Recent cultivation of Kiwicha (Amaranthus caudatus L.) in Peru: production and marketing expansion

Kiwicha or amaranth (Amaranthus caudatus L.) is an Andean grain that was domesticated thousands of years ago by pre-Columbian cultures of the Andean region, being considered a “sacred plant” and having greater agri-food value than economic value. However, Andean grains; including the kiwicha, for a series of reasons have gone through a period of underuse and oblivion in their own places of origin. The nutritional properties and adaptive qualities of the crop would have shown resistance to displacement by other crops. The creation of the first official records of grain production and export allows analysis of the importance of kiwicha cultivation, and whether the recovery and expansion strategies promoted in Peru are giving good results. The objective of this article is to analyze the evolution of the production and marketing of kiwicha in the Peruvian context in the last 30 years. The analysis has been carried out based on historical series of data from official sources. Through regression analysis, the trend curve, the rate, and pace of growth have been determined. Based on this estimation, the historical evolution and possible future projection was also analyzed. The analysis has been carried out for the production and marketing variables, describing the most important factors of the evolution process. Based on this analysis, a clear evolution is deduced from the consideration of this grain as an underutilized product, to the recovery and expansion of the crop, which entails facing great challenges for the actors in the sector. The results of the analysis are considered essential in the design of policies and strategies that contribute to maintaining the growth and positioning of the product.