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Andean farmers standing among rows of colourful native quinoa
Safeguarding Andean crop diversity

Reward the farmers who keep our rarest seeds alive.

RESCA pays Andean families for conserving endangered quinoa varieties — turning biodiversity into dignity, resilience and living heritage in the Peruvian Andes.

Donate nowSee how it works
2,600+
Farmers rewarded
100%
Community-chosen rewards
Peru
This season's focus
Kañihua✦Misa quinua✦Real Blanca✦Kellowitulla✦Wariponcho✦Ayrampito✦Chullpi✦Cuchiwilla✦Rosada de Juli✦Ccoito✦Witulla✦Choclito✦Kañihua✦Misa quinua✦Real Blanca✦Kellowitulla✦Wariponcho✦Ayrampito✦Chullpi✦Cuchiwilla✦Rosada de Juli✦Ccoito✦Witulla✦Choclito✦
Our impact

A decade of rewarding conservation

Figures reflect RESCA's work across four Latin American countries since 2010. This season we are focusing on Peru.

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Varieties conserved

threatened native crops

0

Key crops

quinoa, amaranth, potato & Andean tubers

0+

Farmers rewarded

40% of them women, since 2010

0

Communities

across four Latin American countries

Why it matters

Thousands of crop varieties are quietly disappearing.

As markets reward a handful of commercial seeds, the thousands of native quinoa, potato and Andean crop varieties that fed the region for millennia are vanishing from fields. Yet keeping that diversity alive is the world's insurance policy against climate change, emerging pests and future food crises. RESCA flips the incentive: we reward the farmers who safeguard it, so it survives where it belongs — in living, working farms.

Living gene banks

Rare landraces stay in the soil and in the diet, not frozen in a distant vault.

Community-led

Groups compete with their best conservation offers and choose their own rewards.

Verified impact

Frequent field visits confirm that prioritized varieties are truly being grown.

Dignity, not charity

Farmers are paid for a service to humanity: safeguarding our shared food future.

Close-up of colourful native Andean quinoa
The cycle of a RESCA intervention

One season, five steps, alongside the community

In Puno, the quinoa planting season begins in September or October, depending on the rains. Each campaign follows these steps.

  1. Bowls of red, black and white native quinoa grainsStep 01
    July – August

    Prioritization

    Threatened crop varieties are identified and prioritized, and community groups are informed about how to participate.

  2. A RESCA representative handing a conservation agreement to a farmerStep 02
    August – September

    Agreements

    The best offers from community groups are selected and conservation agreements are signed.

  3. Rare seed varieties on Andean textiles, ready to be distributedStep 03
    September – October

    Seed Distribution

    Seeds of rare varieties are distributed among participating farmers for planting.

  4. A field technician meeting a farming community during a monitoring visitStep 04
    Growing season

    Monitoring

    Frequent verification visits, extension events, and quality seed selection take place throughout the season.

  5. Farmers celebrating at a RESCA reward ceremony after harvestStep 05
    May – June

    Reward Ceremony

    Community-chosen in-kind rewards are delivered at high-visibility award ceremonies.

Voices from the fields

The people behind the harvest

Santusa de López, Community of Aguaquiza

“Now that we have realized the virtues of these varieties, we will strive to keep them alive, even if the project does not go on.”

Santusa de López

Community of Aguaquiza

Nor Lípez, Potosí — Bolivia

Who we are

The team behind RESCA

RESCA's team is made up of national and international experts with more than 15 years developing and delivering the initiative alongside Andean communities.

Kleny Arpazi

Kleny Arpazi

Field coordinator · Peru

Kleny Arpazi

Field coordinator · Peru

A Peruvian citizen and expert in quinoa cultivation and agricultural extension, Kleny has worked with RESCA for 15 years and is linked to the regional government's agrarian sector. She leads implementation in the field: promoting and supporting the organized participation of farmer groups in RESCA, seed diffusion, frequent verification and monitoring visits, extension events (field days and exchanges of experience, quality seed selection techniques, participation in local fairs) and the reward ceremony, with the participation of local, regional and national authorities.

Dr. Adam G. Drucker

Dr. Adam G. Drucker

International RESCA expert · Director, GivingWorks “Farmer AgroEcoServices”

Dr. Adam G. Drucker

International RESCA expert · Director, GivingWorks “Farmer AgroEcoServices”

An ecological economist and international RESCA expert, Adam directs the GivingWorks charitable foundation “Farmer AgroEcoServices”, under which this RESCA initiative is carried out. He has been deeply involved in developing and testing RESCA (also known as PACS) for more than 15 years.

In video

See RESCA in action

Watch how conservation agreements turn biodiversity into dignity and living heritage across the Andes.

Why your support matters

Conservation can't depend on governments alone

Public funding for crop conservation is limited and rises and falls with political cycles. Your donation makes the program steady and independent — so communities can keep endangered varieties alive season after season, not just when a government decides to fund it.

Beyond the public purse

Government support is valuable but uncertain. Individual and private giving keeps conservation going through every political cycle.

Directly into the field

Your gift funds seeds, verification visits and community-chosen rewards — the concrete actions that keep varieties growing.

£100

On average, enables one producer and their family to take part in RESCA and conserve a variety.

£1,000–5,000

Conserves a variety for at least five years.

Every pound goes further because rewards are chosen by the communities themselves. Sustained public support is what lets us reach more families and safeguard more varieties each season.