Project Background

We worked closely with farmers in Amaru and Viacha, two communities of Pisac District, Cusco Region, Peru, to study diversity of the Andean tuber, oca, Oxalis tuberosa. In an effort to share research findings, and in direct response to farmer requests, we created oca diversity catalogs for each community. The goals for these catalogs were 1) to offer gratitude to participating farmers for their role in one of the researcher’s educational development, as this research formed the basis of her PhD dissertation; 2) to share research results in an accessible format; 3) to support future research and education about oca; and 4) to document the diversity of oca found in each community and contribute to its conservation.

Experiences Drafting Prior Informed Consent and Mutually Agreed Terms (Benefit Sharing)

We printed over 100 catalogs and distributed them to participating farmers, local research collaborators, and regional government officials in May of 2016.
Catalog recipients were pleased to see their communities and oca featured in these catalogs and to learn the results of our research. The most salient response among farmers was that they felt these catalogs would contribute to the educations of future generations about oca in their communities. We sincerely hope that they do.