Updated:May 2008

Regional Country Programme

PROLINNOVA Andes is a regional initiative started by Vecinos Mundiales, IIRR (both from Ecuador) and AGRECOL (Bolivia) in 2004. It seeks building partnership in the Andean region (Ecuador, Bolivia and Perú) in order to join efforts and share experiences in such similar geographical, environmental, social, historical and economical conditions. This initiative is still in an initial phase; however there is already a proposal which is related with the main principals of PROLINNOVA International.

PROLINNOVA Andes main objective is to value, promote and strengthen local knowledge and initiatives related to ecological agriculture. This local knowledge and initiatives we call “people science” because peasant/indigenous knowledge and practices are developed not by chance but following strategic steeps using local resources according the context. In order to achieve this objective we propose four strategies: 1) Farmer’s experimentation, 2) Documentation and diffusion, 3) Capacity building and knowledge exchange, and finally, 4) policy advocacy and institutionalization.

Farmer’s experimentation, seeks to identify farmer’s innovation and promote them trough experimentation and the establishment of local funds. The idea is to let farmers “take over the stick” in an experimentation phase integrating local and scientific knowledge.

Documentation and diffusion, include: Farmer’s documentation of their innovations, reflection over them to improve the practice, share local innovations (using mass media) in order to inspire other farmers and influence in policy making
           
Capacity building and knowledge exchange, it seeks to develop skills to promote innovation development trough PID (Participatory innovation development) and other participatory methodologies which focus on “people science”; influence in changing roles (from “extensionists” to “facilitators”), promote knowledge and experience exchange (at local, national, regional and international level).

Policy advocacy and institutionalization to influence on policy making and research based on local innovation. It seeks to make farmers’s knowledge, initiatives and innovations as part of government, institutions of educations and research’s approaches and policies. In order to do that, we need first to build and strengthen partnership at national and regional (Andean) level.

In some countries like Bolivia, there is now a special political context that prioritizes local and indigenous (ancestral) knowledge. This gives an advantage to promote PROLINNOVA initiative which is related with current social and political discourses.