Agroecology Initiative Country Brief Understanding and influencing agency and behavior change in Peru Marcela Beltrán (Alliance Bioversity-CIAT) Maria Claudia Tristán (Alliance Bioversity-CIAT) Sarah Freed (WorldFish, Alliance Bioversity-CIAT) Rachel Voss (WorldFish) December 2023 December 23 | Understanding and influencing agency and behavior change in Peru 0 Contents Introduction..................................................................................................... 3 Objectives ....................................................................................................... 3 The Agroecological Living Landscapes (ALLs), Peru ........................................ 4 Methodology ................................................................................................... 6 Initiatives inventory Peru ............................................................................................. 6 Case study selection ................................................................................................... 6 Results ............................................................................................................. 6 Overview of AE Initiatives in Peru .............................................................................. 6 Theory of change and behavior change ........................................................ 10 Actors’ motives and interests ................................................................................... 10 Targeted behavior and relationship changes ......................................................... 10 Common assumptions in activities targeting behavior change ............................ 11 Success factors and challenges to achieving behavior change ............................ 11 Addressing the needs of marginalized groups ...................................................... 12 Conclusions ................................................................................................... 13 References ..................................................................................................... 14 Annexes ........................................................................................................ 14 December 23 | Understanding and influencing agency and behavior change in Peru 1 Agroecology Initiative Country Brief Understanding and influencing agency and behavior change in Peru Marcela Beltrán (Alliance Bioversity-CIAT) Maria Claudia Tristán (Alliance Bioversity-CIAT) Sarah Freed (WorldFish, Alliance Bioversity-CIAT) Rachel Voss (WorldFish) December 2023 This country brief is part of the outputs for Work Package 5 (WP5) of the CGIAR Initiative on Agroecology. The focus of WP5 is understanding and then influencing individual and collective agency and behavior among food system actors (FSAs) to drive inclusive and equitable agroecological transformation. To achieve this, a good starting point is to learn from past agroecological experiences in the Agroecological Living Landscapes (ALL). This brief identifies trends in agroecological (AE) initiatives or other initiatives that make a significant contribution to food systems’ agroecological transformation and seeks to understand the initiatives’ approaches to behavior change as well as the behavior determinants/drivers that facilitated or impeded the agroecological innovations. December 23 | Understanding and influencing agency and behavior change in Peru 2 Introduction Agroecology is a scientific approach, set of practices, and social movement, where the common objective is to create more sustainable, beneficial, and equitable food and agriculture systems (HLPE 2019). The CGIAR Initiative on Agroecology (AE-I) takes a transdisciplinary, participatory, and action-oriented approach aimed at enhancing food system resilience, equity, and sustainability through agroecology. Through Agroecological Living Landscapes (ALLs) – localized mechanisms for co-creation of knowledge and innovations – the initiative aims to develop and scale agroecological innovations with small-scale farmers and other actors from the agri-food system. AE-I ALLs operate in different socio-ecological contexts in eight low- and middle-income countries, including Peru. Here, the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT and the International Potato Center lead activities in the agroforestry corridor of Pucallpa - Aguaytía, in the Amazonian Ucayali region. The entry point in this region is the cacao production system, which integrates small farmers into a value chain that is still developing and has great opportunities to be strengthened through agroecological approaches. The AE-I in Peru works with two cacao cooperatives as local partners. They have been engaged in organic production, deforestation-free production, and efforts to diversify production, including through agroforestry systems. This country brief is part of the outputs for WP5 of the AE-I, whose focus is understanding and then influencing individual and collective agency and behavior among food system actors (FSAs) to drive inclusive and equitable agroecological transformation. To understand the drivers of actors’ behavior change, we first aim to learn from past agroecological experiences within the ALLs. To do this, we examine trends in agroecological (AE) initiatives or other initiatives that make a significant contribution to food systems’ agroecological transformation and seek to understand the behavior determinants/drivers that facilitated or impeded the AE innovations. Thus, an inventory of AE initiatives in Peru was compiled through