Indigenous people account for more than 30% of the population in Andean countries and 90% of them depend on traditional farming both for their livelihoods and as a direct source of food. The productive systems that they inherited from their ancestors - and which they have since jealously preserved and developed - offer important biological and technological advantages. Strengthening these systems is one of the main challenges facing those who seek to fight poverty in the region, which affects more than 80% of the population and condemns more than 45% of infants to conditions of chronic malnutrition. Reviving traditional products and ancestral knowledge associated with national/regional cooking makes it possible to expand the food base, improve nutritional conditions and food security, and to generate additional sources of income for rural households. Without a doubt these crops are of great nutritional value, are highly adaptable to severe environmental conditions, and greatly enhance the value of family farming, especially in the case of indigenous peoples.