Food sovereignty in Bolivia

The food sovereignty vision in Bolivia contends against agribusiness production of export-oriented products and emphasizes the practice and renewed value of traditional indigenous food production. It is driven by the idea that the value of food lies in its being a right to all people rather than in its value as an item of trade. Ecological sustainability, strengthening internal markets, conservation of agrobiodiversity, and the right to produce and distribute culturally appropriate foods are also tenets of Bolivia's food sovereignty movement. Foreign-investing agribusiness is understood by advocates of the movement as having colonial roots reaching back in time to sugarcane plantations in Bolivia and are viewed as functioning now via the consolidation of land ownership and deforestation. Wholesale agribusiness production makes competition difficult for Bolivia’s small-scale farmers, who often take out high-interest loans and consequently accumulate debt. The indigenous, peasant, and agricultural worker advocacy organization Via Campesina, who first coined the term food sovereignty, has been active in food sovereignty campaigns and actions in Bolivia.

Food Sovereignty Legislation in Bolivia

The inclusion of food sovereignty into the constitution is understood by advocates as an essential step to the symbolic deconstruction of imperialist and racist histories, however the extent and ways by which the government is able to implement such policy is debated.

2009 Constitution

Food sovereignty was incorporated into the Constitution of Bolivia in 2009 under president Evo Morales. Bolivia follows Venezuela and Ecuador in incorporating food sovereignty into its constitution. Food sovereignty is first mentioned in Article 255 in which “Food security and sovereignty for the entire population; the prohibition of importation, production, and commercialization of genetically modified organisms and toxic elements that harm health and the environment” is listed as an guiding principle for all of Bolivia’s contracted international relations. In Article 309, food sovereignty is listed as an objective with which state enterprises and entities should comply.

In Article 405, the first of Title III, comprehensive, sustainable rural development is noted as a fundamental priority of the State. According to the constitution, the State should prioritize “communitarian economic undertakings and those of the group of rural actors placing emphasis on food security and sovereignty” by the means of five principles. These are as follows:

1. The sustained and sustainable increase of agricultural, livestock, manufacturing, agro-industrial, and tourist industry productivity, as well as their commercial capacity.
2. The articulation and internal complementary form of the structures of agricultural, livestock and agro-industrial production.
3. Achievement of better conditions for economic exchange of the rural productive sector in relations to the rest of the Bolivian economy.
4. The importance and respect of the rural native indigenous communities in all dimensions of their life.
5. The strengthening of the economy of the small agricultural and livestock producers and of the family and communitarian economy.

Also in Title III, which is dedicated to comprehensive, sustainable rural development, the guarantee of food sovereignty is listed as an objective of state policy aimed at rural development in coordination with “autonomous and decentralized territorial entities”. Focal to this food sovereignty objective is the production and consumption of foods produced in Bolivia.

Other legislation

Bolivian Law 3525 or "Regulation and Promotion of Ecological Agricultural and Non-timber Forest Production" states food sovereignty as a right and details international and Bolivian certification systems.

Law 144, of Productive, Communal and Agricultural Revolution, bans GMO plant varieties for crops native to Bolivia, but not for those such as cotton, rice, sugar cane, and soy that are non-native and popular for export. There is debate among both state actors and indigenous and peasants groups that the GMO ban may make producing less accessible for small farmers and drive up food costs in internal markets.

The Mother Earth Law concerns food sovereignty in that it asserts nature's rights to be free from genetic modification and have its biodiversity be maintained. It aligns with indigenous food sovereignty logic in that it addresses value in traditional indigenous conceptions of nature as having an inherent right to sustainability and restoration.

Philosophy, Politics, and Economics of Food Sovereignty in Bolivia

Food sovereignty, first coined by indigenous and peasant advocacy organization Vía Campesina, is the “right to produce, distribute, and consume nutritious, culturally appropriate food in a way that is ecologically sustainable” The goals of food sovereignty are to preserve agrobiodiversity, strengthen Bolivia’s internal markets, renew social value for local foods, and secure more power for indigenous and peasant groups in deciding what they eat and how it is produced. In Bolivia, food sovereignty is part of a large post-neoliberal, decolonized agenda of the state.

In Bolivia, an increase in agricultural monocropping to fulfill foreign and domestic market demands has exacerbated historically rooted tensions over the consolidation of land ownership and deforestation between indigenous peoples and peasant farmers on one side and wholesale producing agribusinesses on the other. These businesses use agrochemicals and monocropping that contrast traditional indigenous modes of production. Food sovereignty advocates trace the current food sovereignty struggle back to liberalization of trade and international investment in export-oriented agriculture, such as sugarcane plantations from the mid-twentieth century. Nicole Fabricant equates “early colonial pillaging” to “neocolonial policies of privatization and commodization of the most basic elements”. Small-scale Bolivian farmers and indigenous groups experience difficulty competing with businesses involved in this process and paying off loans acquired from attempts to also participate as a producer. Advocates argue against the power of export-oriented industries to define food production and for the right of the country’s farmers and indigenous groups to do so.

