Research activities of Waga-Waga community

In November 1994, the Dani ethnic community of Waga-Waga celebrated the first harvest from its sweetpotato community genebank. All of the farmers who participated in clearing and tilling the land shared in a feast and received a portion of the harvest of varieties selected by the community.

For CIP and Indonesian scientists, the harvest in Waga-Waga was doubly meaningful as it yielded fresh insights into the biodiversity of and indigenous knowledge about the sweetpotato varieties found in the central highlands of Indonesia's Irian Jaya Province.

A Secondary Center of Diversity

Researchers say the island of New Guinea (Irian Jaya occupies the western third of the island) is a secondary center of diversity for sweetpotato.

Scientists believe the crop was introduced from South America 400 years ago and developed in isolated ecological niches. During that time, evolution and local farming practices have greatly broadened its known frontier. In some instances, Irian Jayan sweetpotato can be found growing at altitudes of up to 2,800 meters, considerably higher than the landraces found in South America.

Growers and consumers in New Guinea have developed huge stocks of information about its use, he says. This indigenous knowledge should also be of value in areas where sweetpotato is a major component in local farming systems, such as in northern Luzon (Philippines) and in the Central African highlands.

The Waga-Waga Experience

The potential of the region's genetic material, and the knowledge associated with it, was largely untapped in Irian Jaya, says Jurg Schneider, an anthropologist who served as the project's coordinator.

"We found that a community garden might contain 40 cultivars, so it was apparent to us that farmers knew how to manage genetic diversity," he says. "All of these landraces have a common genetic base, but it is narrower than the one found in South America. Irian Jaya's achievement is local plant selection—selection driven by subsistence needs, not market forces or breeding criteria," he explained.

One of the initial findings of the project was that genetic erosion is taking place in Irian Jaya because farmers are choosing faster maturing landraces. In addition, a market economy is expanding into highland areas, bringing with it other crops, such as rice. Schneider says that by moving quickly, the project is helping to prevent further erosion of both the area's genetic diversity and indigenous knowledge.