a literature review that mapped the type of initiatives, AE principles promoted, and the main activities undertaken to address the AE principles. Additionally, a detailed analysis of five selected initiatives was done to understand theories of change (ToC), success and failure factors in changing behaviors, and the motives/interests of different groups of actors in agroecological transformation by interviewing people who have in-depth knowledge about these initiatives. This evidence will be used within AE-I to understand what drives agri-food system actors to adopt an agroecological transition, promote business models that support agroecology, and identify the best interventions to support behavior change toward an agroecological transition (Quintero and McCartney 2021). Objectives o Develop a country-level inventory of agroecology-related initiatives over the past 40 years (1980-2022) that includes assessment of AE principles addressed, type of initiative (project, program, community based, collective action or social movement), target location, and kind of activities performed. o For five case study initiatives, identify the targeted behavior change, successes in achieving them and assumptions, and actors behind the ToC. o Identify best practices, gaps, and challenges in relation to gender equality and social inclusion. o Summarize the key outcomes and lessons learned from past initiatives, with particular emphasis on the determinants of agency and behavior change. December 23 | Understanding and influencing agency and behavior change in Peru 3 The Agroecological Living Landscapes (ALLs), Peru The study area is Ucayali, located in Peru’s Amazon region. The region is bordered by the Loreto department (north), Pasco and Huánuco departments (west), Madre de Dios, Cusco and Junin departments (south) and Brasil (east). The Agroecological Living Landscape (ALL) is located specifically in Ucayali’s districts of Yarinacocha (Province Coronel Portillo), Nueva Requena, Campo Verde, Manantay (Province Padre Abad) and Pucallpa (the capital of Ucayali). This area coincides with the Agroecological Corridor established by the regional government of Ucayali1(Figure 1). Figure 1. Map depicting in red the Agroecological Living Landscape (ALL) in Ucayali, Peru. The ALL covers 1,406,411 ha and three types of landscapes: mountains (15% of area), hills (40% of the area), and plains (43% of the area) (Gobierno Regional de Ucayali [GOREU], 2016) (Figure 2). The west portion of the ALL (mountains and hills, part of the Sub-Andean region) sees temperatures ranging from 12°C to 30°C and precipitation from 3000 to 4500 mm/year. The plains (east area) have a temperature range of 19°C to 32°C, and precipitation from 1200 to 3000 mm/year (Centro de Conservación, Investigación y Manejo de Áreas Naturales [CIMA], 20172). Ucayali’s forests host an important diversity of fauna and flora. The ALL has four natural protected areas that preserve 79,221 ha (Servicio Nacional de Áreas Naturales Protegidas por el Estado [SERNANP], 2022). However, Ucayali experiences high levels of deforestation caused by the expansion of the agricultural frontier, with oil palm, cacao, coffee, rice, coca leaf, plantain, papaya, 1 “Estrategia Regional para el Desarrollo Rural Bajo en Emisiones en Ucayali al 2030 (ERDRBE)”. 2 Los valores reportados para el Corredor se obtuvieron de los mapas climáticos desarrollados por CIMA (2017), que presentan los promedios multianuales (1981-2015) de temperatura y precipitación. December 23 | Understanding and influencing agency and behavior change in Peru 4 and pastures representing the highest production and planted areas (MINAM, 2016; MINAM 2021, MIDAGRI, 2022). Besides agriculture and livestock, fishing and mining are also important economic activities in the region (MIDAGRI, 2022; MIDAGRI, 2021). It is estimated that Ucayali has lost half of its forests (1,026,836 ha) in the last 20 years (2001-2021). Over the last two decades, deforestation has been concentrated in the ALL, which has already lost 40% of its forest area. Figure 2. Landscapes in the ALL include mountains (western areas), hills (central areas), and plains (eastern areas). In Padre Abad and Coronel Portillo provinces, located within the ALL (Figure 1), 68-81% of the population is identified as mestizos (migrants, or descendants of migrants, from non-Amazonian regions of Peru). In the provinces Atalaya and Purus, 54-64% of the population is identified as native or indigenous and the rest as mestizos. The main language in the ALL is Spanish (INEI, 2018). ALL provinces have a rate of illiteracy of 2-8% (INEI, 2018). Regarding health, Ucayali region has high levels of mortality of children under 5 years caused by acute respiratory infections and diarrheal disease (6.5% and 16.7%). In addition, child malnutrition rates are high in this region; 60.8% of children under 3 years of age have anaemia and 17.5% of children under 5 years of age suffer from chronic malnutrition (INEI, 2022). The provinces Padre Abad and Coronel Portillo have been prioritized by GOREU for inclusion in the Agroecological Corridor, which will design and apply mechanisms to transform agri-food systems and develop diverse sustainable economic activities that are resilient to climate change. In 2023, new authorities will integrate governmental institutions at the regional level, with the shared responsibility of developing the Agroecological Corridor through a public investment program or project (Pareja, 2022). December 23 | Understanding and influencing agency and behavior change in Peru 5 Methodology Initiatives