Peruvian native potato initiative wins international United Nations SEED Award 2007

CIP's Director General Dr Pamela K. Anderson and Kurt Manrique of INCOPA receive the certificate of the SEED Award from the United States Ambassador to Peru Mr Curtis Struble at the National Potato Day celebrations in Lima, Peru, 30 May 2007

The T’ikapapa initiative, which packs and markets specially selected Peruvian native potatoes, has won one of five UN-sponsored SEED Awards for 2007 after being selected from among  230 proposals from 70 countries.

The SEED Awards are an international initiative backed by the World Union of Conservation of Nature, the United Nations Environment Program, the United Nations Development Program, the governments of Germany, the United States, Netherlands, United Kingdom and South Africa and a Swiss private enterprise.

The announcement of the award to T’ikapapa coincided with the celebration in Peru of the National Day of the Potato, which has been held annually since 2005, on 30 May.

In choosing T’ikapapa, the organizers took into account the fact that the initiative has developed an innovative concept linking small producers of native potatoes to new urban markets, helping to add value to the products.

This approach makes it possible to increase the income of the inhabitants of the High Andean communities and to promote environmental technologies that can to conserve the local biodiversity, which was also recognized in granting the distinction.

According to the jury, a number of other factors were taken into account when T’ikapapa was selected:

· The commercial success of T´ikapapa as a gourmet product that makes increases the value of the biodiversity to the small-scale producers.

· The increase in the income of 300 small producers in the Peruvian Andes who now receive 30% more for their potatoes, compared to other market segments.

· The stimulation of the innovation, within a framework of public-private partnerships, and motivating investments important for the development of the product.

· The development of a new model to promote responsible businesses on the basis of the biodiversity of the native potatoes and knowledge that can be used in other areas.

T’ikapapa is one of the products launched to the market as a part of the project to revalue the native potato and position it in the national and international market, sponsored by the International Potato Center (CIP) with financing from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (COSUDE).

The SEED Awards jury also recognized that a key factor for the success of the project was the  participatory process that increased confidence among the participants in order to develop a product that was attractive to all the members. Those members were:

· Organizations of Andean community producers of Huancavelica, Junín, and Apurímac.
· A&L High Andean Biodiversity SAC, a small private business devoted to processing of native potatoes.
· CAPAC Peru, a public-private partnership aimed at disseminating criteria of quality in the market of the potatoes.
· The Wong Corporation, a chain of supermarkets that has been promoting the trade in native potatoes.
· The  INCOPA Project (Innovation and Competitiveness of the Peruvian Potato), an initiative of the International Potato Center (CIP) that is oriented to promote innovation in the potato sector in Peru.

The annual SEED Awards constitute an incentive for entrepreneurs, communities, companies, and other sectors involved throughout the world to join efforts and form partnerships to promote economic growth, social development, and the environmental protection.

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For more information to see:
www.seedinit.org <http://www.seedinit.org>
www.cipotato.org/papandina <http://www.cipotato.org/papandina>

Lima, 30 May 2007.