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United in the Potato Park, Pisac, Cuzco, Peru on the 29th of June 2008.
We farmers and representatives of native potato conservationist communities in the Andes from the communities of Pampallacta, Amaru, Sacaca, Mullak’as misminay, Kacllaraccay, Urinsaya, Ccamanocca, Apachacco, Cotahuasi, Chawaytire, Percca, Paru Paru,the Regional Association of Ecological Producers of Cuzco – ARPEC and the Association ANDES, discuss and exchange experiences with respect to:
- The conservation, protection and sustainable use of the native potato and the associated traditional knowledge
- The development and promotion of actions centered on the celebration of the International Year of the Potato, at the local, national and international level.
Our interaction revealed new points of view regarding the practices and systems of sustainable innovation, the conservation of native Andean genetic resources, traditional knowledge and the enhancement of human development based on sustainable agriculture and with respect to basic human rights and the rights of the agriculturalist. The meeting affirmed our conviction to maintain traditional systems of knowledge and intercultural dialogue. In accord with our discussions and experiences, we invoke:
The use of traditional seeds and the protections of biocultural resources for food sovereignty:
- We call on our governments to support us in our efforts to protect and recuperate the heritage of traditional potato seeds of the region. We agree with the concept of food sovereignty as a process of local alimentation and self-sufficiency, and a critical topic for the survival of our communities.
- We demand the revalorization of our principles and the incorporation of food sovereignty in the constitutions of our countries.
- We affirm our conviction that our traditional seeds combined with sustainable agricultural systems, rich agrobiodiversity and agroecological principles, as well as the creative solidarity economy, can feed our peoples successfully and sustainably.
- Additionally, we request the broadening of the repatriation of native potato and other seeds, understanding this as a process of restitution of the collective biocultural heritage for indigenous communities, which involves the recognition of their rights.
The respect and revalorization of ancestral cultures as a livelihood tool faced with the worldwide food crisis:
- Our cultures and livelihoods have been maintained across time and have confronted many threats.
- We consider that the food crisis and climate change are connected. Similarly, we demand the promotion of local and sustainable agricultural practices and the abandonment of commercial-industrial agricultural systems in order to promote a framework that supports us in fighting climate change without causing damage to our local rural livelihoods.
- Small-scale farmers should be prioritized, as well as change impulsed in the agricultural system dominated by multinational companies and governed by unjust commerce laws. Consequently, we demand access to land, seeds and water which will enable our communities to produce their own food.
- Our countries have to promote intervention mechanisms with the finality of stabilizing the market prices. To achieve this, the control of importations with taxes and quotas, as well as the suspension of exportations of subsidized products from the United States that are dumped on our lands, should be implemented.
- The Working Group 8 of the Convention on Biodiversity should annul the promotion of biofuels, critically analyze their own agricultural policies, promote initiatives that halt the volatility of international markets, and instead of giving financial support to industrial agriculture, it should be granted to the sustainable production of small-scale farmers. Additionally, the G8 must terminate and cancel any free trade agreement.
Halt the privatization of seeds, traditional knowledge and biopiracy:
The privatization of seeds through academic investigation and patents and intellectual property rights are fundamentally opposed to food sovereignty. Therefore, our governments must do everything that they can to stop privatization.
The Prohibition of Transgenics in Cuzco and the Andean Region:
A great threat to our biocultural heritage and food sovereignty comes from the biotechnology industry. Considering this threat, our governments must wake up to the danger and use all possible avenues—diplomatic and others—in order to prohibit the entrance of genetically-modified crops in Andean territories.
The Rejection of Law Decree 1015:
- That promotes the privatization of communal lands in detriment to the traditional rights and customs of indigenous and local communities, and that the benefits of the use of natural and cultural resources of farming communities should revert to their true owners—our communities.
Taking into consideration these points we conclude that it is necessary to support exchanges and innovations of peasants and small-scale farmers. In terms of positive action, we urge that all nations of Latin America facilitate farmer-to-farmer exchanges in your own regions with funds and support for regional networks like ours. Realizing that similar processes of privatization of seeds and knowledge are occurring on all continents, and that adequate responses to these threats can be generated through exchanges, we recommend that international seed exchanges and food sovereignty are supported and organized in a systematic manner. Our goal is to reinforce and improve the resilience of our agriculture without causing damage to our environment and Therefore, we invoke the support and the designation of national and international funds for the development of biocultural products and the efforts at the civil and small-scale farmer level.
Potato Park, 29 June 2008
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