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Till today Huancavelica is known as “La Villa Rica de Oroposa” (the rich town of mercury; see
Salas Guevara, 1993). Huancavelica’s history as a mining center from 1564 till 1786 represents
more than two centuries of Indian exploitation and genocide. The mine had the highest mortality
rate in the whole of Latin America because of the toxicity of mercury and inhumane working
conditions (Brown, 2001; Whitaker, 1941). The Spanish elite recruited its workforce by forcing
local Indians to work. Indians were “recruited” on the countryside, chained and put to work as
slaves at a time when the region had already been affected by demographic collapse as a
consequence of disease (Cook, 1981).
After the closure of the Santa Barbara mine the fate of Huancavelica´s indigenous population
continued to be plagued with oppression. Most of its territory was managed by large haciendas
belonging to the colonial and mestizo elite (Carrasco, 2003; Favre, 1976; Sabogal, 1952). The local
population had to work for the haciendas and had limited access to land to sustain their own
minimal needs for food. This situation only changed as recently as 1969 when the leftwing military
government of Juan Francisco Velasco Alvarado initiated a national agrarian reform program
converting the haciendas into state run cooperatives (Guillet, 1974, 1979; Long and Roberts,
1979; Piel, 1995). Most of the cooperatives disintegrated during the 1980´s leading to the
redistribution of land to farmer communities in Huancavelica. The process of regained autonomy
of farmer communities over their territory coincided with an upsurge in rural violence when
the Shining Path (Sendero Luminoso), a Maoist inspired guerilla movement, largely took control
of the department of Huancavelica (Stern, 1998). Between 1981 and 1992 Huancavelica was closed
off from the outside world. Being declared an emergency zone, its largely indigenous population
was subject to human rights violations from both the Peruvian army and the Shining Path
resulting in the death and displacement of thousands of people (CVR, 2003; Scott Palmer, 1994).
Only since 1995 has relative calm returned to Huancavelica´s countryside.
1.5.2 Present situation
Huancavelica is one of Peru’s 24 departments and is located in the central Andes surrounded by
the departments of Ayacucho (south), Ica (west), Lima (north-west) and Junín (north, north-east).
Politically the department is subdivided into 7 provinces, 94 districts and over 500 farmer
communities. The department covers an area of 22,131 km², representing 6.1% of the total land
area covered by the Peruvian Andes. Huancavelica is inhabited by 447,055 inhabitants; this
represents an overall population density of 20.2 persons per km² (INEI, 2005). About 80% of
Huancavelica’s territory is located between 3,000 and 4,500 m above sea level and 73.9% of its
population lives in the countryside (Rubina and Barreda, 2000). Poverty rates in Huancavelica
are the highest in Peru (Luna Amancio, 2008; MEF, 2001). In 2001, 74.4% of the total population
was considered to be extremely poor (INEI, 2002). Chronic malnutrition (stunting) affects more
than 50% of children under 5 years of age while acute malnutrition affects slightly less than 1%
(INEI, 1996, 2000).
A total of 86,003 individual farm units in Huancavelica depend on agriculture as its main
economic activity (Rubina and Barreda, 2000). Smallholder farming systems in the department
are typically mixed, integrating both livestock and crop husbandry (Ossio and Medina, 1985).
Most communities maintain communal landholdings for cropping or as pasture land. Average
land holdings fluctuate between 0.5 and 3.5 hectares per household (Alfaro et al., 1997). Potato
is the principal crop and annually occupies approximately 27% of the total cultivated area
followed in importance by barley, wheat, maize, fababeans and peas (Rubina and Barreda, 2000).
Mixed livestock populations kept by smallholder farmers in Huancavelica include alpacas, lamas,
guinea pigs, cows, sheep and pigs.
1.5.3 Research communities
Field research was conducted in 8 farmer communities following a north-south transect through
30 Potato diversity at height: Multiple dimensions of farmer-driven in-situ conservation in the Andes