Team Peru

The Demonstration Farm

January 22, 2012

Our space for the Demo Farm

Since its inception education has been at the core of the Andean Alliance’s approach. The school greenhouse projects embody this component in one way while the Team Peru students from MIIS undergoing an immersive educational experience both in Peru and back at school embody this core attribute in a different way. Now our latest project, the establishment of a centrally located demonstration farm in the Sacred Valley adds yet another dimension to the educational component of our projects.

We envision this demonstration farm as a knowledge based hub and a resource for communities and individuals passionate about sustainable agriculture. We will offer a variety of workshops addressing technical agriculture topics in addition to trainings on responsible project approach for local government and organizations. The process of designing the workshops and identifying best agricultural practices that are culturally and geographically relevant to the farmers with whom we work will be a learning process in itself.

On the demonstration farm we can experiment with many different practices in order to identify the most appropriate techniques to teach in the workshops. This process includes hosting students and professionals with technical expertise. On the demonstration farm we envision collaboration occurring between MIIS students well versed in organizational management and students with technical agricultural expertise both from US and Peruvian institutions. Most importantly, these students will work with the farmers who attend workshops and who hold important knowledge of traditional practices. It is important that this traditional knowledge is combined with more modern approaches. We believe that fostering discussion and experimentation among individuals with different points of view will produce innovative approaches to addressing agricultural challenges that many indigenous farmers face. I can’t wait to see how this project develops over time! ~Kat

Entry Filed under: Agriculture Projects,BLOG,Immersive Education. Posted in  Agriculture Projects ,BLOG ,Immersive Education Tags: Andean Alliance for sustainable development, Demonstration Farm, immersive education, indigenous farmers, Peru, Peruvian farmers, Sacred Valley, sustainable agriculture, Team Peru.