Papa Andina is a regional initiative coordinated by the International Potato Center (CIP). Its main objective is to foster pro-poor innovation in market chains in order to improve food security and market access for small farmers, and to reduce poverty. For this purpose, Papa Andina develops, uses and promotes participatory methodologies. By involving research and development organizations, the business sector, national public authorities and local farmers in the innovation process, Papa Andina links research with collective action to respond to small-scale farmers’ concrete needs.

1. INTERNACIONAL
• C E N T R O
•
• •
D E L A PA PA
C I P
PAPA ANDINA
FOR
Innovation
development
CIP’S MISSION
The International Potato Center (CIP) works with partners to achieve
food security and well-being and gender equity for poor people in
root and tuber farming and food systems in the developing world.
We do this through research and innovation in science, technology
and capacity strengthening.
CIP’S VISION
Our vision is roots and tubers improving the lives of the poor.
CIP is supported by a group of governments, private foundations, and
international and regional organizations known as the Consultative
Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR).
www.cgiar.org
FUNDING
The Papa Andina Initiative provides an umbrella to different projects
sharing its approaches and methodologies. Funding is principally
provided by the Swiss Agency for Development Cooperation (SDC)
and the New Zealand’s International Aid and Development Agency
(NZAid).
Co n t a c t
Papa Andina
cip-pandina@cgiar.org
International Potato Center Apartado 1558, Lima 12, Peru • Tel. +51 1 317 5351
www.papandina.org

2. Native potatoes:
the Andean asset
Growing at high
altitudes (above
3300m) where
small-scale farmers
predominate, native
potatoes are an asset
for these farmers to
access new markets.
With their amazing
diversity, high
nutritional quality, and
healthy production
practices, native
potatoes represent a
quality product for
both food security and
income generation in
Andean communities.
Papa Andina: innovation for development
IS Papa Andina?
ECUADOR
PERU
BOLIVIA
Papa Andina is a regional initiative
coordinated by the International Potato Center
(CIP). Its main objective is to foster pro-poor
innovation in market chains in order to improve
food security and market access for small farmers,
and to reduce poverty. For this purpose,
Papa Andina develops, uses and promotes
participatory methodologies. By involving research
and development organizations, the business
sector, national public authorities and local farmers
in the innovation process, Papa Andina links
research with collective action to respond to
small-scale farmers’ concrete needs.
New context for agriculture development
In most regions of the world, agricultural development is taking
place in a context of rapid urbanization and increasing market
integration. Packaged food sales and supermarket retail outlets
are developing very quickly. More and more urban consumers
are looking for original, natural and healthy foods. Consciousness
about sustainable production methods and ethical trade is
also growing.
Opportunities and challenges for small farmers
For small farmers in developing countries, these new market
trends represent an opportunity to improve their living standards
through access to high-value markets. Nonetheless, these trends
defy traditional production and marketing systems of farming
communities. In rural disadvantaged areas, a critical challenge is
to improve small farmers’ access to dynamic markets for high-value
food products. Such access can contribute to poverty reduction,
food security, and a sustainable use of natural resources, including
the preservation of biodiversity.
What
Papa Andina’s strategy
In the Andes, poverty is concentrated in mountain
ountain
rural areas, where native potatoes grow best.
t.
The native potato market chain was therefore
re
taken as the starting point by Papa Andina to
improve small-scale farmers’ access to market.
et.
With its strategic research partners in Bolivia,
a,
Ecuador, and Peru, Papa Andina has developed
ped
participatory methodologies to foster pro-poor
innovation in market chains. Results of its
intervention include new products and marketing
rketing
concepts, new production techniques as well ell as new
norms, policies and partnerships. By involving ng its public
and private partners in the innovation process, ess, Papa Andina
has strengthened capacities for innovation at local, national and
international level.
From the Andes to the world
Designed in the Andean context, the
approaches and experiences of Papa Andina
and its partners are constantly systematized and
conceptualized into methodologies, with their
application tools, so that they can be shared and
applied in other contexts. Through alliances with
CIP and other institutions, these methodologies
have been used and validated with different
market chains (sweetpotato, vegetable, milk,
coffee) in Latin America, Africa, and Asia. Their
effectiveness and efficiency for improving
competitiveness in market chain and linking
small-scale farmers to new market opportunities
have been recognized by researchers,
development practitioners and policy makers.
Impact
In the Andean region, Papa Andina works in
partnership with research organizations and
NGOs, which in turn are working directly with
6,000 farmers and their families. Through its
advocacy activities on public policies, Papa
Andina generates relevant changes for the
whole potato sector, which in Bolivia, Ecuador
and Peru employs an estimated 780,000
farming families.
P A P A A N D I N A