The lush campus of Universidad del Valle de Guatemala (UVG) was the site of the last of three national stakeholder meetings for the IFAD-EU-CCAFS supported project "Linking agrobiodiversity value chains, climate adaptation and nutrition: Empowering the poor to manage risk" that took place in June.

As with the workshops in Mali and India, the objectives of the meeting (June 25-26) were to refine the work plan for the project, finalizing the choice of target site and crops based on a thorough analysis of the local situation and needs.

Dr. Silvana Maselli Conde, expert in plant genetic resources, is coordinating the project in Guatemala and will be involving students in carrying out many of the activities. This engagement of young people is seen as a strong opportunity to raise capacity in Guatemala for the holistic, integrated approach to agricultural development promoted in the project.

The work will focus on the dry corridor of Guatemala that faces heightened issues with malnutrition compared to other parts of the country, as was presented by Dr (Lic.) Juan Roberto Mendoza (Secretaria de Seguridad Alimentaria y Nutricional de la Presidencia de la Republica). In recent years, the country has faced problems with a prolonged dry season that is exacerbating existing issues with food insecurity. In 2014 drought led to loss of 80% of maize and 63% of the bean crop - the two staples central to Guatemalan cuisine.

The project will begin by promoting two crops with potential to enhance food and nutrition security in Guatemala but which are not widespread in cultivation: tepary bean (Phaseolus acutifolius) and chaya (Cnidoscolus aconitifolius), also known as Mayan spinach. Exploratory surveys of local agricultural biodiversity will also be carried out to identify other interesting species that can be promoted in future years.

Tepary bean is an underutilized species cultivated in arid regions of Mesoamerica that is highly drought resistant. This hardy sister species to the common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) may fit naturally within the established food and farming culture in Guatemala. The crop will be introduced through trials to assess the performance and palatability alongside a diversity of common bean varieties. These trials will use a "crowd-sourcing" approach developed by Bioversity International scientist Dr. Jacob Van Etten that engages a large number of farmers to grow and evaluate just a few varieties each, ultimately resulting in a big dataset that can be used to identify varieties suited for different microclimates and preferences.

Guatemala is an important centre of origin and diversity for common bean and a major concern is that introduction of new varieties or promotion of just a few varieties could threaten the persistence of the native diversity. With this risk in mind, various actions will be taken through the project to support conservation and promote greater use of native bean diversity. The crowd-sourcing trials will in fact disseminate many native common bean varieties to farmers as well as tepary bean, and these varieties may be taken up by farmers who appreciate their qualities. Strengthening seed exchange networks and community seed banks are other actions that will be taken to support conservation, which will build on recent efforts by FAO, the Treaty for PGRFA and UVG. Furthermore, an assessment of Guatemala’s bean genetic diversity will be carried out based on genebank records to identify distinct varieties that should be prioritized for conservation through a payment/rewards for agrobiodiversity conservation services (PACS/RACS) scheme.

The other species that will be promoted - chaya - is a native shrub with a very strong nutritional profile. The leaves stand out for their content of protein, carbohydrates, fats, fibre, vitamin A, vitamin C and calcium and it can be harvested year round. The species has strong potential to enhance nutrition in communities in the dry corridor but also more widely in Guatemala and in distant markets. Promotion of chaya as a superfood could be an important income generation opportunity and its greater use can also valorize local culinary traditions in celebrating this food that was an important feature in the pre-Columbus diet.

Researchers at the Universidad del Valle de Guatemala have been working on chaya since 1992 investigating its nutritional, chemical, molecular, botanical and agronomic aspects. The project will leverage these efforts and work to raise demand among consumers, also considering cultural factors that may limit consumption. Anthropologist Luis Pedro Chang Santizo described how some groups in Guatemala only consume a small amount of fruits and vegetables because they consider them as “cold food”, which they limit within their belief system, favouring consumption of “warm foods” such as maize. Nutrition sensitization is a major aim of the project that will be attentive to these cultural aspects.

The project will collaborate and build on existing efforts in the dry corridor by CATIE through their MAP project that has been applying a holistic approach for climate change adaptation, involving promotion of home gardens, exchange of local and scientific knowledge in farmer field fora, training on poultry production, household finance and establishment of seed banks. It will also look to collaborate with FAO´s new project “Mesoamerica without hunger”,  which is engaging in food security activities in two of the most vulnerable areas of Guatemala, including the dry corridor.

Presentations from the meeting are available for download below, along with links to the project webpage and reflections on the parallel meetings in Mali and India.

Related Links

• Project Webpage  [8]
• Universidad del Valle de Guatemala Webpage  [9]
• MAP Project (CATIE)  [10]
• Reflections on the meeting in Mali  [11]
• Reflections on the meeting in India  [12]

Presentations

• S. Padulosi (delivered by J. Van Etten)  Introduccion al Proyecto  [13] (980 KB).
• J.R. Mendoza.  Estado nutricional de la población guatemalteca: grupos y áreas mas vulnerables  [14] (1.2 MB).
• LP. Chang Santizo.  Contexto social de los grupos étnicos vulnerables a la inseguridad alimentaria  [15] (565 KB).
• G. Alfaro.  Cambio climático y adaptación a la agricultura  [16] (893 KB).
• V. Arreaga.  Agricultura familiar, huertos familiares y adaptación al cambio climático  [17] (1.1 MB).
• M. Ramirez.  El Plan de acción estratégico para fortalecer la conservation y el uso de los recursos fitogeneticos mesoamericanos para la adaptación de la agricultura al Cambio climático (PAEM)  [18] (1.4 MB).