The irony of high food production and high food insecurity in Bolivia

Bolivia has the highest food insecurity in Latin America and yet is going through both a quinoa boom and also a plantation and ranching boom in its eatern province Santa Cruz. How is this possible?

The Great Soy Expansion: Brazilian Land Grabs in Eastern BoliviaMiguel Urioste F. de C.
http://www.foodfirst.org/en/node/4434

This great article on FoodFirst.org by researcher Miguel Uriosted at Bolivia's Fundación Tierra explains how Santa Cruz, the tropical eastern department of Bolivia, has been converted for agriculture by Brazilian and other foreign entrepreneurs with "arguably few benefits" to Bolivia itself and "substantial enviornmental costs" including water.

A key point Uriosted makes is that somehow Bolivia's domestic food supply remains "precarious" despite the introduction of 3 million head of cattle and thousands of acres of plantation crops--including genetically-modified crops--to Santa Cruz in recent decades. These agricultural products are predominantly for export.

Meanwhile, the native Aymara and Quechua peoples living in the region have been marginalized and are seen as the "common enemy" of entrepreneurs.

Food Security in an Increasingly Urban World: The Case of Bolivia
http://chicagopolicyreview.org/2013/10/07/food-security-in-an-increasingly-urban-world-the-case-of-bolivia/
by Sara Sibley interviewing Maria-Teresa Nogales

Ironically, a quinoa farmer asks "Why would I eat gold?" when asked if he eats the quinoa he produces.

Photo by Andre Baertschi:
Cleared tropical forest for agriculture, mainly soy bean production, Santa Cruz, Bolivia.

See also


Quinoa: The Dark Side of an Andean SuperfoodTime Magazine
by Jean Friedman-Rudovsky
For Bolivian Farmers, Quinoa Boom Is Both Boon and Bane - TIME http://content.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2110890,00.html#ixzz2ttvfvNPw
http://content.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2110890,00.html