inventory Peru During AE-I’s ALL visioning workshop, carried out in July 2022, participants were asked about the agroecological initiatives from Peru and the ALL. Thus, a preliminary list of initiatives was obtained, and the following information was searched by internet: type of initiative (movement, project, program, etc.), leading institutions, area of intervention, period of time, AE principles addressed, and activities performed. Also, the following key words were used to search for additional initiatives on the internet: agroecological projects, climate smart agriculture, sustainable agriculture, environmentally friendly agriculture, and sustainable rural development movements, programs, and initiatives. Case study selection Five initiatives were selected for in-depth study. These initiatives addressed multiple AE principles and performed activities in the ALL. One community-based initiative was chosen. Detailed information was collected on the selected initiatives by interviewing people who have in-depth knowledge about them. The specific information collected concerned the theory of change for influencing behaviors, motives/interests of different group of actors with regards to behavior change in the context of AE transformation, behavior changes targeted, activities introduced to achieve the intended behavior changes, assumptions made about how activities would lead to intended behavior changes, gender and social inclusion elements, and factors that contributed to success and failure in achieving behavior changes. Results Overview of AE Initiatives in Peru Table 1 presents the information obtained from all the AE initiatives (45 total) mapped in Peru. The majority of initiatives were projects or programs (38/45), and only one was a social movement. Most of the initiatives were implemented in the last ten years and the majority (22/45) addressed between three and five principles. Figure 3 shows the principles addressed by these initiatives. The principles most often incorporated were biodiversity, conectivity, economic diversification, participation, and social values and diets, reflective of a focus on forest conservation. Participation was addressed in most of the initiatives, as social organizations sought to involve communities in the management of their natural resources through activities such as community forest management, farmer forest conservation agreements, collective forest restoration, community seed banks, and co-design of productive systems. Other initiatives encouraged farmers networks as key actors in the generation of agricultural polices, and co-development of life plans. The principles least often incorporated were animal health, input reduction, and recycling. Table 2 summarizes findings from the detailed review of the five selected AE initatives. Three initatives were categorized as projects, one was categorized as a program, and one a community-based initiative. Among the initiatives considered projects and programs, there were differences in the number of beneficiaries and the marginalized groups that they included. The number of beneficiaties was higher in the program (21,000 people, Table 2) than in the projects (380, 7500, and 143 people). The program considered women farmers as a marginalized group, but did not take into account indigenous communities that were included in the projects. Three are ongoing initiatives. Figure 4 summarizes the principles addresed by the five selected case studies. None of the selected initatives addressed all thirteen AE principles, but each targeted between nine and ten principles. December 23 | Understanding and influencing agency and behavior change in Peru 6 Table 1. AE initiatives in Peru Frequency Initiative type Project/Program 38 Community based/grass roots initiatives 3 Collective action 3 Social movement 1 Years of implementation 2018 – present 18 2012- 2017 10 2000- 2011 5 1990-2000 3 1980-1989 1 No information 8 Implemented in an ALL target site 19 Number of AE principles addressed 1-2 5 3-5 22 More than 5 18 Figure 3. Agroecological principles addressed by all initiatives documented in Peru. December 23 | Understanding and influencing agency and behavior change in Peru 7 Table 2. Summary of AE initiatives reviewed in detail. Initiative 1 Initiative 2 Initiative 3 Initiative 4 Initiative 5 Name of initiative Perú Cacao Alliance Building Sustainable Botanical garden Promoting a (Spanish: Alianza agroecological productive Biokuca participatory organic landscapes in the certification system cacao Perú) networks in Peruvian Amazon (Spanish: Jardin for Amazonian sustainable food (USAID 2016) (SPL) botánico Biokuka) products in Loreto systems (BAN-SFS) and Ucayali (POCS) (Spanish: Paisajes (Spanish: Productivos (Spanish: Construyendo redes Sostenibles en la Promoviendo un agroecológicas en Amazonía Peruana) sistema de certificación orgánica sistemas alimentarios (MINAM 2018) participativa para sostenibles) productos (Agrosalud 2022) amazónicos en Loreto y Ucayali) (Terra Nuova 2016) Type of initiative Program Project Project Community based Project initiative Goal and objectives 1) Improve the income Raise awareness Reduce deforestation Demonstrate to 1) Promote organic of cacao-producing about the importance caused by cacao, general public the productive systems. families under palm, coffee and of healthy eating way combining 2) Improve the environmentally cattle ranching by: sustainable technical capacity of friendly agroforestry through crops systems. diversification, natives 1) Implementing agricultural and forest producers. silvopastoal and crops rescuing, conservation. 