Fundación PASOS

Sucre, Bolivia

An Overview Of Our Solution

Fundación PASOS worked with small-scale amaranth producers in the Bolivian Andes to promote socially, environmentally and economically sustainable farming practices. Most farmers used to prefer the Peruvian Oscar Blanco variety, but the foundation helped market the indigenous variety of Black Amaranth, which requires fewer agricultural inputs and is resistant to drought and pests. Black Amaranth also proved to be more climate resilient than the other varieties, allowing communities to adapt to a rapidly changing climate. By adhering to the Mountain Partnership Product voluntary labeling scheme, the farmers gained access to better market opportunities. This label is granted to mountain goods from small-scale production, environmentally sustainable and with equitable value chains. This project contributed to farmers’ well-being and biodiversity valorization.

Who is this solution impacting?

Community Type

Rural

Organization type

Nirlaba

Ecosystem (select all that apply)

Grasslands

Population impacted

5,800 people

Size of agricultural area

2/2.5 ha per family = 48/60 ha in total

Production quantity

80-100 kilos of amaranth per family per year = 1980/2400 in total

People employed

18 people

Describe your solution

The project aims to make amaranth production more environmentally sustainable and more profitable for the farmers. While respecting and maintaining the age-old customs of caring for the Pachamama (Mother Earth) and working as a community, PASOS has helped to market the indigenous amaranth variety to local as well as urban consumers. Although the Peruvian Oscar Blanco amaranth is still cultivated more widely than local black amaranth, Fundación PASOS is working to promote this more nutritious and sustainable variety. It is significantly easier to harvest and require less fertilizers and water, which is better for both upstream and downstream ecosystems and communities. Because amaranth is rich in iron, calcium and protein, it has been included in the government’s School Breakfast program which aims to provide youth with a more balanced diet. However, domestic prices for amaranth are low, so Fundación PASOS has also worked on diversification to facilitate the access of small-scale farmers into urban markets, by establishing the connection with the retailer Irupana and adopting the Mountain Partnership Products participative labeling scheme. Irupana is specialized in natural and organic Andean cereals to recover the agroecological potential and food culture of Bolivia and to contribute to national food security. It committed to grant black amaranth producers a premium price and create a dedicated product line for processed black amaranth products such as energy bars.

Describe your implementation

The key elements of the project’s implementation are technical capacity building and support with marketing and distribution. Fundación PASOS provided training and technical assistance to improve amaranth production. It worked closely with those family farmers who expressed their interest in joining the pilot, but extended trainings to the whole community through the creation of 2 demonstration plots open to everybody. The volunteers sum up to 24 families from 7 communities in 3 municipalities of the Chuquisaca Department (4 Amancaya, 2 Silva, 7 Achatalas in Sopachuy; 4 Limabamba Bajo, 1 Matela Alta in Alcalá; 2 Caña Huayco, 4 Barbechos in El Villar). The trainings aimed to reinforce the knowledge and understanding of the farmers to valorize the product and strengthen the technical skills for its cultivation. Capacity building activities focused on techniques for cultivating black amaranth, protecting biodiversity and waterways, managing soils, increasing output sustainably and modern methods of cleaning and packaging to ensure a marketable finished product. The path to join the government-led participatory certification process was also explored. The project assessed marketing channels and established a collaboration with the retailer Irupana, among others. Engagement with these markets has a positive effect on community's wealth and contributes to the perpetuation of ancestral knowledge. Slow Food supported all the activities through its network and experience in biodiversity promotion. The use of the Mountain Partnership Product label enabled to brand the amaranth as a high value mountain product and enter into the network of the initiative. The narrative label provides information on the story of a product, its producers, cultivation and processing techniques, cultural aspects and areas of origin. This information is fundamental to improve the quality of information offered to consumers, encouraging a more direct relationship with producers.

External connections

The project builds on a synergy among local farmers, the local NGO Fundación PASOS, the UN alliance Mountain Partnership, the retailer Irupana and Slow Food (a global movement to ensure everyone has access to good, clean and fair food), in the context of the Mountain Partnership Products initiative. The collaboration on the ground started in May 2016, when all the actors met in Bolivia and committed to jointly implement the project. The project sustained the creation of alliances and networks amongst producer organizations and families in order to provide access to shared sales channels and jointly advocate for pertinent policies. It also supported the development of an information and communication system related to market prices in order to mitigate the effects of price volatility. Youth employment and inclusion were major priorities. Working with young people is crucial as they are increasingly migrating to urban areas in search of work. Through the new opportunities provided by the project, they are incentivized to take up farming and keep adapting it to the current context. The project also provided a space for intergenerational dialogue and reflections about the importance of cultural identity as an engine of development for their communities.

What is the environmental or ecological challenge you are targeting with your solution?

Amaranth farmers must adapt to a harsh mountain environment and compete with non-native crops which are more productive but less sustainable. The environment of the Andean Plateau is characterized by scarce water, arid soil and widespread erosion. Climate change is further decreasing average rainfall and making weather phenomena even more unpredictable, meaning that sowing and harvesting high-altitude crops has become more difficult. The survival of the local black amaranth is heavily under threat by the propagation of commercial varieties, especially the Peruvian Oscar Blanco which is suited for more intense production but does not have the same nutritional properties and negatively affects biodiversity in the region.

