Boletín Informativo de la Fundación INESAD N° 39- Septiembre- 2024

CONTENIDO

Agriculture, environment, and

their intimate connection 2
Balancing Agricultural
Limits and threats of Productivity and Nature
Conservation in Bolivia
conventional industrial
agricultural production 3

The challenges facing the

agricultural sector in Bolivia 3

Frameworks to reconcile
agricultural production and
conservation 4
Andrea Baudoin Farah
Agro-environmental policies Carlos Solis
around the world 5

Agro-environmental policy
landscape in Bolivia 7

Recommendations for Bolivia 8

References 9

Andrea Baudoin Farah - Sorata

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 Andrea Baudoin Farah -San Ramoncito

In response to the urgent call for action attributed to various factors including environmental impacts. However,
on climate change and the multiple socio- deforestation and excessive use of agricultural production has the
ecological crises, the recent Conference chemical inputs, threaten the ecological most direct effect on environmental
of the Parties of the United Nations functions essential for agricultural degradation among these processes,
Framework Convention on Climate Change productivity (Bossio et al., 2021). while directly depending on the health
(CoP) in Dubai launched the Declaration of the surrounding environment. Indeed,
on Sustainable Agriculture, Resilient However, these challenges also show the agricultural production relies on key
Food Systems, and Climate Action1. This potential for a synergistic relationship ecosystem functions and services,
landmark declaration underscores the between agriculture and nature including biodiversity, nutrient cycling,
critical need to adapt and transform conservation. Sustainable agricultural pollination, water provision, soil fertility,
agriculture and food systems to mitigate practices, such as agroforestry and and many others.
their impacts on climate change. Central integrated pest management, offer
to this declaration is the recognition of pathways to mitigate environmental - Healthy soil is the foundation of a
the vulnerability of food producers to impacts while ensuring food security. productive agricultural system. It allows
climate impacts and the potential of They do so because preserving farmers to work with the land to reduce
agriculture to drive innovative responses. ecosystems and safeguarding habitats erosion, maximize water infiltration,
Key actions outlined in the declaration supports agricultural productivity improve nutrient cycling, and ultimately
include scaling up adaptation and by maintaining essential ecological improve the resiliency of their working
resilience efforts, promoting food security services, including pollination and pest land. Soil health is directly linked to food
and nutrition, supporting threatened control. Nature-based solutions (NbS) quality and quantity (FAO, 2014).
livelihoods, managing water sustainably, further demonstrate the potential to
and maximizing environmental benefits address agricultural and environmental - Pollinators like bees, butterflies, birds,
while minimizing harmful impacts. challenges simultaneously, offering
triple benefits of supporting agricultural
The Declaration underscores that resilience, mitigating climate change,
agriculture and nature conservation share and enhancing biodiversity (Iseman and Sustainable
intricate connections. Agriculture, while Miralles-Wilhelm, 2021). agricultural practices,
essential for economic growth and food
security, poses significant environmental such as agroforestry
challenges, particularly in tropical Agriculture, environment, and integrated pest
countries like Bolivia. Deforestation,
biodiversity loss, and drought impact are
and their intimate management, offer
among the pressing environmental issues connection pathways to mitigate
exacerbated by agricultural expansion environmental impacts
(Bossio et al., 2021). Moreover, Food systems in their entirety – from
biodiversity loss and the declining fertility production, to transport, storage, while ensuring food
of soils due to erosion and salinization, retailing, and consumption – have
1 https://www.cop28.com/en/food-and-agriculture