2) Make agricultural agroforestal systems 3) Encourage the technology and improving soil and crop comercialization of technical assistance management management products in organic available to male and practices, food sustainable practices markets certified female producers to handling, and food 2) Improving access increase cacao under a guarantee productivity and yield. cooking. of farmers to special participatory systems markets, 3) Build the capacity of (SGPs). 3) Encouraging producers related to *SGP: sistema de landscape restoration, the correct use of garantia participativo inputs, proper pruning 4) Improving technical (in English: procedures, soil assistance, participatory management techniques, integrated 5) Improving the guarantee system), pest management, credit portfolio for certification models plant sowing specifics, farmers, based on a mixed crop irrigation, market 6) Promoting system of evaluation access. diversification or involving public and sustainabe activities 4) Reduce the private actors. (ecoturism, pressure on forests pisciculture,non- (encouraging cultivate timber forest in agricultural instead products) of deforesting). Location San Martin, Huánuco y Ucayali Ucayali Ucayali Ucayali and Loreto Ucayali Years of 2013-2022 2022-2026 2018-2024 1992-actual 2014-2016 implementation December 23 | Understanding and influencing agency and behavior change in Peru 8 Table 2. Summary of AE initiatives reviewed in detail. Initiative 1 Initiative 2 Initiative 3 Initiative 4 Initiative 5 Agricultural Cacao Diversified farms Cacao, oil palm, and Family agricultural Diversity of systems, system(s) targeted (Plantain, camu camu, livestock system (locally called fish-farms, native forestry species, fruit Chacra) crops (sacha inchi, trees, horticulture and ají), agroforestry minor species) species, sugar cane transformed in “panela” or chancaca Motivation Changing from More than 60% of Commodities are the Demonstrating to Native communities cultivating illicit crops children in Ucayali biggest agents of people that produce (coca leaf) to cacao have anemia and deforestation. Thus agriculture can be agroecological through the increase malnutrition being the project promotes done conserving products but they do in the productivity of Ucayali a region with the reduction on natural resources not have certification cacao and the a high deforestation caused (forest, soil, water, and not access to promotion of private agrobiodiversity by cacao, palm, cofee diversity) special markets. Thus, investment. It is not and cattle ranching the project promotes necessary to deforest commercialization of to introduce more products in organic cacao markets certified under a SGP Most important A software was Promoting healthy Supporting native To transform a Adapt and introduce innovation(s) created to record eating practices: from communities to reaffirm pasture into a forest the SGP used already crops growing to traceability of the crop their ancestral land with agriculture in the coast and Sierra food manipulation (monitoring and cooking rights by developing life (called botanical regions to the deforestation and plans. garden) Amazon region. contamination) Promote the inclusion of men in the housework Target beneficiaries Small cacao producers Small producers and Small cacao, oil palm, Visitors of the Indigenous (men and women) families, educative livestock producers, botanical garden communities (shawi, institutions, and and native Achuar) and riverside native communities communities communities associated in small organizations Number of target 21000 380 7500 No data 143 beneficiaries Marginalized Women farmers Native communities Native communities Not marginalized Indigenous groups targeted and women farmers through indigenous groups communities and federations riverside communities December 23 | Understanding and influencing agency and behavior change in Peru 9 Figure 4. Agroecological principles addressed by selected case study initiatives. Theory of change and behavior change Actors’ motives and interests The case study initiatives were designed and implemented by development partners and government ministries, including USAID, the Environmental Minisitry of Peru (MINAM) and NGOs such as Agrosalud and Terranuova (Table 2). A common thread between initiatives was the motivation of leading actors to stop deforestation by introducing sustainable agricultural practices and improving farmer’s wellbeing. In pursuit of this goal, three out of the five selected initiatives promoted the growing of different crops as a means to safeguard the forest (Perú Cacao Alliance, BAN-SFS, and SPL; Table 2). One of the selected initiatives focused on wellbeing, with a goal of decreasing the levels of anaemia and malnutrition in Ucayali by growing native crops without agrochemicals (BAN-SFS). The Perú Cacao Alliance was also motivated by the objective of replacing illicit crops with agroforestry cacao system to improve the safety and promote peaceful livelihoods for farmers. Moreover, most of the initiatives (Perú Cacao Alliance, BAN-SFS, SPL, and POCS) had the intention of improving farmers’ access to special market and increasing family income. Targeted behavior and relationship changes Four of the five selected initiatives focused on changing producer behaviors (Perú Cacao Alliance, BAN-SFS, SPL, and POCS). Both projects and programs focused on the same topics such as promoting agroecological practices, improving local diets, reducing deforestation, and improving access to markets. Only one of the initiatives aimed to produce behavior