Andean Women Farmers in Peru Face Climate Crisis with Green Practices

Diverse vegetable production with an agroecological approach is being developed on the high Andean slopes of communities in southeastern Peru. Credit- Mariela Jara - IPS

By Mariela Jara

LAMAY, Peru, Apr 14 2025 (IPS) - “Up here in the highlands, there’s a lot of frost, and everything seems bleak. But I’m so happy since I got my greenhouse and started growing vegetables in a healthy way. I feel like we’re overcoming the challenges of the weather,” Anacleta Mamani, a Quechua farmer from the community of Poques (about an hour’s drive from Cusco, the former imperial capital of Peru), told IPS.

Poques is one of 13 farming communities in the municipality of Lamay, located nearly 3,000 meters above sea level in the province of Calca, in the southeastern department of Cusco. Like much of rural Peru’s Andean highlands, the area faces persistent poverty and neglect from the national government—a disadvantage worsened by the climate crisis.

Quechua farmer Anacleta Mamani inside her greenhouse in Poques, in Peru’s Cusco region, where she practices agroecological farming as an alternative to face the effects of climate change. Credit- Mariela Jara - IPS

This South American country of 34 million people is highly vulnerable to climate change, even though its greenhouse gas emissions account for less than 1 percent of the global total, according to a 2021 measurement by Peru’s Environment Ministry.

The ministry, citing figures from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), reports that around 5.5 million Peruvians are exposed to floods and another 2.6 million to droughts.

Among the most affected are family farmers, as they depend on natural resources—particularly women, due to gender inequalities that limit their ability to respond.

“Before, we only grew potatoes, corn, and quinoa for daily sustenance. Now we also have a variety of vegetables we didn’t even know how to eat before. With the techniques we’ve learned, we’re better equipped to face the climate crisis, which is hitting us hard,” said Mamani, one of 120 families in her community, located in Cusco’s Sacred Valley, known for its landscapes and traditions.

She is one of 80 women farmers taking part in a training project led by the non-governmental Flora Tristán Peruvian Women’s Center, aimed at developing their farming skills to confront climate change while increasing their participation and decision-making in community organizations.

“We’ve learned that the first step is working the land—digging up to 60 centimeters deep and loosening the soil so it can breathe. Otherwise, the plants die even if you water them. That’s the first good agroecological practice we’re applying in the greenhouses,” Mamani explained proudly.

Agroecology in Daily Life 

A Quechua speaker born in Poques 59 years ago, Mamani has dedicated her life to farming and family work, never having the chance to attend school. Now, she feels vindicated as she enriches her ancestral knowledge as a student of the Agroecological School run by the Flora Tristán Center with support from the Basque Development Cooperation Agency and Mugen Gainetik.

“For a while now, rains, hail, and frost come at the wrong time and cause a lot of damage. Last year, the wind was so strong it flattened the cornfields, and we couldn’t harvest anything—just losses,” she recalled, gesturing with her hands as engineer Janet Nina translated her words into Spanish for IPS.

Peru’s National Meteorology and Hydrology Service (Senamhi) reported that 2024 was the hottest year in the last six decades. The consequences included droughts and heavy rainfall, impacting areas like family farming, leading to crop losses and food insecurity.

The 80 trained women farmers come from four districts or municipalities: San Salvador, Coya, Calca, and Lamay. Each has a 100-square-meter greenhouse equipped with a drip irrigation system, in which they’ve also been trained for sustainable use.

“We water just enough—no more wasting water. I water my cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage, lettuce, carrots, and tomatoes early in the morning before the sun gets too strong, because I have to walk a long way from my house to the greenhouse,” Mamani said.

She also grows squash (Cucurbita pepo), beets, chard (Beta vulgaris), beans (Phaseolus vulgaris), and other vegetables, now a staple in her household diet.

The surplus, which is growing, is currently bartered with other families in the community, but starting in May, she will also sell them in nearby markets, providing her with her own income.

Through training, she also learned to make natural fertilizers.

“I save fruit peels, potato skins, eggshells, and all kitchen scraps, along with ashes from the stove, animal bones, and manure from chickens, sheep, and guinea pigs. We mix it all to make fertilizer that nourishes the soil, producing healthy, strong, and tasty plants,” she shared.

She passes this knowledge on to her family—her husband, daughter, son, and their respective families. This dynamic is replicated by other women in the Agroecological School, spreading this climate-resilient farming method.

“In my mom’s greenhouse, there’s a special climate. We can grow many vegetables and eat better. The crops are protected from weather extremes, and we can keep practicing agroecology, caring for our environment, our Pachamama (Mother Earth), and our water for future generations,” said Avelina Cruz, 36, who learns from her mother alongside her husband and teenage daughter.

Her husband works in Cusco city and returns on weekends to help apply what they’ve learned.

“We do it carefully because, as my mom says, the plants ‘speak.’ Protecting nature is our small way of preventing climate change from destroying us,” Cruz said.

Leading the Charge 

Sociologist Elena Villanueva, the project leader, emphasized the role of Andean rural women in the climate crisis. “They aren’t responsible for this situation threatening food and water security and human health, yet they don’t hesitate to take action,” she told IPS in Cusco.

She highlighted agroecology as a sustainable production model that helps restore ecosystems.

“It’s an alternative to industrial, extractive, monoculture-based farming, which worsens global warming and harms the well-being of rural women and families,” she said.

She warned that “we’re at a critical moment where industrialized nations most responsible for climate change are backtracking on emission reduction commitments, ignoring the consequences for vulnerable populations.”

She urged national policies to prioritize family farming, which supplies nearly 70% of Peru’s food. “Our authorities must turn their attention to the countryside, promote agroecology, and close gender gaps,” she demanded.

In rural areas, women have less access to land, water, seeds, and other resources while bearing heavy workloads that hinder their leadership and political participation.

Lack of Support

Peru recognizes 55 Indigenous peoples—51 from the Amazon and four from the Andes, including the Quechua, the largest group, with nearly five million members nationwide, including rural-to-urban migrants.

About 14 percent of Peruvians speak Quechua as their first language. Peru’s 2017 national census was the first to include ethnic self-identification.

Andean rural women are mostly Quechua and have inherited ancestral farming knowledge. But migration and shifting community dynamics have left some struggling to adapt to climate challenges.

Traditionally, reading nature’s signs guided farming, but this is no longer enough with current erratic weather and rain patterns. Women now face turmoil, which causes constant worry as family farming sustains their households.

Lamay’s mayor, Glicerio Delgado, expressed commitment to rural development and climate resilience but lamented the lack of national support.

“There’s much to do—expanding greenhouses, building water catchment systems for family farming led by women. But so far the Ministry of Economy and Finance hasn’t responded to our funding requests,” he said.

Meanwhile, in the four Cusco municipalities, Anacleta Mamani and her 79 peers will keep working to sustain their homes with agroecological practices, strengthening their resilience against climate extremes.

This feature is published with the support of Open Society Foundations.

IPS UN Bureau Report