New waves of imported cheap and subsidized foods also fill local markets and make it difficult for domestic producers to compete locally or regionally.

Food Sovereignty and Indigeneity

Bolivian food sovereignty advocates from varied backgrounds of campesino and indigenous identification, take advantage of the now broad and landless global conception of indigeneity and indigenous rights to advocate for food sovereignty. Some argue, however, that the use of this discourse may actually only reinforce a class system in which indigenous peoples are viewed as the a lower ring, powerless group. Migration from the Andes into the Bolivian lowlands, where many agroindustrial complexes have been built, has resulted in the mixing of indigenous knowledge systems and agricultural practices that provide a broad base for the food sovereignty struggle.

Food Sovereignty Motivations and Agendas

Various indigenous, peasant, government, and non-governmental organizations claim support for food sovereignty, though these groups act on different definitions and motivations. While state-sanctioned food sovereignty may still support genetically modified food and agrochemicals, indigenous and peasant groups often do not. Government activities to support food sovereignty include providing training in particular agricultural practices and conducting research on different agriculture approaches. The UN Food and Agriculture Organizaiton also has conducted similar research. Some argue that the state’s conception of food sovereignty serves the purpose of maintaining profit stability as an independent nation and does not possess the same concern for the effects of resource extraction as indigenous groups. The indigenous and peasant advocacy organization Vía Campesina is active in Bolivia’s food sovereignty movement, purporting that food is primarily a people’s resource and source of nutrition and should only secondarily be an item of trade.

Food Sovereignty versus Food Security

The Bolivian concept of “food sovereignty” differs from that of “food security”. While food security places emphasis on the quantity of food production to allow wider access to food, sovereignty advocates are concerned over how, where, and by whom food is produced. The food sovereignty ideal has gained traction as a framework for conserving agrobiodiversity, as well as an increased global interest in sustainable and organic agriculture.

Indigenous knowledge systems

Bolivian, and particularly Andean, knowledge systems emphasize sharing food, appreciating producers, diversity, environmental risk management, and food security. These knowledge systems include the existence of Pachamama, or Mother Earth, as a sacred being.

Ayllu

The ayllu is one indigenous knowledge framework that has been discussed as a possible alternative model by which food production could be practiced in a food sovereign Bolivia. The traditional values of reciprocity, communal resource management, and food access are fundamental aspects of the ayllu. The ayllu system has been preserved over time by increased autonomy due to previous condemnation and marginalization in rural lands. The ayllu organizes people into units, focuses on the human as the center of production, and incorporates care and concern for the environment, risk management, and dietary diversity. Gender complementarity is a tenet of the ayllu system, however many women facing gender inequality today have faced difficulty incorporating their voices into the public forums on food sovereignty.

Aynuqa System

The aynuqa system balances cultivated land and fallow land through crop rotation in the Bolivian altiplano. Aynuqa plots are communally owned but individually worked and inherited. The plots are put through cycles of land used for crop cultivation, grazing, regrowth, and firewood collection. Communal walls around plots help to protect crops from animals and frost. The construction and use of communal walls lessens individual workload, maintenance costs, and allows farmers to take turns shepherding over their neighbor's animals.The aynuqa is managed by the ayllu system.

In recent years, ayllus and aynuqas are disappearing due to migration and the intensification of quiona production for export.

Crops relevant to Food Sovereignty

Quinoa

Quinoa is a grain native to the Andean region that is high in protein content and micronutrients. It is capable of growing in the harsh climatic conditions of the Bolivian altiplano despite the high levels of frost, salinity, and drought. The crop has long been known for its nutritional value, and has indigenous symbolic meaning due to its long history within the region. It historically has been associated with poorer populations due to its rural use and origin. Preparation of quinoa for consumption is labor-intensive, particularly the removal of the grain’s saponin covering. In the Bolivian Andes, farmers who are compelled to work away from home in order to supplement their own farm income do not have the proper amounts of time to prepare quinoa for their own home consumption, opting instead for cheaper foreign-subsidized breads and pastas. Foreign interests have patented many varieties of quinoa, and it is sold globally.

There are many different varieties of quinoa, which vary in what type of environment best suited for their production.  With quinoa’s growing global popularity, Bolivian farmers have begun to grow the varieties that are favored in the export market rather than those best suited for home consumption.

Soy

Many industrial farmers originally invested in sugarcane plantations switched to the production of soy. The soy market is very profitable, as it is used globally to create biofuel as an alternative energy source. This shift to soy represents a transformation of Bolivian land use in which the land is used for wholesale production aimed at a global market rather than for subsistence or domestic uses. Small-scale Bolivian farmers and indigenous groups experience difficulty competing with businesses involved in this process and paying off loans acquired from attempts to also participate as a producer.

Much of Bolivia’s soy is produced in the department of Santa Cruz by foreign producers. More than 70% the department of Santa Cruz is devoted to soy production. As a non-native crop, GMO soy seeds are not banned in Bolivia, as is the case of other non-native crops such as cotton, rice, and sugar cane.