change among the general public, going beyond farmers (Biokuka initiative). Specifically, the behavior changes encouraged for producers were focused on converting conventional to sustainable agricultural practices. This included diversifying crops without using agrochemicals and adopting agroforestry and silvopastoral systems to prevent deforestation, and rescuing native crops to improve local nutrition. The main methods used to create behavior change in producers were theoretical and practical trainings, demostration parcels, field schools, learning by doing, and farmer-to-farmer exchanges. December 23 | Understanding and influencing agency and behavior change in Peru 10 The community-based initiative, Biokuka, took a different approach, and serves as a demostration farm created by people convinced that there is a way to do agriculture in better relation with nature. The community founders recovered pasture area and converted it to an agroforestry system with a diversity of crops and a protected forest area. This “botanical garden” is an educative experience open to the public to show them the process and potential of the land recovery. It is open to all people who want to visit the farm, but there was no information on targets for number of visitors or contact with marginalized groups. Common assumptions in activities targeting behavior change The selected initiatives commonly assumed that with evidence through demonstration farms and access to capacitation and technical assistance, farmers would be motivated to change from conventional agriculture to sustainable practices (diverse farms, organic soil management, and forest restoration). This was the case in the Perú Cacao Alliance initiative, which used demostration agroforestry cacao parcels and training in agroforestry systems to engage farmers in coverting from a illicit crop to a legal crop. This was also the case in the Biokuka initiative, which uses its botanical garden and training in AE practices and restoration techniques to encourage visitors to practice sustainable agricuture and protect the forest. In the BAN-SFS initiative, similarly, capacitation on nutrition (crop production, cooking) was given to farmers and native communities to help them diversify their diets and reduce levels of malnutrition and anaemia. In the case of POCS initiative, training in AE management practices was initially planned to be given by an agronomist to the indigenous communities, to improve crop cultivation. However, during the trainings and farmer-to-farmer exchanges, the agronomist realized the necessity of including indigenous knowledge. Thus, the team launched a participatory process to learn local plant names, farming materials, and agricultural practices in order to secure a succesful project implementation (Terranuova 2016). Some of the initiatives offered incentives beyond just training and capacity building. Among the incentives provided to farmers by the Peru Cacao Alliance initiative, for example, were economic incentives linked to the production of fine-flavored cacao. This type of cacao has a higher market value and brings more profit and benefits to farmers, enabling them to earn a family-sustaining wage while competing more favorably with illicit crop production. The BAN-SFS initiative offered resource incentives and wider capacity building, such as the improvement of housing (including latrine installation), the distribution of seeds for home gardens, training in seed storage, and instruction on the breeding of minor species. Some of the initiatives also fostered stakeholder connections as a way to achieve desired changes. The Peru Cacao Alliance fostered collaboration among experts from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the Institute of Tropical Crops (ICT), Casa Luker, and the Cooperative ACOPAGRO to identify fine-flavor cacao varieties that are better suited for the project's target regions. This information was crucial in designing agroforestry and planting models, as well as providing training and technical assistance packages for fine-flavor cacao production. Additionally, the POCS initiative facilitated stakeholder connections through internships for farmers in recognized enterprises that commercialize the products they grow. Success factors and challenges to achieving behavior change Success factors One factor mentioned by key informants that contributed to project success in achieving behavior change was a focus on farmers’ wellbeing in the framing of problems and solutions. For example, the respondent from the Perú Cacao Alliance initiative expressed that a crucial factor that made farmers want to change their behavior of growing illicit crops to agroforestry cacao was the desire to have a peaceful life (not given for the illicit crops). Additionally, farmers in the SPL initiative were motivated to improve their health and that of their families by learning about healthy eating practices, from crop production to food preparation and cooking. Moreover, respondents from the Perú Cacao Alliance, SPL, and POCS initiatives mentioned that a factor that motivated farmers to implement farming sustainable practices was access to high value markets. In the case of Perú CacaoAlliance initiative, 19,800 producers experienced improved access to markets through purchase agreements included in business plans (USAID 2016). A peaceful life, healthy eating, and access to markets all increased farmers wellbeing. Another successful factor of Perú Cacao Alliance initiative was involving farmers as co-investors of the program instead of treating farmers as beneficiaries