Publication Date
Spring 2025
Abstract
This investigation presents an assessment of the state of food sovereignty in the community of Huilloc, Peru based on their practices of food production and consumption as well as the implementation of Wasi Mikuna, a state program to provide food to public schools. Using an ethnographic approach, data was collected through semi-structured interviews and participant observations with farmers, shopkeepers, educators, and families of the community over the course of nine days of fieldwork. Huilloc—an indigenous town of the High Andes located in Ollantaytambo, a district in the department of Cusco, Peru—is characterized by an extensive agricultural tradition. The transition to a monetary economy in Huilloc in recent decades, however, has threatened the community's ability to maintain its traditional systems of self-consumption and reciprocity. This state of instability in their food system has not only given rise to new communal strategies of food security but also exposes the inefficacy of state food policies that are failing to address the actual needs and interests of indigenous farmers. The study reveals the necessity of incorporating cultural considerations and localizing food programs in order to implement public policies that support the food sovereignty and autonomy of indigenous peoples of the Peruvian Andes.
Disciplines
Life Sciences | Social and Behavioral Sciences
Recommended Citation
Yan, Mindy, "Soberanía alimentaria en Huilloc, Perú: percepciones comunitarias sobre Wasi Mikuna y los límites de las políticas públicas en contextos campesinos indígenas" (2025). Peru: Indigenous Peoples and Globalization. 6.
https://digitalcollections.sit.edu/per/6