International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability
International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability 5 (2007) 51–69
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Barter markets for the conservation of agro-ecosystem multi-functionality: the case of the chalayplasa in the Peruvian Andes
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Neus Martí1 and Michel Pimbert2
1Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambiental, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, Spain and 2International Institute for Environment and Development, London, UK
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Abstract
The economic liberalization process has exerted acute pressures on Local Food Systems in the Andes, driving their insertion into the cash economy in the context of globalization. Simultaneously, networks of barter markets have emerged in the Andean highlands. An assessment of the role of these markets in conserving the multi-functionality of local agro-ecosystems was conducted in the Lares Valley (Cusco, Peru). We showed that barter markets are endogenous, integrated, non-monetary economic responses that allow for the conservation of agro-ecosystem multi-functionality through the recuperation of control over local production modes. Their function is to buffer cash economy imperfections while satisfying local food needs. The combination of monetary and non-monetary trading is a redefinition of the economic system within the ecological and social limits of the agro-ecosystem. A participatory action research approach enabled the collecting and unravelling of the incommensurability of values associated with the role of barter markets.
Keywords: agro-ecosystem multi-functionality, Andes, barter markets, local food system, production modes
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