in need. This participatory approach contrasted with examples of providing free assistance (in the form of inputs, seedlings, and/or primary processing machinery) to cacao farmers without requiring financial commitment in return, which reduced the value of the item or assistance donated and led projects to be abandoned. Encouraging co-investment required engaging farmers in their value proposition. In Perú Cacao Alliance, farmers were asked to co-invest in the agroforestry model that they had developed through three pathways. The first way was through participation in land preparation activities. The second investment involved assisting in the growing and planting of plantain tree seedlings. The third way of investing was by participating in the grafting process, a solution to convert regular cacao trees into fine-flavoured cacao producing trees, rather than planting new fine-flavoured cacao seedlings. In total, 20,944 co-investing farmers from Huanuco, San Martin and Ucayali departments participated in the program representing a co-investment value of USD 26,578,847 (USAID 2016). An additional success factor of the POCS initiative was the inclusion of local knowledge of indigenous people in technical training given by agronomists. This helped improve the management of native products to be included in organic markets certified under a SGP. Indigenous men and women were more interested in learning new technical practices when their own practices were included (Terranuova 2016). December 23 | Understanding and influencing agency and behavior change in Peru 11 Challenges Interviewers did not refer to factors contributing to failure, but rather to challenges. Some of the common challenges were farmer resistance to implementing sustainable activities because of the lack of knowledge. Some farmers were not convinced about the importance of using organic fertilizers, and still preferred to clear the forest and use the fertile areas to install new crop systems. Perhaps, the influence of conventional agriculture and the lack of evidence in the field of AE systems made them resistant and lacking in confidence to change the way of cultivating their crops. Another challenge was that some farmers were reluctant to convert from illegal crops (coca leaf) that generate a high income. Cacao agroforestry systems were new and generated less income, and farmers were not sure about the access to markets. The community initiative Biokuka had encountered several challenges. The initiative emerged as a response to the dissolution of the organization FUSEVI (Federacion de Productores Ecológicos de Ucayali) due to a lack of funding and the strong influence of monocultures in the region. FUSEVI used to focus on projects that supported family agriculture. Subsequently, some former members of FUSEVI decided to establish the botanical garden Biokuka, an agroecological plot situated amidst pastures and monoculture fields. Its primary goal was to showcase that sustainable agriculture can thrive despite the prevailing monoculture practices in the region. Biokuka successfully recovered an area previously degraded by cattle ranching. They cultivate different crops and minor animals. However, throughout the land recovery process, the leaders of this initiative have had to rely on their own resources and contend with fires ignited by neighboring lands to clear space for crop cultivation. Addressing the needs of marginalized groups The groups considered marginalized in the case study initiatives were women farmers and native communities. However, they were not the primary target group in most of the initiatives, except for POCS, which focused on connecting indigenous communities to organic markets. This initiative recognized that native communities produced agroecological products, but they lacked access to certification and special markets. Thus, this initiative promoted the commercialization of native products in organic markets certified under a participatory guarantee system. Under the SPL initiative, attention was given to supporting native communities in the sustainable use of forests, the conservation of ecosystem services and halting forest degradation through the development of community life plans3 that integrate gender considerations and sustainable landscape approaches. Initially, the life plans integrated the indigenous cosmovision with the technical planning of the territory, constituting a guiding document for any institution interested in working with the communities. In this sense, the life plans were built in a participatory manner by the indigenous communities themselves in order to transmit the vision of the future of their territory and the path they must follow to achieve it. Since 2016, the Peruvian state has established methodological guidelines for indigenous communities to design and implement life plans, thereby recognizing the role of indigenous communities in territorial planning processes. Ucayali’s Regional Government in 2021 recognized and formalized life plans as a territorial planning instrument to integrate native communities in strategic planning, in order to achieve an articulation of policies, programs and projects in the region with the active participation of indigenous communities. The SPL initiative has provided training to leaders and technicians from indigenous federations to formulate life plans in the twelve prioritized native communities. These plans integrate sustainable productive activities, ecosystem conservation and recovery, as well as community monitoring. The activities implemented by the other initiatives to