Quinoa
consumption has rapidly grown in the last decade which can be explained through
the high nutritional quality of quinoa, the trend of healthy eating habits and
the fact that most of the Quinoa grown is produced by small- scale farmers who
are mainly producing organic Quinoa. However the growing demand of Quinoa also
has negative effects on one of the main producing countries: Bolivia. As the
international demand of the ´Super Food ´is expected to grow continuously, a
sustainable production of quinoa in Bolivia has to be ensured. The following
article describes the positive and negative effects on the Bolivian quinoa production
through the growing demand and discusses the challenges Bolivian farmers are
facing in the future.
First of
all, the prices have gone up in the global north, but also in Bolivia, since
the demand for the seed has grown. Between 2008 and 2010 the prices raised even
three fold which makes it much less affordable for the average Bolivian, who
are already living on a low budget. Since some Bolivians cannot afford the seed
anymore, they eat much less Quinoa as they used to and switch to other food
sources such as rice. Quinoa has been consumed by the Bolivians since centuries
and it is seen as part of their traditional diet and a way of expressing their
culture. Due to this it’s a misery for a lot of Bolivians that they are not
able to afford a product, which otherwise has been so easy to reach. (N.Romer,
2015)
As more and
more people consume Quinoa, also the ecology is affected. The cultivation area
of Quinoa has doubled since the growing demand and this is threatening fragile
soils in high plateau. Traditionally and historically the crop is grown on
higher plateau on the mountainside, but as the demand grew, farmers had to
start cultivating the crop also on flat scrub. Moreover the introduction of
mechanization of the cultivation process started to play a way more important
role than before. Accordingly farmers have started to use disc flows and tractor
which are considered as much less sustainable then the traditional farming
practices. Traditionally fertilization of the crop is taking place by the
introduction of alpacas, llamas and sheep who are giving nutrients to the soil.
However the immense production has pushed animals from the land which leads to
a decrease in the natural fertilizer and a loss of nutrients in the soil in
cases of 50 percent of the farmers. The export sector of Quinoa is demanding
mainly 3 varieties of quinoa which covers 75 percent of the entire production
in Bolivia. As the varieties which are produced have diminished, the
biodiversity in this area is also reduced. (FAO,n.d)
Beside the
negative effects the increased demand has on Bolivia, the government has made
effort to increase organic production of all agricultural products through the
use of the certificate ´Bolicert´ which is officially recognized by the EU and
USAID. Farmers who are participating are getting technical assistance and
support for higher yields, which are simultaneously aimed to improve the
quality of the products. (N.Romer, 2015)
It can be
seen that the immense demand for Quinoa leaves Bolivia with some major
challenges to deal with in the future. Due to the increased production, more mechanization
is used, which pushes away traditional farming systems which are seen as much
more sustainable. However the government is making effort to increase the
organic production and is aiming to produce crops in a more sustainable way. AS
the prices rise, the crop has to become affordable to the Bolivian community
again, since the seed is one of the major contributor of nutrients to their
diets.
For more
information check out these videos : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pv5S3s-LmGo
References
FAO, (n.d),
Check out this infographic
on the impact of the quinoa boom on Bolivian family and small-scale farmer, year
accessed: 2016 from http://www.fao.org/family-farming-2014/news/news/details-press-room/en/c/223319/
Romer, N.
(December 2015), Do
you Know Where your Quinoa comes from, Year
accessed: 2016 from http://nacla.org/news/2015/12/23/do-you-know-where-your-quinoa-comes
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