Under the slogan “Transforming the land, harvesting healthy foods“, the fair organized by the community of Rancho Pampa and PROSUCO -local partner organization in Bolivia of the Networks for Agri-Food Transformation project– was attended by the municipal authorities of Torotoro; representatives of Rimisp – Latin American Center for Rural Development; the National Institute for Agricultural, Livestock and Forestry Innovation – INIAF;the Higher Technological Institute of Charcas (ITSCH); Rosas Tika; and local leaders and farmers

The 1st Agroecological Productive and Healthy Food Fair was a space to show and share the productive diversity of Rancho Pampa, highlighting the richness of vegetables and fruits, such as papaya, lemon and custard apple, and tubers such as sweet potato.

Attendees also enjoyed a gastronomic display of local products, which helped to revalue agroecological production and promote healthy eating. This, in turn, strengthened the productive identity of the Rancho Pampa community in connection with the municipality of Torotoro.

Rodrigo Yáñez, director of Rimisp’s Chile office, was present at the fair and said: “It was very pleasant to share with so many farmers, to see the development of the work done by PROSUCO colleagues and to witness people buying food produced from an agroecological perspective. For a whole day, we were able to talk with municipal authorities, men, women and young farmers who are reflecting on sustainable production “.

MEETING WITH THE MUNICIPALITY OF TOROTORO

Rimisp’s principal investigators, Rodrigo Yáñez and Rafael Lindemann, together with the PROSUCO team, also met with productive development authorities in the municipality of Torotoro to present the work of the Networks for Agrifood Transformation project in the territory.

They also visited the communities of Rancho Pampa, Cusi Cusi and Sucusuma to see farmers who produce food between 2,000 and 3,000 meters above sea level.

The Networks for Agri-Food Transformation project, supported by International Development Research Centre (IDRC) of Canada, aims to contribute to the sustainable transformation of agrifood systems in three rural territories in Latin America (Sierra Norte de Puebla, Mexico; Alta Verapaz, Guatemala; and Torotoro, Bolivia).