Potato is the main crop grown in Peru’s highlands, where it is an especially important source of both
food and cash income for small farmers. More than 3,000 varieties of native potatoes are cultivated,
mainly above 3,500 meters above sea level. From 2001 to 2010 more than 20 public, private, and
non-governmental organizations (NGO) worked with Papa Andina Regional Initiative and the Project
for Potato Innovation and Competitiveness in Peru (INCOPA) to promote innovations in native
potato production and marketing that would benefi t small farmers and make the market chain
more competitive. To this end, an applied research and development (R&D) approach known as the
Participatory Market Chain Approach (PMCA) was developed. To capitalize on the biodiversity existing
with native potatoes and their culinary, nutritional, and cultural attributes, INCOPA worked to link
smallholder cultivators of native potatoes with researchers, development professionals, and a range of
potato market chain actors. The PMCA was used to identify business opportunities, foster collaboration
with actors along the market chain, and generate innovations to enhance competitiveness. The PMCA
was complemented with eff orts to promote innovation platforms, raise public awareness of the
virtues of native potatoes, and support evidence-based policy making. This mix of strategies triggered
innovation processes that have continued until today. This Innovation Brief outlines some of the
project’s results and implications, and areas needing further attention.