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Members’ Voices: Santiago Fernández Peña, Andean Alliance for Sustainable Development

18.03.2024

In this latest Members' Voices feature, Santiago Fernández Peña, Grant and Development Manager of the Andean Alliance for Sustainable Development (AASD), discusses AASD's commitment to community-led development in the Andean highlands of Peru.

What is the Andean Alliance for Sustainable Development's mission?

The Andean Alliance for Sustainable Development – or as we like to call it, the "AASD" – is a Peru-based non-profit with a social enterprise model. We support agricultural initiatives in small-scale farming communities and provide experiential learning opportunities. Our mission is to harness collective knowledge to support community-led development.

With a focus on mountainous regions, the AASD began its journey in 2011 in the Andean Highlands in Calca, situated at a breathtaking 4 000 metres above sea level. Today, the scope of our work has expanded to encompass communities within the Amazonian Tropical Andes ecoregion, specifically in the Manu Biosphere Reserve, which has been recognized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as a globally renowned haven of terrestrial biodiversity.

Why do mountains matter to you in the Peruvian Highlands?

Historically, mountains have served as sanctuaries for Indigenous communities. They hold invaluable repositories of ancestral wisdom and cultural heritage. At the AASD, we champion the importance of embracing one's roots as a source of empowerment, countering narratives imposed by colonialism. Our initiatives promote opportunities for local communities to offer diverse goods and services. The primary focus revolves around agricultural goods, given their status as cornerstones of farmers' livelihoods throughout history and their cultural significance in the region. Additionally, farming is crucial to the social and cultural life of Quechua people. This is why engaging in agricultural initiatives serves as a tool to enhance their sense of community, identity and self-esteem.

Moreover, the AASD through its experiential learning programmes, partners with communities to diversify their income opportunities by involving them as providers of tourism services and facilitators of workshops. Our programmes pay tribute to the heritage and environmental preservation efforts upheld by communities in the Andes region. These programmes aim to empower local communities to utilize their knowledge and products as economic assets for their development while safeguarding their cultural heritage as an essential aspect of Andean biocultural conservation.

Why do mountains matter to you in the Peruvian Highlands?

Historically, mountains have served as sanctuaries for Indigenous communities. They hold invaluable repositories of ancestral wisdom and cultural heritage. At the AASD, we champion the importance of embracing one's roots as a source of empowerment, countering narratives imposed by colonialism. Our initiatives promote opportunities for local communities to offer diverse goods and services. The primary focus revolves around agricultural goods, given their status as cornerstones of farmers' livelihoods throughout history and their cultural significance in the region. Additionally, farming is crucial to the social and cultural life of Quechua people. This is why engaging in agricultural initiatives serves as a tool to enhance their sense of community, identity and self-esteem.

Moreover, the AASD through its experiential learning programmes, partners with communities to diversify their income opportunities by involving them as providers of tourism services and facilitators of workshops. Our programmes pay tribute to the heritage and environmental preservation efforts upheld by communities in the Andes region. These programmes aim to empower local communities to utilize their knowledge and products as economic assets for their development while safeguarding their cultural heritage as an essential aspect of Andean biocultural conservation.

What should Mountain Partnership members know about the Indigenous communities you are supporting?

We collaborate closely with the Quechua peoples, a community renowned for their dedicated farming practices. With a rich history deeply rooted in agriculture, the Quechuas uphold millennia-old traditions in cultivating the land. Initially inhabiting fertile valleys, they migrated to high-altitude regions during colonization. Even today, these resilient rural communities excel in the cultivation of staple crops like potatoes, corn and grains. The Andes are considered to be one of the world's centres of origin of agriculture.

Our focus is on supporting rural farmers in integrating advanced agricultural varieties with higher yields, enhanced nutrient density, and improved profitability. This is accompanied by guidance in the implementation of innovative farming techniques and methods. By doing so, we aim to ensure the preservation of their sustainable farming practices and cultural heritage while improving their livelihoods and food security.

How does the AASD collaborate with universities and research institutions in conserving mountain ecosystems and empowering Indigenous People's communities?

One of our top priorities is ensuring that the experiential learning opportunities we plan, develop and deliver are mutually beneficial, for local communities, students and AASD included.

We work with over 130 students on an annual basis from different educational institutions and companies, such as the University of Louisville and University of Saint Thomas in the United States of American and Mount Royal University in Canada, among many others. Our responsibility spans both logistical coordination and crafting itineraries that centre around each programme's theme. The programmes are meticulously customized and developed in collaboration with university faculty and institutional directors to align with their needs. Additionally, our staff provides preparatory lessons to ensure participants possess a comprehensive understanding of the context they will be immersed in. Moreover, our multilingual team, proficient in Quechua, Spanish and English, enriches the depth of the exchange, facilitating better communication and understanding.

So far, the feedback has been extraordinary. Participants leave Peru with a different perspective on sustainable development and what it means to be a global citizen.

The revenue generated from these programmes directly supports our fieldwork, contributing to local community development and ensuring the sustainability of the activities and the independence of the project funding mechanism.

How does AASD address challenges in mountain regions and promote sustainable development?

The AASD has dedicated over a decade to working in mountainous regions, primarily focusing on remote communities situated in the highlands of Peru. Its journey commenced by establishing school greenhouses in the high mountainous communities above the Sacred Valley, a venture aimed at tackling food insecurity and fostering economic empowerment. Over time, this project expanded to include family-run greenhouses.

The School and Family Greenhouse Projects have enabled families to introduce fresh vegetables into their regular diets and improve their economic opportunities. Perhaps one of the most significant measures of the success of this project is that communities have taken ownership of the process and begun to build additional greenhouses, without AASD support, working directly with the local government to accomplish their goals.

More than 15 communities participated in the project, benefiting approximately 700 people and training 500 individuals in better agricultural practices. In total, 150 family greenhouses were built alongside 15 school greenhouses.

What tangible impact has your organization had on the livelihoods of Andean farmers?

Recently, the AASD broadened its horizons to collaborate with mountain communities engaged in coffee production within the buffer zone of the renowned Manu National Park. The communities there face considerable challenges in accessing markets to sell their premium specialty coffee due to their remote location.

In 2021, the AASD teamed up with the coffee producers' cooperative Origenes to serve as a vital network and resource hub for the local communities and leaders. In the two years since our collaboration started, the project has had substantial impacts. Farmers increased their production by 15.9 percent, which improved the incomes of 60 families.

With the help of a grant and technical support from the Mountain Facility, the Mountain Partnership's global, multi-partner financing mechanism, the project recently installed an irrigation system covering more than 17 km that provides water to 60 farms. Training and hands-on workshops were provided to 54 producers on organic certification standards, soil quality enhancement and natural pest controllers. Furthermore, we established a 1-hectare demonstration farm which is being managed by Julio Cesar Nina, the AASD's lead agricultural technician, in collaboration with Eloy Huillca Robles, one of the cooperative members. The demonstration farm has two objectives: to increase agrobiodiversity and production.

Finally, the Mountain Facility also supported AASD's commercial efforts to market Origenes' high-quality product. The coffee is now being exported to the United States of America at a higher price, increasing from USD 5.90/kg in 2022 to USD 7.70/kg in 2023, as well as sold in the local market. This is gaining the interest of women cooperative members to participate in the sales activities.

Read the full story on Exposure

Photos by Aaron Ebner, Executive Director, Andean Alliance for Sustainable Development