It is ironic that during our time; twice the amount of food needed to feed the more than 7.3 billion people who inhabit this planet will be produced annually, however nearly 800 million persons go hungry every year, that’s almost 11%.
To prevent famine from being a serious problem and ensure the survival of the species in the world, the UN through a specialized agency called FAO has proposed setting concrete actions linked to the celebration of World Food Day on October 16th. Some of these actions are focused on agricultural activity and emphasizes the participation and work of rural communities and women in order to improve their living conditions, promoting economic and technical cooperation among developing countries.
The importance of this celebration is to raise public awareness about the fight against world hunger, malnutrition and poverty. In that sense, the Peruvian government in 2017 through its decentralized organizations launched the SUPERFOODS PERU brand, an initiative that puts the richness of our country’s biodiversity in the eyes of the world. The brand has a portal for detailed information on products that have stood out as superfoods; It also categorizes them into 7 groups, see them in the following page:
Loss of Biodiversity
The biodiversity of the people of South America is always praised, however the international regulations of the World Trade Organization and the European Union establish that in order to sow, sell or exchange seeds, they must meet the DUS criterion (Distinction, Uniformity and Stability) something that is difficult to comply with traditional agriculture whose seeds are not uniform or stable. That makes thousands of small farmers have difficulty replanting and marketing their own seed. Even buying certified seeds is not an option, since in addition to complying with these regulations they are excessively expensive.
Peruvian farmers
It is a bit difficult to imagine having to comply with these regulations because of our infinite varieties, for example: Potato, we have about 1,500 types of native potato; of Maca, at least 3 varieties with specific characteristics and values are known and Corn, different in sizes, colors and textures, not to mention endemic fruits, herbs and different plant species that are impossible to grow in other parts of the world even under controlled conditions or greenhouses.
The role of women and native populations
Fortunately, here in Peru this biodiversity has been treasured by native populations, mainly women in households. Within the framework of the efforts made by the FAO is to promote the participation of women in this task, according to statistics in developing countries, the feeding of families is basically based on the production of family gardens, orchards that are cultivated by women. Peruvian women native to the interior of the country cultivate and feed their family’s livelihoods and farms. Maca, quinoa, kiwicha are sown and harvested by these struggling mothers. SEMBRADORAS DE VIDA is a documentary film that collects the story of 5 of these brave women who tell the hard work, their relationship with Pachamama and their posture to climate change.
Superfoods for everyone
As part of the preservation efforts of these unique plant species in the world, a high Andean seed bank (Germplasm) has been created thanks to cooperation between FAO and the Ministry of Agriculture (MINAGRI). In addition to providing and protecting about 200 native species of these superfoods, this seed bank will protect the material and intellectual property of native peoples, preventing them from being registered by other markets. We must bear in mind that the Incas stood out for their mastery of agriculture and water management, their aqueducts were large builders and platforms were from far away botany laboratories where superfoods that we know today were created by means of advanced natural selection techniques. It has been speculated through generations that the strength of the Inca warriors lay in the quality of their food, today thanks to science we can confirm these assumptions.
These platform were structured to plant species in various conditions to create new “varieties”
Due to the use of new technologies and electronic commerce it is possible to buy many of these super foods through e markets that ship to anywhere in the world, foods such as Maca, Sacha Inchi and Cat’s claw are available to enjoy all the benefits of these wonders that Mother Earth offers us in her infinite goodness, Pachamama.
