Rooted in Tradition,
Growing for the Future:
The Young Guardians
of Native Potatoes

“This region is a hotspot of potato megadiversity,” he explains. “At CIP, we collaborate with Andean communities to conserve native potato varieties. But young people here face significant challenges. Our goal is to engage them in various ways—one of them being education.”

However, Ochoa isn’t here to simply give a lecture. Instead, he introduces the students to a nationwide competition: the Concurso Nacional: Guardianes de las Papas Nativas (National Contest: Guardians of Native Potatoes). He explains how they can participate by using VarScout, a user-friendly app developed by CIP to collect crop data worldwide. Through the app, students will document and categorise the many different potato varieties they encounter.

In a nearby field, Ochoa demonstrates how it works. Holding a potato in his hand, he places it against a white background, takes a photo, names the variety and describes it in a few words. Then he moves on to the next one. The competition rewards those who contribute the most high-quality entries.

“This region, especially Cochacochamba, is the birthplace of thousands of native and wild potato varieties,” he explains. “Understanding and monitoring this diversity is crucial, and the youth helps us do just that.”

Peru: The Birthplace of the Potato

Peru is the ancestral home of the potato. Over thousands of years, smallholder farmers have cultivated a vast array of native varieties from wild species. These varieties form the foundation of modern potatoes, a staple crop feeding a third of the world’s population. Today, native potatoes are an essential resource for breeding new, climate-resilient varieties.

Conserving biodiversity is central to CIP’s mission. So is its genebank in Lima, which safeguards the world’s most extensive collection of potato germplasm. Yet for CIP, conservation is not simply about preserving the past—it’s about expanding the future. This approach is rooted in a positive vision of biodiversity conservation—one that enables rather than restricts. Instead of imposing limitations, CIP’s conservation work seeks to empower communities and create
opportunities.

“For us, biodiversity must exist in the fields and markets—consumers need to want it and be willing to pay for it. CIP’s role is to support this with scientific research,” says Simon Heck, CIP’s director general. This work is increasingly centered around cultural identity and young people.

“In many parts of the world, younger generations are no longer directly involved in agriculture. One of the risks we see is that traditional knowledge could be lost or that farming may no longer be an attractive or financially viable way to maintain agrobiodiversity,” Heck says. “The question is, how do we prepare today’s generation for this future?”

Engaging the Next Generation

One answer comes from Soledad Secca, better known as Solischa, a young Peruvian social media influencer who uses her platform to promote indigenous heritage, the Quechua language and native potatoes. In her videos, she shares practical knowledge—how to protect crops from hail and frost, or which medicinal herbs help with headaches and digestion.

The 23-year-old anthropology student grew up in a small mountain village where potato farming shaped daily life. Her parents and grandparents were all smallholder farmers, and to this day, local festivals, rituals and deities revolve around their crops. Solischa became an influencer almost by accident when she moved to Cusco for university at 18.

“I wanted to learn Quechua and took a class at university. To practice, I started making Quechua-learning videos,” she says.

Her posts quickly went viral—not just because of the language, but because they offered a deeper connection to Andean culture.

“This strengthened my identity. As a teenager, I was often ashamed of my background and language. But when I moved to the city, that changed. I wanted to learn more about where I came from,” she says. “I think a lot of young people who leave the mountains feel the same way. But they also have so much insecurity. I think my videos about this identity hit a nerve.”

Despite her life in the city, Solischa never abandoned village life. She wears traditional clothing and cultivates a small field where she grows native potatoes, often using it as a backdrop for her videos. Moving seamlessly between urban and rural worlds, she understands the challenge of bridging the two.

“We too have dreams. Telling us to stay in the villages and farm is not the solution. We also have the right to explore, expand our horizons and learn new languages. But I believe that everything we learn can also be brought back to our communities. That is my hope. Too many who leave never return. We need to create opportunities for young people to apply their skills in their home villages.”

Solischa supports CIP’s Concurso Nacional: Guardianes de las Papas Nativas. Through videos and posts on various platforms, she has encouraged participation. She particularly appreciates that, in addition to cataloguing native potato varieties, the competition includes a category focused on “Potatoes and Culture.” Under the hashtag #GuardianesDeLasPapasNativas, participants are invited to create and share videos that highlight the cultural significance of native potatoes—whether through poetry, stories, songs, recipes or personal experiences.