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Andean farmers standing among rows of colourful native quinoa
Safeguarding Andean crop diversity

Reward the farmers who keep our rarest seeds alive.

RESCA pays Andean families for conserving endangered quinoa varieties — turning biodiversity into dignity, resilience and living heritage across Peru and Bolivia.

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2,600+
Farmers rewarded
100%
In-kind, community-chosen
Peru & Bolivia
Highland communities
Kañihua✦Pasankalla✦Real Blanca✦Wariponcho✦Ayrampito✦Chullpi✦Negra Collana✦Rosada de Juli✦Kcoito✦Witulla✦Amarilla de Marangani✦Salcedo INIA✦Kañihua✦Pasankalla✦Real Blanca✦Wariponcho✦Ayrampito✦Chullpi✦Negra Collana✦Rosada de Juli✦Kcoito✦Witulla✦Amarilla de Marangani✦Salcedo INIA✦

~0

Varieties conserved

threatened native crops

0

Key crops

quinoa, amaranth, potato & Andean tubers

0+

Farmers rewarded

40% of them women

0

Communities

across Latin America

Why it matters

Thousands of crop varieties are quietly disappearing.

As markets reward a handful of commercial seeds, the thousands of native quinoa, potato and Andean crop varieties that fed the region for millennia are vanishing from fields. Yet keeping that diversity alive is the world's insurance policy against climate change, emerging pests and future food crises. RESCA flips the incentive: we reward the farmers who safeguard it, so it survives where it belongs — in living, working farms.

Living gene banks

Rare landraces stay in the soil and in the diet, not frozen in a distant vault.

Community-led

Groups compete with their best conservation offers and choose their own rewards.

Verified impact

Frequent field visits confirm that prioritized varieties are truly being grown.

Dignity, not charity

Farmers are paid for a service to humanity: safeguarding our shared food future.

Puno · Potosí · Oruro

Puno · Potosí · Oruro

Highland communities where planting begins with the September rains.

The cycle of a RESCA intervention

One season, five steps, alongside the community

In Puno, the quinoa planting season begins in September or October, depending on the rains. Each campaign follows these steps.

  1. Bowls of red, black and white native quinoa grainsStep 01
    July

    Prioritization

    Threatened crop varieties are identified and prioritized, and community groups are informed about how to participate.

  2. A RESCA representative handing a conservation agreement to a farmerStep 02
    August

    Agreements

    The best offers from community groups are selected and conservation agreements are signed.

  3. Rare seed varieties on Andean textiles, ready to be distributedStep 03
    September

    Seed Distribution

    Seeds of rare varieties are distributed among participating farmers for planting.

  4. A field technician meeting a farming community during a monitoring visitStep 04
    Growing season

    Monitoring

    Frequent verification visits, extension events, and quality seed selection take place throughout the season.

  5. Farmers celebrating at a RESCA reward ceremony after harvestStep 05
    Harvest

    Reward Ceremony

    Community-chosen in-kind rewards are delivered at high-visibility award ceremonies.

Voices from the fields

The people behind the harvest

Santusa de López, Community of Aguaquiza

“Now that we have realized the virtues of these varieties, we will strive to keep them alive, even if the project does not go on.”

Santusa de López

Community of Aguaquiza

Nor Lípez, Potosí — Bolivia