Collaborative Agrobiodiversity Governance: The Case of Trans-Local Networks of Biocultural Conservationists of the Peruvian Andes

Abstract Agrobiodiversity governance, understood as the collective management and conservation of agricultural biodiversity through coordinated multi-stakeholder arrangements, is increasingly recognised as a cornerstone of sustainable food systems. When led by farmers, such processes hold potential to enhance rural food security and nutrition, conserve biocultural heritage, and sustain farming traditions over time. The Peruvian Andes, considered an agrobiodiversity hotspot, are the centre of origin for a wide variety of potatoes and tubers that are maintained in-situ by family farmers in the highlands. This study employs a case study approach, focusing on native potato conservationists in Paucartambo, Cusco, to examine collaborative governance mechanisms and their embeddedness in social relations. A mixed methods approach was employed, incorporating a social network analysis, semi-structured and film-based interviews, focus groups, and ethnographic observation, to elucidate micro and macro-level dynamics of agrobiodiversity governance amidst the confluence of multiple socio-environmental pressures. The micro-level dynamics are elucidated through the exchange of seeds, the circulation of knowledge, and collaboration within farming communities. The macro-level dynamics are explored through the perceptions of affiliated members of the Association of Native Potato Guardians of Peru (AGUAPAN), a farmer-led trans-local network operating across the Peruvian Andes. Based on our findings, we argue that, as reciprocity norms erode and agrobiodiversity management becomes increasingly individualised, AGUAPAN’s consolidation functions as a simultaneously compensatory, transformative, and potentially erosive response to institutional decline at the local level. Further, we argue that trans-local connectivity is not inherently beneficial, instead, its effects on agrobiodiversity governance depend critically on the institutional form through which it is achieved, and the incentive structures it embeds. Specifically, certain market logics introduced through formalised associations, risk further eroding the reciprocity norms on which informal seed systems depend. This empirical research contributes to debates on adaptive governance, biocultural diversity, and socio-ecological resilience. It does so by advancing a critical understanding of trans-local network formation as an adaptive governance response to the increasing erosion of communal practices sustaining collaborative agrobiodiversity governance.