Urban Harvest- Research

Policy Management of Urban Agriculture in Metropolitan Lima

May 22, 2006

This proposal develops and complements an aspect from the Cooperative Integral Production Project in the Municipality of Lurigancho-Chosica and Maria of Huachipa in the province of Lima (Peru), while the International Potato Center and the Politecnic University of Madrid are co-managing the present project.

The implementation of this incentive reflects the mutual interests of the International Potato Center (CIP) and the Department of Rural Projects and Planning of the UPM in wanting to share their experiences and knowledge of local planning for sustainable rural development.

PCIP is determined to seek an international alliance to strengthen these relations and force collaboration between various research vehicles, private and public institutions, farmer organizations, education centers, foundations, NGOs and commercial and industrial organizations.

The development of this project will be supported by activities already advanced under ongoing initiatives such as participatory research being carried out by CIP and CGIAR, which aim to reduce poverty in the province of Lima. CGIAR has created a rigorous international initiative for research on urban and peri-urban agriculture (Urban Harvest) to be applied to the region; the proposed activities are based on and will help accomplish the objectives of the urban agricultural program.

CIP has advanced various technical, social and market studies in the region that have allowed the identification of the following elements that will help orient this cooperative program based on the integration of urban and peri-urban agriculture in a sustainable development of the local governments:

Irrigation of fields by the Rimac river where large numbers of farmers are also owners of the land they work;
The biodiversity and diversification of productive agricultural and small animal activities: animal breeding, sowing vegetables, cereals, legumes and fruits.
A proximity to consumer centers: urban retail and wholesale markets (the prominent urban markets are located between 4 and 10 kilometers from the consumer centers)
An interest on behalf of farmers and the population to train and collaborate in a participatory research strategy and technological diffusion for urban agriculture.
A heightened interest on behalf of the District Mayors to formulate an integral development strategy linked to their politics for local development.

Peru and, in general, all developing countries, are undergoing a phenomenon of mass migration to urban regions. It is estimated that by the year 2020, 81% of the population of Latin America will reside in cities (FAOSTAT, 2001). In various countries there is a great deal of discussion regarding “the urbanization of the poor” (Haddad, 1999) and studies (CEPAL, 2000; CEPAL, 2002) show that between 1980-1999 the population of the urban poor increased from 63 million to 134.2 million people and, by the year 2020, the projected number of urban poor is 310 million.

This situation is particularly alarming in Peru: currently, 65 % of Peru’s total population of 26 million reside in the cities and 44% of its urban inhabitants reside in the capital, Lima (INEI, 2001). In fact, the peri-urban areas of Lima have experienced a high rate of migration in comparison with other urban centers. Currently, 8 million Peruvians live in conditions of poverty and if such conditions remain unchanged this number could jump to 12 million by the year 2020. In Lima, 3.3 million people (45 % of the population) are identified as poor; furthermore, these high levels of poverty are accompanied by an increase in rates of both malnutrition and infant mortality.

PCIP is determined to contribute to the development of solutions for the problems of urban poverty and of social and economic development that plague two municipalities of Lima: the municipality of Lurigancho-Chosica and the municipality Centro Poblado de Santa Maria de Huachipa. These problems are identified by the following factors: unemployment and low income, food insecurity, malnutrition and health.

For this reason, urban agriculture represents an activity of great importance since it allows for productive and efficient use of vacant lots in urbanizations, not to mention its direct contribution to improving food security for the communities participating in the process.

The initiatives have gathered waves of positive feedback from both municipalities, which, in turn, present an opportunity to extend this methodology to the whole of Metropolitan Lima. For this very reason, several key contacts have been established between those in charge of the agricultural area of the municipality of Lima and CIP researchers.

In addition, through this complimentary initiative, the leaders are determined to conduct a study of the entire process implemented in each municipality with the intention to extend the project to the whole of Metropolitan Lima. Such a study will open up a vital vehicle for research and development, since it will have laid the foundation for the replication of this initiative in other regions of Latin America.

The Department of Rural Projects and Planning at the Polytechnic University of Madrid will introduce its methods of formulation and evaluation through social participatory processes and the application of planning models for development based upon social findings and local knowledge. The department has been developing these methodologies over the past fifteen years. The following summarize their basic characteristics:

It is a bi-directional model through which information and decisions follow a bottom up and top down process, therefore, resulting in a proactive rather than a directive process.
The planning is built upon the developed actions or activities.
The beneficiaries find themselves involved in all aspects of the development process.
The learning process generates the application of public politics since the participation of the target groups is what makes up the process, always focusing on the common good.

In this fashion a new research avenue opens up: the application, in a Latin American context, of initiatives and methodologies of public management of localized rural development that have been developed in a European context.

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