm tools or kitchen utensils. In addition, the winner participated in the national agrobiodiversity fair held in Lima, which had a great impact on the urban population of the Peruvian capital, seeing for the first time the great diversity of native crops conserved by custodian farmers. Also, one farmer, having a leading role in the in situ conservation project, had the chance to participate in the first ‘Terra Madre’ Conference, a network of food communities, held in Italy in 2004. As a result of these Agrobiodiversity Fairs, INIA compiled an inventory of native crop varieties, 3475 varieties were documented according to their local names.