studied agronomy, education and anthropology. In 1987, he co-founded the Programa Andino de Tecnologías Campesinas (Andean Program of Peasant Technologies) in Lima. He is known for his  radical critique of development and conventional education, for his activism towards the cultural affirmation of Andean culture, for his efforts regarding intercultural dialogue and his theoretical and practical contributions to the knowledge of diversity. He is author of numerous essays and books; outstanding are his contributions to ¿Desarrollo o descolonización en los Andes? (Development or Decolonisation in the Andes?) (1993), Niños y crianza de la biodiversidad en los Andes (Children and Nurturance in the Andes) (2000), Saber local y la conservación de la agrobiodiversidad andino-amazónica (Local Knowledge and the Conservation of Agricultural Biodiversity in the Andean-Amazonic Region) (2001), Small Scale Agriculture in the Peruvian Andes (2011) as well as Conocimiento previo, conocimiento otro (Previous Knowledge, Other Knowledge) (2014).