Traditional knowledge of the Andean cosmovision

Between 2001 and 2005, in the framework of the in situ conservation project, the National Institute of Agrarian Innovation (INIA), together with several governmental and non-governmental organizations, studied the traditional knowledge of the ‘Andean cosmovision’. Objectives were to identify, describe and document knowledge systems associated to conservation and management of agrobiodiversity, including ancestral knowledge encoded in signs, secrets and rites, or relates to lunar movements or use of indicator plants. The Andean cosmovision comprises two main categories, ‘pacha’ (mother earth) and ‘ayllu’ (people, nature and spirit). Nature is conceived as a living organism; not only humans, animals and plants are perceived as living beings, but also soils, water, rivers, streams, hills, stones, winds, clouds, mists, rains, mountains or forests and all that exists. Bonds of reciprocity exist between all members of the ‘pacha’, which includes protection and mutual care. Farmers conserve and manage native crops relate to this cosmovision, including for example practices to avoid losses caused by natural phenomena, to choose appropriate planting dates or to give thanks to nature. The project documented festivities, rituals and ancestral customary practices relating to agrobiodiversity conservation that continued to be present in everyday life of farming communities.