Participatory Genomics in Quinoa

New technologies are usually developed and applied in the developed countries. Less prosperous countries often do not have the infrastructure and capacity to implement new technologies which results in a minimum benefit. They may attempt to implement new technologies at high costs, but these are often not tailored for their conditions and at the long term may even be deleterious. This unfavorable situation can be counterbalanced when the implementation of new technologies in these countries is demand-driven and is tailored to the local conditions. We have chosen the combination of the quinoa crop and genomics as a model to describe our quest in which way new technologies in a breeding program can be attuned to the interests of marginal farmers. As genomics has most potential to support breeding programs, we will mainly focus on breeding and genomics, but also take other aspects of the quinoa food network and production chain into account.