Home Gardens in Amazonian Peru: Diversity and Exchange of Planting Material^*

* This research was undertaken with the financial support of Fonds pour la Formation de Chercheurs et l'Aide à la Recherche. Fieldwork was made possible by the McGill University Internal Grant, funded by the Social Science and Humanities Research Council. Our gratitude extends toward the buena gente of San Regis and Sucre; we would like to thank all of the villagers for their generosity, patience, kindness, sense of humor, and willingness to answer our many questions. We owe special thanks to Giorly Geovanni Machuca Espinar and Carlos Rengifo Upiachihua for invaluable assistance during fieldwork, transportation, conducting interviews, and providing support and humor during daily field activities.

Abstract

This article examines how peasant farmers build and maintain agrobiodiversity in home gardens found in two traditional peasant communities along the Marañón River in the Peruvian Amazon. Data were gathered through household and garden surveys as well as in‐depth interviews with garden tenders in an upland mixed agricultural village and a lowland fishing village. Substantial variations in cultivated plant diversity were encountered in gardens between and within the villages, which are found to be related to differential exchange of seeds, cuttings, suckers, and other planting material as well as to specific garden and household characteristics. Planting material flows along multiple pathways—from gift giving and purchase to inheritance and scavenging—to the gardens, reflecting a complex and often extensive network of exchange that enables the establishment and maintenance of home garden plant diversity in seemingly isolated and small communities. Further research is needed to identify broader geographical and sociocultural patterns of agrobiodiversity in Amazonia.

• Amazonia
• exchange networks
• home gardens
• Peru
• planting material

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Natalie Ban

Ms. Ban is a doctoral candidate in resource management and environmental studies at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada V6T 1Z4.

Oliver T. Coomes

Dr. Coomes is a professor of geography at McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada H3A 2K6.