An interdisciplinary consortium of academic and development aid organizations was established to study the performance of agroecological smallholder households in the Northern and Southern Andes of Peru, between 2,000 and 3,700 meters above sea level. In order to collect information about environmental, economic and social dimensions, a household survey was conducted on a total of 305 households, including agroecological as well as conventional households. According to farmers’ perceptions and based on several indicators, an improved performance could be stated in agroecological households. However, statistical strength of the aforesaid indicators is limited due to a non-probabilistic sampling method. The present study questions the belief that organic agriculture represents an intermediate state in the transition process from conventional agriculture to agroecology and show that the opposite might also be true.