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Rest of the world
RNRRS legacy

Research reports for Peru

Guides to better livelihoods
To help poor forest users make better use of the resources around them, researchers have worked with local people to produce field guides and create methods for identifying useful local plants. Outputs include policy briefings, a book to teach in-country partners how to produce usable easy-to-understand local field guides and a whole range of field guides suitable for use by local people. These are targeted at different countries, such as Bolivia, Brazil, Peru, Cameroon, Grenada, the West Indies and Ghana. This work has created a popular approach that local people can readily benefit from. Demand for the handbook on field guide preparation is high, and copies have been distributed to at least 15 countries. (Ref: FRP37)
Sustainable use of medicinal plants
New methods are available to help communities extract medicinal plants and other non-timber forest products (NTFPs) from their community forests in sustainable ways. More and more communities are now managing or co-managing their forests and pastures, and this is boosting the amount of medicinal NTFPs being collected. To ensure that resources like medicinal plants last, researchers have worked closely with communities in India and Nepal to develop appropriate ways of ensuring sustainable use. The project has produced a variety of useful outputs, ranging from a method of assessing the sustainability of extraction activities to a handbook to help extension workers train villagers in the new techniques. The methods developed are proving popular and have recently been taken up and transferred to Peru by the UK�s Darwin Foundation. (Ref: FRP38)
Genetically-engineered resistance to potato nematodes
Potatoes that are genetically modified to resist nematodes are ready to use. Nematodes are parasites that cause huge crop losses - about US$125 billion a year - or enough to provide for 50 million people in Africa. Already accepted in Bolivia, Peru, India and China, nematode-resistant potatoes could boost potato harvests worldwide. People just need to be reassured that they are completely safe, both as food and for the environment. Breeding nematode resistance in potatoes by conventional methods takes ages - up to fifty years. Now, the gene technology makes it possible very quickly. So, the technology has a huge potential for crops that are important for reducing poverty but are neglected by profit-oriented plant breeders. (Ref: PSP21)
New market chain approach gives fast results
The Participatory Market Chain Approach (PMCA) stimulates networking, links small farmers to markets and fosters productive partnerships based on trust and knowledge sharing. Active participation - or a lack of it - by the many actors along the food chain can make or break the system. PMCA systematically involves people in identifying and assessing market opportunities and identifying commercial, technical and institutional innovations. A poverty filter helps identify the greatest probabilities of pro-poor impact. In just three to six months, partners are typically able to get new market products and innovations into use. PMCA is currently being applied in Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru and Nicaragua, in Latin America, as well as in Laos, Syria and Uganda. Extensive testing has led to the publication of a PMCA User Guide. (Ref: CPH01)
Capturing farmers' demands and involving them in research
A new menu of methods now helps farmers and researchers work together more productively. Farmers want and need change. So finding out what they want isn't a one-off process, it's continuous. And, like everyone else, there are things out there that farmers don't know about, so they don't know whether or not they might need them. Then, when suggestions are made to meet their needs, they like to be involved in testing them out. Development agencies, research organisations, foundations and non-government organisations already use the methods. Teamwork between researchers and farmers relies on social principles. These principles work as well with new equipment for draught animals as with integrated pest management, whether the topic is potato, rabbits or rice. (Ref: CPP58)
Fair trade for forest products
Lessons learned from assessing best practice in ethical trade schemes are now guiding organisations around the world. Ethical and conventional trading systems were compared for three forest products: cocoa, brazil nuts and timber - in terms of both their impact on local people and their economic viability. Researchers also analysed wider policies, markets and non-forest sectors, to get the big picture. An important conclusion was that assessing impacts on livelihoods and the environment must be a part of ethical trade initiatives. This and other findings have been disseminated through policy briefings and a draft manual on best practices. Lessons learned have already been used by Oxfam and CARE in Peru, Ecuador and South Africa, and by the Ecolabelling Institute of Indonesia (LEI). (Ref: FRP19)
Imported fungi help farmers defend themselves against invasive weeds
A rust fungus collected in Trinidad and Peru is helping to control Mikania micrantha in southwest and northeast India. Previously, this invasive ('mile-a-minute') weed smothered vegetation over vast areas of tropical forests. Smallholder farmers can now fight back using biological control methods. The Indian Government provided a national framework for the project and sponsored public awareness activities to promote understanding of the control technology. Indian scientists and extension workers received training and are now undertaking on-going monitoring programmes. The rust fungus is being mass-produced in specially built facilities for wide release on the continent. Scientists in China, Fiji, Taiwan and Papua New Guinea are also using the technique, and many other countries have expressed interest. (Ref: CPP06)

RNRRS legacy: Rest of the World

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