Zenon Porfidio Gomel APAZA

Biography

Zenón Porfidio Gomel Apaza was born in the Peruvian Andes in 1969. He pursued his interest in farming by studying agronomy, finishing his degree in 1994. He then decided to return to his home town in the Altiplano (high plains), not far from Lake Titicaca, to share his university learning with the people of the area. Unfortunately, he soon realized that what he had learned was not very applicable in this region and that modern farming methods had their share of problems.

Gomel Apaza recognized that the conventional farming practices in use, which were based on the technical advances and petrochemicals of the 1970s, had depleted the soil and impoverished the local communities. He decided that the best alternative was to encourage the people to return to their traditional farming methods and indigenous planting patterns, which were better adapted to the Altiplano’s harsh conditions, an initiative that rapidly proved its worth.