Bolivia: The Integration of indigenous Andean producers into new national and international value chains

 

Poor producers in Bolivia generate 83% of all employment, but only 25% of GDP. This Joint Programme supported initiatives in fair trade and organic farming as a way to generate income and provide jobs in Altiplano, the country's poorest region.

Specifically, the programme worked to replicate previous successes in these areas by encouraging collaboration between private and public actors in order to promote technological innovation, add value and support social and gender inclusion and wider market access.

The objectives of the programme were:

  1. Strengthen national capacities in the management of public policies for regional productive development;
  2. Encourage coordination between high value-adding initiatives and certification, technology and trade services; and
  3. Promote innovative financing mechanisms to facilitate access to new domestic and foreign markets, and channel surpluses towards production diversification.

The Joint Programme strongly promoted organic food production in Bolivia, implementing actions on three complementary fronts:

  1. Strengthening the management of organic agriculture by improving standards, building capacities of officials and setting up key entities;
  2. Training producers in agro-ecological production techniques, marketing and certification of organic products;
  3. Improving the financial conditions of agro-ecological production.

Some of the programme's achievements were:

  • Support was provided to the implementation of Law 3525 on Organic Farming and the process of developing the national policy and strategy of developing organic production was facilitated.
  • Some 300 communities involved 6,000 families in ecological production on 8,500 hectares.
  • Ten projects were approved to improve access to water for irrigation of organic products through a competitive fund, benefitting 767 farmers in 25 communities.
     

Click for more detailed results from the Joint Programmes in Bolivia (in Spanish).

 

 

The Joint Programme in action

JOINT PROGRAMME QUICK FACTS

Programme Dates 05 Nov 2009 - 30 Jun 2013
Net funded amount $8,000,000
Participating UN agencies FAO, ILO, UNDP, UNICEF, UNIDO, WFP
National partners Unidad de Coordinación del CNAPE (UC-CNAPE), Instituto de Investigación Agrícola, Ganadera y Forestal (INIAF), Unidad Ejecutora de Emprendimientos Rurales (EMPODERAR), la Agencia Boliviana para el Desarrollo Productivo e Integral (PRO-BOLIVIA); PASA (Programa de Apoyo a la Seguridad Alimentaria)
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