Describe the context in which you are operating

Rural to urban migration in the Andean Plateau is affecting the social fabric of rural communities, which in highland Bolivia is traditionally tied to agriculture. Young people are overwhelmingly seeking employment in the city and it is estimated that 95% of people currently involved in farming associations are over 40 years old. For those who remain, lack of market opportunities for local varieties of amaranth has led to reliance on more intensive production of imported varieties, such as the Oscar Blanco. Even so, it is difficult to compete with the higher yields obtained in Peru and India and producers are forced to accept low and volatile prices (e.g. from 2014 to 2016 Oscar Blanco price for a 46-kilo bag dropped dramatically from 900 to 350 bolivianos). Quality traditional crops do not always fetch a higher price than conventionally farmed crops, but this is changing with increasing consumer awareness.
Although amaranth has been produced and consumed in the Andean plateau for many generations, the possibilities for marketing this nutritious and versatile seed have not been fully exploited. The total potential market demand for Bolivian amaranth is estimated at 1.828 tonnes globally, of which 729 tonnes from conventional agriculture needed for internal consumption and a further 1.098 tonnes of organic produce destined for the export market. Only 499 tonnes of Bolivian amaranth were offered on the domestic market in 2014, of which only 10% was organic.

How did you impact natural resource use and greenhouse gas emissions?

Even in its initial stages, the work has led to tangible holistic benefits for rural mountain communities, as well as water and soil conservation. The promotion of local crops contributes to the agricultural biodiversity of the region and enables farmers to decrease inputs such as fertilizers and pesticides. In the long term, these sustainable practices will increase the climate resilience of farmers in the region, allowing them to continue living off the land despite changes in weather and precipitation patterns. The project opened the doors to the Slow Food and Mountain Partnership networks: millions of people and hundreds of organizations. The Mountain Partnership works to improve the lives of mountain peoples and protect mountain environments by tapping the wealth of resources, knowledge and expertise of its members to stimulate concrete action on the ground, such as its Mountain Products initiative targeting small-scale mountain producers from developing countries.

Water

Black Amaranth uses significantly less water than the better known commercial varieties, which means that it is better suited for the context of the Bolivian highlands, where irrigation and watering mechanisms are scarce and rainfall is becoming increasingly unpredictable. Sustainable production techniques which reduce agricultural inputs have contributed to cleaner water in the region, and the creation of producer networks makes it easier to manage water resources in an equitable way.

Food Security/Nutrition

The traditional, collective, small-scale farming techniques promoted by the project contribute to food security and food sovereignty in the region. Food insecurity is widespread in mountain regions, but the sustainable and community-centered production of the highly nutritious black amaranth is helping to make local diets more balanced. In addition to providing gluten-free calories, amaranth is an important source of protein, iron, calcium, manganese, magnesium, folate and vitamins A and C.

Economic/Sustainable Development

Fundación PASOS works to strengthen the productive capacity, management skills and access to market of producers in order to better respond to the demand for quality, quantity and timeliness of amaranth on the market. Better access to information, training, best practices and knowledge sharing also had a positive impact on the economic viability of the project. Finally, support for value-added amaranth products has strengthened the value chain for black amaranth.

Climate

Small-scale mountain farmers such as the amaranth producers of highland Bolivia are at the same time the hardest hit by climate change, and among those contributing most to mitigate it. Black amaranth has proven to be well adapted to droughts and weather instability, and its production does not compromise forests and local ecosystems.

Sustainability

Local demand for black amaranth by small local and regional companies, together with the awareness raising and promotional activities implemented, guarantee long-term economic sustainability to the project.
These small companies are interested in black amaranth also to include it in the School Breakfast program, which is funded and sponsored by municipal governments, offering a big and long-term market opportunity. Local consumption is on the rise as well, thanks also to the trainings on how to cook and couple black amaranth with other foods.
The quality and adequate quantity of seeds is ensured by those of the local producers who have been capacitated as seeders by the project.

Return on investment

The initial investment was quite small: about USD 20,000 to cover production costs and awareness raising efforts about ways of preparing amaranth products. In the project’s initial stages there were few families participating and local demand was low. The number of producers has increased as the black amaranth became more popular with local consumers. Because it is highly nutritious, the product is being especially appreciated by families with small children. Short-term results: 24 households producing black amaranth and 200 households consuming it locally and accessing trainings. The development of new processed black amaranth products can further increase the value of black amaranth and provide interesting cost-benefit results.

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How could we successfully replicate this solution elsewhere?

The work done with amaranth producers in highland Bolivia can be replicated with producers in mountainous regions in other parts of the world, as long as a similar emphasis is placed on fully understanding and incorporating local practices and worldviews. Since the black amaranth project began, numerous small-scale producers in seven countries have taken part in the Mountain Partnership Products initiative, in order to increase the economic viability of little-known local crops such as Kyrgyz hairless apricots, Peruvian maca andina and Himalayan purple rice. What the products of all of these high quality but undervalued local crops have in common is the need to improve their value chain, whether it is marketing, logistics and distribution channels, or the need for better information and coordination among producers, and perhaps most importantly the desire of local populations to tap into the enormous potential offered by the agrobiodiversity of the regions they live in.

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Mountain Partnership Products Initiative

Overview