involve women included schools for women leaders to increase their capabilities in the cacao value chain and their access to loans (Perú Cacao Alliance). The BAN-SFS initiative implemented activities to improve the quality of life for women and indigenous peoples, such as housing improvements, latrines construction, and promoting healthy eating practices including food production (healthy soils), food handling, and food cooking. BAN-SFS also included activities that encouraged men to get involved in household activities and increase flexibility in the roles between men and women in the household. Thus, training in healthy cooking and homegardens were given for men and women (BAN-SFS initiative) with the message that household activities belong to all members of the family. Indicators measuring success and failure in reaching marginalized groups Most of the initiatives did not report on how marginalized groups were reached, aside from counting women’s participation in access to loans, cacao schools for women leaders, and SGP councils. The Perú Cacao Alliance initiative focused on the number of families that benefitted from value chains and had access to financial services, the number of cacao hectares planted, and the number of jobs created (USAID 2016). However, the key informant reported an increase in women’s participation in the cacao value chain from 22% to 40%, and an increase of women participation as leaders of the cooperatives. In contrast, they reported low participation of women in workshops and meetings, the reasons for which are shared in the challenges section below. In the POCS initiative, they reported that 39 of 119 productive units acredited through the participatory guarantee system belonged to women. However, there was not enough participation of women in the SGP councils (which were comprised of 30% woman and 70% men). No information about the level of indigenous participation in the SGP councils was reported. 3 The life plans were born from the initiative of indigenous organizations that sought a way to document their vision of the territory and find strategies to articulate with the state and other territorial development projects. December 23 | Understanding and influencing agency and behavior change in Peru 12 Common challenges faced in meeting the needs of marginalized groups Key informants for the Perú Cacao Alliance and POCS mentioned that it was difficult to include women farmers and indigenous women in the initiative’s activities because of cultural concerns. Women needed to have their husbands’ consent to get involved in different activities because the head of the household is the man. Also, women managed a heavy workload that did not allow them to participate in the activities because a lack of time. Best practices for addressing the needs of marginalized groups Some of the best practices for addressing marginalized groups were to invest resources and effort in engagement mechanisms to secure women’s inclusion, and to implement activities based on women’s and indigenous people’s necessities and interests. POCS engaged women producers though in-person visits to their farms and established gender quotas for female public officials in the SGP technical councils. They also offered training to increase awareness in public institutions around the importance of women’s participation. One best practice for including indigenous groups was the POCS initiative’s effort to undertake a participatory process through which project technicians learned local plant names, farming materials, and agricultural practices. Incorporation of indigenous knowledge helped increase farmers’ interest and a successful project implementation. The SPL initiative played a pivotal role in fostering the creation of life plans, acknowledged, and endorsed as territorial management tools by indigenous communities. This support has contributed to their empowerment, emphasizing a gender-inclusive approach. These plans serve as instrumental tools in the indigenous territorial management, encompassing their interests and necessities in sustainable productive activities, ecosystem conservation and recovery, and community monitoring. An additional best practice to make men’s and women’s roles in the household more flexible was demonstrated by the BAN-SFS initiative. This initiative sought to involve men in household work culturally assigned to women by inviting both men and women to participate in workshops about healthy cooking and the establishment of home-gardens. Conclusions In this brief, we have taken stock of past initiatives related to agroecology in the AE-I ALL area of Peru. The majority of the inventoried initiatives consisted of projects and programs, with only one classified as a social movement. Most of these initiatives were implemented in the last decade, and the majority of them focused on addressing between three and five key principles. The most frequently incorporated principles included biodiversity, connectivity, economic diversification, participation, social values, and dietary practices. Many of these initiatives emphasized participation by encouraging social organizations to become involved in the management of natural resources. On the other hand, principles related to animal health, input reduction, and recycling were less commonly included. Five initiatives that targeted many AE principles were selected for in-depth review. The selected initiatives that reported successful behavior change outcomes were responsive to the needs of farmers, engaged them as partners, and sought to improve their well-being. A particularly