Quinoa is rich in protein and essential amino acids.

Unusual among grains, quinoa has a high protein content, about 14%, and contains all the essential amino acids needed for good health. The popularity of quinoa in the west tripled its price since 2006. In Europe and North America a closely related plant known as Fat Hen can be eaten in the same way. Each plant produces tens of thousands of black seeds high in protein, vitamin A, calcium, phosphorus, and potassium.

The appetite of the USA and Europe for quinoa pushed up prices to such an extent that poorer people in Peru and Bolivia, for whom it was once a nourishing staple food, can no longer afford to eat it. An unpalatable truth about quinoa is that the land that once produced a wide variety of crops is becoming a quinoa monoculture for the west. An IFAD funded bioversity project designed to bring crops such as quinoa back into the daily lives of the rural poor, has been crucial in helping farmers return to their traditional crops. Women are taking an important role in conservation of agricultural biodiversity and knowledge about local crops for food security.