International Year of Quinoa 2013

IYQ 2013 Statement

The year 2013 has been declared "The International Year of Quinoa" (IYQ), in recognition of the indigenous peoples of the Andes. They have traditionallyprotected and preserved quinoa as a food for present and future generations thanks to their longstanding knowledge and cultivation practices which are in harmony with nature.

The International Year of Quinoa was proposed by the Government of the Plurinational State of Bolivia, with the support of Argentina, Australia, Azerbaijan, Brazil, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Georgia, Guyana, Honduras, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Liberia, Mexico, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Peru, Seychelles, Venezuela and Uruguay with the backing of FAO.IYQ was approved by the United Nations General Assembly in December 2011. The Conference highlighted the exceptional nutritional properties of quinoa, its capacity to adapt to different agro-ecological soils and its potential contribution to the fight against hunger and malnutrition.

Documents

FAO: Bolivian Government's proposal for the declaration of an International year of Quinoa
UN: Agricultural development and food security. Report of the Second Commission
UN: Resolution 66/221 of 22 December 2011, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly. International Year of Quinoa.

VISION AND AIM

Quinoa is recognized and accepted worldwide as a natural food resource of Andean origin with high nutritional value, constituting a quality food for the health and food security of present and future generations.

The aim is: Focus world attention on the role of quinoa biodiversity and nutritional value for food security and the eradication of poverty, in support of the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.

IYQ OBJECTIVE

To focus world attention on the role that quinoa´s biodiversity and nutritional value play in providing food security and nutrition and in poverty eradication, in support of the achievement of the internationally agreed development goals including the Millennium Development Goals.

STRUCTURE AND STRATEGIC ALLIES

The Technical Secretariat of the IYQ operates under the FAO Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean in Santiago, Chile, with support from FAO Headquarters in Rome.

IYQ MASTER PLAN

A master plan has been drawn up to implement the IYQ based on three components: information and communication; research, technology and marketing; and mechanisms of cooperation and mobilization of funds.

2013 International Year of Quinoa (IYQ2013)

A Future sown a thousands of years ago