successful initiative was the Peru Cacao Alliance, which stimulated a remarkable change in behavior among producers to transition from illicit cultivation of coca to production of cacao and encouraged sustainable production through agroforestry systems. This involved a shift in the farmers’ perspective. Training programs, demonstration parcels, and access to new markets helped farmers internalize the importance of protecting their natural resources through best management practices in agriculture. Similarly, the POCS initiative was implemented by local organizations with prior experience working with indigenous communities, who identified the need for these communities to access specialized markets for better pricing of their agroecological products. The Biokuka initiative managed to reclaim a degraded area and demonstrates the sustainable production of diverse crops, including minor species, on a publicly accessible demonstration farm. Most selected initiatives included marginalized groups and three targeted indigenous communities. Few of the case studies included indicators for measuring success in engaging marginalized groups; those that did only counted women participants and did not measure outcomes. Moreover, none of the selected initiatives emphasized buy-in of actors other than farmers. However, the POCS initiative successfully integrated local knowledge and the Peru Cacao Alliance involved farmers as co- investors. These activities empowered farmers, communicated that their understanding is important and crucial to success, and gave them a sense of ownership that secured project continuity over time. It is also important to highlight the approach taken by the POCS initiative to increase the flexibility of gender roles. The impacts are not yet clear because the initiative is ongoing, but efforts like these to transform social relations and empower marginalized groups may be useful to integrate in other initiatives. Together, these findings provide several lessons for AE-I implementation in Peru. First, they illustrate the value of quality demonstrations, trainings, and building lasting marketing opportunities for farmers to support farmer behavior change. They also suggest the value of increased attention to the needs and challenges of marginalized groups, which can further support behavior change outcomes in agroecological initiatives. Finally, the cases examined here point to the importance of engaging December 23 | Understanding and influencing agency and behavior change in Peru 13 farmers and other FSAs as co-investors in agroecological outcomes and leveraging local and indigenous knowledge to achieve community visions for the future. 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Annexes WP5_AE_Inventory.xlsx (sharepoint.com) WP5_Country_Assessment_General.xlsx (sharepoint.com) WP5_InDepth_Review.xlsx (sharepoint.com) December 23 | Understanding and influencing agency and behavior change in Peru 14 Marcela Beltrán, Postdoctoral Fellow (Alliance Bioversity International-CIAT), m.beltran@cgiar.org María Claudia Tristán, Senior Research Associate (Alliance Bioversity International- CIAT), m.tristan@cgiar.org Sarah Freed, Scientist II (Alliance Bioversity International-CIAT), s.freed@cgiar.org Rachel Voss, Consultant (WorldFish), rcvoss@gmail.com CGIAR is a global research partnership for a food-secure future. CGIAR science is dedicated to transforming food, land, and water systems in a climate crisis. Its research is carried out by 13 CGIAR Centers/Alliances in close collaboration with hundreds of partners, including national and regional research institutes, civil society organizations, academia, development organizations and the private sector. www.cgiar.org We would like to thank all funders who support this research through their contributions to the CGIAR Trust Fund: www.cgiar.org/funders. To learn more about this Initiative, please visit this webpage. To learn more about this and other Initiatives in the CGIAR Research Portfolio, please visit www.cgiar.org/cgiar-portfolio © 2023 CGIAR System Organization. Some rights reserved. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 International Licence (CC BYNC 4.0). | | | December 23 | Understanding and influencing agency and behavior change in Peru 15 Marcela Beltrán, Postdoctoral Fellow (Alliance Bioversity International-CIAT), m.beltran@cgiar.org María Claudia Tristán, Senior Research Associate (Alliance Bioversity International- CIAT), m.tristan@cgiar.org Sarah Freed, Scientist II (Alliance Bioversity International-CIAT), s.freed@cgiar.org Rachel Voss, Consultant (WorldFish), rcvoss@gmail.com CGIAR is a global research partnership for a food-secure future. CGIAR science is dedicated to transforming food, land, and water systems in a climate crisis. Its research is carried out by 13 CGIAR Centers/Alliances in close collaboration with hundreds of partners, including national and regional research institutes, civil society organizations, academia, development organizations and the private sector. www.cgiar.org We would like to thank all funders who support this research through their contributions to the CGIAR Trust Fund: www.cgiar.org/funders. To learn more about this Initiative, please visit this webpage. To learn more about this and other Initiatives in the CGIAR Research Portfolio, please visit www.cgiar.org/cgiar-portfolio © 2023 CGIAR System Organization. Some rights reserved. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 International Licence (CC BYNC 4.0). | | | December 23 | Understanding and influencing agency and behavior change in Peru 16