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Project location:
Curahuasi, Peru
Project duration:
2022 – 2025
Project budget:
127.852 €
Focus areas:
Value chains and further education
CEDEP AYLLU

Centro para el Desarrollo de los Pueblos del Ayllu

Hermenegilda Soto stands in her milpa between corn cobs.

Strengthening rural communities through
sustainable agriculture.

The organization CEDEP Ayllu (Centro para el Desarrollo de los Pueblos del Ayllu) has been committed to indigenous communities in the Cusco region of southern Peru since 1983. The focus of their work is on promoting agro-ecological cultivation methods, the self-determination of rural populations and the protection of Andean ecosystems. The organization also advocates for collective rights and strengthens social, political and economic processes that create long-term, sustainable prospects for communities.

In southern Peru, many indigenous communities in the agricultural sector are among the structurally disadvantaged regions of the country. Unequal power relations, land concentration and political exclusion make fair participation difficult. Lack of infrastructure, corruption and short-term economic policies mean that rural interests are systematically ignored.
Women in particular bear a heavy burden: they take on central tasks in production and the household, but have hardly any rights to land or water. Despite their contribution to food security, they are economically disadvantaged and often affected by violence. Their empowerment is a crucial lever for sustainable development.

In three agricultural communities in the Curahuasi district, CEDEP AYLLU focuses on sustainable agriculture in Peru to strengthen small-scale producers in the long term - ecologically, economically and socially. The project combines practical training, infrastructure measures and organizational development to improve economic participation. The focus is on building cooperatives, introducing efficient irrigation systems and the ecological cultivation of more diverse crops for the regional market. At the same time, agro-ecological practices are strengthened, including certifications through participatory guarantee systems (PGS) to meet market standards and increase added value.
A particular focus is on promoting leadership skills - especially among women - and the legal formalization of producer communities to give them access to public services and funding. Sustainable business models are developed and anchored together with the participants.
The Lemonaid & ChariTea e.V. provides funds that cover, among other things, the costs of irrigation systems, seedlings, seeds, transport, operating resources and the salaries of the project team.

Donato Valencia Aguilar
Mail

Website: https://ayllu.org.pe/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cedepayllu/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AylluCEDEP

YouTube: www.youtube.com/@CedepAyllu

Impressions from the project.

  • A farmer trained in organic farming by CEDEP AYLLU in Peru cultivates her field.
  • A participating farmer from CEDEP AYLLU carries fruit on his shoulder.
  • A CEDEP AYLLU project participant opens a bean and shows the seeds it contains.
  • A farmer from CEDEP AYLLU in Peru presents a harvested tomato.
  • Participants from CEDEP AYLLU in Peru inspect collected water at a tree.
  • A farmer from CEDEP AYLLU in Peru transports the harvest with a wheelbarrow.
  • Hermenegilda Sota and her son, project participants from CEDEP Ayllu, present their harvest in their maize field.
  • A participant from CEDEP AYLLU in Peru presents harvested cauliflower and broccoli.
Photos: Eleazar Cuadros