Potatoes at 12,000 Feet

Jon:The British group ‘Practical Action’ was founded in the 1960s with the recognition that many of the aid efforts put forward by the big NGOs were inappropriate for the populations for which they were intended. They set out to find practical and efficient, technologies as a way to wipe out poverty. Forty years later, they have not wiped out poverty, but they have made amazing

Cordillero Blanco's
breathtaking clouds

changes in communities from south Asia, central, eastern and southern Africa, and the Pacific coast of South America.

Claes and I were taken to the Yungay regional office of Practical Action (which was originally named the Intermediate Technology Development Group (ITDG) by our stalwart driver Hugo Dextre. At the Yungay office, we met up with one of the directors of the region, Alcides Vilela Chavez, who described the nature of the work they were doing in the Cordillero valley of north central Peru.

The ‘solutions’ described by the Vilela were deceptively simple, and had to do with a careful recycling of animal poop into not only usable fertilizers, but also a kind of liquid protection against frosts, which could destroy a family’s crop and livelihood. It’s important to remember that the majority of the farming in this area is for family consumption. A relatively small portion finds its way to regional markets – although that is changing

The tiny village of Copa on Cordillera Blanca

What this means, however, is that these indigenous farmers cultivate their crops of several varieties of corn and potatoes to provide food for their families. Much is preserved and used in times when other food stuffs aren’t available, but the importance of these two crops – and their dozens of variants can’t be underestimated.

It’s been said that the Eskimo have 30 words to describe snow. The descendents of the Incas who live in the Cordillero valley, likewise, have doesn’t of names for the many varieties of potatoes and corn. Tonight at dinner, we had two varieties, for example: mote – which is essentially toasted popcorn that hasn’t really exploded; a crunchy shell and a floury interior served with the mild queso blanco of the region, and cancha, a steamed white corn with red onions, and a slice of tomato.

The high points – literally – of the day, were the visits to two of ITDGs projects in the area, one on the eastern side of the mountain range, the so-called Cordillera Blanca, for its snow, sun, ice and water. We stopped in the tiny farming village of Huashao, where local farmers were rotating crops of a number of varieties of corn, as well as managing water in a drip irrigation scheme that used plastic bottles. Huashao being on the ‘Blanca’ side of the valley, is seen as being somewhat better off than their compadres on the other side of the valley, the Cordillero Negro. In the tiny settlement we

Our erstwhile driver Hugo Dextre:
he smoothed out the bumpy roads

visited, our interview subject spoke eloquently and knowledgably of the shifting dynamics that controlled their communities. He then showed us the Cuy, 8 inch long Guinea Pigs, that are a staple and delicacy of the regional diet.

To reach either of these communities (they couldn’t really be called cities) required Hugo to navigate massive ‘hueco’ (pot holes) filled rock and dirt roads, many kilometers into these mountains. Most of the people who live in these mountain settlements have to walk the steep mountains daily to get the fundamentals of their lives. This is a tough way to live. The folks we spoke with seemed moderately happy, the aid workers at ITDG were consumed with the passion of their work, and clearly there is economic development here. But it’s still a tough life.

I came away really liking these people, and mostly being blown away by how hard they work and what they have to overcome to survive.

(L t R)Claes, Miluska Caldas,

Jose Vasquez, Alcides Chavez and me