NEW BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF AGUAPAN 2020-2022

For the first time, the annual meeting of the Association of Native Potato Guardians from Central Peru was held virtually on Thursday, September 17. It was to be their 6xth meeting and was planned for mid-June. The Agenda was: a) election of a new board of directors (2020-2022) and b). incorporation of new members mainly also from new regions to the North from Ancash, and La Libertad, and to the South from Ayacucho. This because new funds from AGRICO were obtained to support 50 new members from new regions. However, due to the outbreak of the Covid19, it was do postponed, and due to the prohibition to travel as well as high contagion rates, it became unsafe, and we ventured into the possibility of holding a virtual meeting.  For this purpose, Grupo Yanapai provided a virtual platform (zoom) to encourage participation through smartphones. Previously, the support group asked each of the members, to provide a mobile phone number that had access to “WhatsApp”, which was used to send the zoom link. During the meeting, children, grandchildren, and nephews supported their relatives with the management of the platform and participation. At the same time, Yanapai sent Staff to farmers’ homes who did not have family support or phones. Some farmers traveled to the provincial capital to have phone coverage, this was the case of AGUAPANS ex-President Marcial Taquire, who traveled to Cerro de Pasco and led the meeting successfully. However, some farmers did not manage to vote or participate, as was the case with President-elect Elmer Chávez, (Huancavelica) Víctor Torres (Junin) Predesbinda Borja, (and Gregorio Gómez, also from Huanuco, and this list is not complete.

To facilitate the election, the support group carried out surveys fifteen days before the meeting date asking each farmer who he considered would make good candidates for the board of Directors, taking into consideration that each region would be represented. In this way, 22 members gave their opinion, the farmers mentioned most frequently per region became the candidates for the following positions: president, vice-president, secretary, treasurer, and two committee members. The second most nominated farmer per region were candidates for the second position. The future candidates were consulted to find out if they would be willing to take on the responsibility of the positions. Only in the case of Ruth Cueva from Laraos, Lima declined unfortunately to be a candidate and gave her health as a reason. Some candidates sent greetings and videos proposing what they would promote while in office, while others uploaded photos of themselves on WhatsApp. Each member individually voted through a google questionnaire sent to their phones. The elections began at 3 p.m. on September 16 and ended at 9 a.m. on the day of the assembly. In total, 40 valid votes were received for the new board of directors (2020-2022), the results were released by 10 a.m. During the meeting.

In the virtual meeting, after the announcement of the results, outgoing President Marcial Taquire swore in the new President Elmer Chávez Pérez, as well as the new members of the AGUAPAN board of directors.

The support group congratulates the new board and wishes them a successful period for the association.

By Maria Scurrah

22-09-2020