Originally published on cgiar.org by:Bioversity International on Jun 11, 2007
Quinoa is one of the lost crops of the Andes, a seed grain described as "the most nutritious grain in the world". And it has been catching on fast in the developed world, offering very poor farmers in the Southern Altiplano of Bolivia the opportunity to increase their incomes by supplying the market. Along with higher earnings, however, have come poorer nutrition and decreasing quinoa biodiversity.

Bioversity International hosted Damiana Astudillo, a Mickey Leland International Fellow from the Congressional Hunger Center in the US, for a two-year study of the impact of commercial quinoa cultivation on communities in southern Bolivia. One of the difficulties she uncovered is the effort and time it takes to process quinoa: six hours for 12 kg. With more work to do on the more commercial farms, who can blame the women for spending some of their income on more convenient food like rice and pasta, even if they are less wholesome than local quinoa? And the people say they don't like commercially processed quinoa, which they would have to buy back anyway. They prefer quinoa prepared the traditional way, but don't have the time to make it.

Working with Rolando Copa, a local mechanic and inventor, Astudillo developed a machine that mimics the treading and winnowing that is such back-breaking and blister-inducing work for the women. It reduces 6 hours processing time to 7 minutes. And the quinoa it produced proved totally acceptable to the people of the communities, who even said they would be willing to pay to use the mill. Easier processing would put quinoa back in the diet and improve nutrition directly.

The machine costs about US$600 to US$800, more than a family could afford, but an ideal opportunity for the community, an approach that Bioversity and partners have already pioneered in India. As Astudillo says, "the machine will reduce the burden of women's work, have a positive impact on their health and potentially improve nutrition by facilitating the consumption of a nutritious grain. This is a low-input, high-impact opportunity for any organization committed to practical rural development and the improvement of livelihoods of marginalized populations."

Note: You can listen to an interview with Damiana Astudillo here.

Notes to editors
Bioversity is the world's largest international research organization dedicated solely to the use and conservation of agricultural biodiversity. It is non-profit and independently operated. For more information, please visit www.bioversityinternational.org.

For further information, contact Jeremy Cherfas, 0039 06 6118 234.