Viracocha Foundation for Alternative Development

The Viracocha Foundation, established in 2000, is based in San Agustín- Huila, Colombia.

San Agustín is an area recognized as a UNESCO Constellation Belt Andean Biosphere Reserve, and is home to the UNESCO 1995 Historical and Cultural Heritage Archaeological Park and Magdalena River, the main water source of Colombia.

Viracocha was established in response to a degenerative culture that had degraded natural resources, causing problems such as poverty, malnutrition, unemployment, uprooting, expansion of the agricultural frontier, impacting the strategic ecosystems of the territory.

Its work supports the transition towards resilient communities and ecosystems. This integrates the basic needs of the human being (food, home, occupation, learning, environment, communication, freedom and spirituality) from a regenerative perspective.

It seeks to:

• Make a bridge between farmers and permaculture
• Strengthen agri-food systems by recovering traditional knowledge and local biodiversity related to agriculture, gastronomy, use of medicinal plants, beekeeping and bird life
• Strengthen food security and sovereignty by recovering native seeds and implementing the KIWICHA Seed House, the first in the region.
• Train leaders and multipliers of the rural community, associative groups and students
• Promote healthy eating through a community dining room
• Teach bio construction techniques to improve living conditions

In 2002, Viracocha created the Food & Education Program (PAE), benefiting 400 children from families living in conditions of poverty and malnutrition.
In 2006, the Agroecological Permacultural Education Center (CEPA) was created, a nine-hectare farm that acts as a living model of Permaculture and regenerative systems.