Land and water governance reforms based on established local management practices have transformed agricultural productivity and improved livelihoods in remote rural communities in the Peruvian Andes.

Much indigenous knowledge of hillside agriculture, terrace conservation practices and irrigation in Peru has been lost over the past 500 years. However, indigenous knowledge has survived in the community of Asmayacu, where more than 1,000 ha of pre Colombian terraces are cultivated and used as grazing lands year round. Community institutions are used to manage land and water resources, based on a time schedule agreed upon by the community. Women are traditionally responsible for irrigation.

Through the IFAD-supported Management of Natural Resources in the Southern Highlands Project and its contemporary participatory planning techniques, a traditional irrigation method was rediscovered and passed on to about 90 per cent of the families of Asmayacu. The method was then disseminated through tradition-oriented competitive fairs to hundreds of other communities in the region. The training was supported by a government decision to effectively decentralize extension and supply services to local communities.

Source: IFAD