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bats, and other insects play a crucial contributors to these processes. The The challenges facing the
role in agriculture. They are responsible U.S. Midwest alone has suffered erosion
for the pollination of approximately 75% processes in the order of 57 billion tons agricultural sector in Bolivia
of the world’s crops producing fruits of soil in the last 150 years (Thaler et al.,
and seeds for human consumption. 2022). The challenges of Bolivia’s agricultural
This includes crops directly consumed
sector are multiple and complex. Bolivia
by humans or used for animal feed and
plant-based industrial products. Without - Pesticides used in agriculture also has some of the lowest yields in the region
pollinators, these plants would not be contribute to environmental pollution. As (Crespo, 2020). Productivity challenges
able to successfully reproduce (Reilly et much as 80 to 90% of applied pesticides stem from the fragility of landscapes
al., 2020). hit non-target vegetation and stay as and soils, and lack of infrastructure
pesticide residue in the environment and investment, but also from the
- Water is a critical input for agricultural (Sun et al., 2018). These residues can widespread unsustainable practices
production and plays an important role contaminate local streams, rivers, and that the agricultural sector employs: it
in food security. Over 70% of freshwater groundwater, posing potential risks to is an issue of both lack and excess that
withdrawals are connected to agriculture ecosystems and human health. They also requires a differentiated approximation
(UN Water, 2023). Given that irrigated threaten pollinators and generate pest to production systems.
agriculture is much more productive than resistance to agrochemicals (which in turn
that which is rain-fed, a reduction in the results in more pesticide applications). While agricultural production in Bolivia is
availability of this resource would mean
less and more expensive food in any undertaken by a very diverse mosaic of
affected area. - Agriculture also contributes significantly actors, a dichotomy is recognized between
to global greenhouse gas emissions. peasant and indigenous economies,
Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use based on family labor and combinations
Limits and threats of (AFOLU) activities accounted for around of crop and husbandry production
28% (12.0 ± 2.9 GtCO2eq/yr) of total net systems, hunting, fishing, and gathering;
conventional industrial anthropogenic emissions of GHGs in the and large-scale agribusinesses, centered
2007-2016 period (IPCC, 2019). These around a small number of commodities
agricultural production emissions come from various agricultural (mainly soy, beef, sugar cane, poultry,
activities, including the use of nitrogen and rice) (Baudoin Farah, Calvo and
The environmental impacts of food Wanderley, 2021). Each of these groups
fertilizers, rice production, livestock
production largely depend on the face differentiated challenges. The first,
rearing, and land use change, but do
interactions between the type of while contributing the most to the supply
not include pre- and post-production
productive system and biophysical and of fresh food to local and national markets
processes.
ecological conditions. However, beyond and generating the most employment,
the specificities of agrarian systems suffers from the lack of access to fertile
- The specialization that has accompanied
around the world, there is widespread soils and irrigation (as it is often confined
conventional agriculture has also led to
agreement that the current conventional to marginal soils in steep areas), marginal
losses in agrobiodiversity and genetic
and dominant agricultural model – based market access, soil degradation, loss of
resources (e.g. Pingali, 2019). Local crop
on the tenets of the Green Revolution genetic resources, and vulnerability to
varieties, historically selected by farmers,
– has multiple negative environmental the effects of climate change (Baudoin
have been progressively replaced by
impacts. Farah, Calvo and Wanderley, 2021).
seeds produced by breeding programs
and purchased by farmers (Pingali, 2019). The agribusiness sector, for its part, is
- One of the major impacts is tangled in the crisis of the conventional
deforestation, which is primarily driven Green Revolution production model
The aforementioned impacts are mostly
by agricultural expansion. According to (dependency on synthetic inputs,
due to the incorporation of inputs and
the Food and Agriculture Organization increasing pest resistance, water and soil
technologies in production systems.
of the United Nations (FAO), agricultural pollution, soil erosion and compaction,
While these changes have often resulted
expansion drives almost 90 % of global agrobiodiversity loss, biodiversity loss,
in productivity gains, they have also
deforestation. This loss of natural habitat etc.) (Crespo, 2020), with the added
jeopardized the long-term viability
has been the main driver for reducing the problem of its expansive character which
of production systems by degrading
world’s biodiversity (FAO, 2022a). leads to widespread land use change. Soy
ecosystem functions and services that
support agricultural production like alone occupies 40% of the 4.5 million
- Another impact of agriculture on the hectares cultivated in the country (data
pollination, water, biodiversity, and
environment is soil erosion. Agricultural from the National Statistics Institute for
healthy soils. Conventional production
activities, such as tilling of fields and 2023).2
models have also exacerbated land
planting of crops, disturb the ground
and income concentration and socio-
and lead to soil erosion. About 75% Several of Bolivia’s most pressing
environmental conflict (e.g. Ndi and
of the terrestrial surface of the globe environmental challenges are related
Batterbury, 2017), that in turn increase
is considered degraded (IPBES, 2018),
pressures on land and ecosystems,
and agriculture is one of the biggest 2 https://www.ine.gob.bo/index.php/estadisticas-economicas/agro-
exacerbating environmental degradation. pecuaria/agricultura-cuadros-estadisticos/

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 to the agricultural sector – and the period, pesticide use per hectare and per - Organic agriculture is a method of
agribusiness sector in particular ton of food produced increased 150% farming that focuses on restricting the
(although not exclusively): (Crespo, 2020). It is also worrisome that use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides
pesticides are often used without proper to prevent pollution and negative health
- Bolivia has the third highest safety measures and that highly toxic impacts on consumers. While the area
deforestation rate in the world, pesticides – prohibited in other countries under organic agriculture in the world
driven mostly by the expansion of the – are widely used Bolivia (Bickel, 2018; has steadily increased (almost seven-
agricultural frontier (Czaplicki Cabezas, Villalobos, 2021). The use of pesticides fold since 1999), it only represented
2023). also threatens the pollinators on which 1.6% of global croplands in 2021 (Willer
62% of the 32 main crops for small, et al., 2023). More than 70 countries
- It is also one of the most vulnerable medium and large farms in Bolivia directly have adopted regulations for organic
countries in the world to the effects depend (MMAyA, 2020). agriculture and many others have policies
of climate change due to its high rates that promote the expansion of organic
of poverty and inequality, its fragile In Bolivia, agricultural production agriculture (e.g. the creation of the
ecosystems and its location in a region has historically relied on farmers’ National Directorate of Agroecology in
of climate extremes. Some of the effects deep ecological knowledge and the Argentina) (Willer et al., 2023).
of climate change that most affect the management of multiple ecosystems
agricultural sector in Bolivia are changes across altitudinal gradients. The shift - Going beyond organic farming,
in rainfall patterns, drought, and an towards simplification and specialization agroecology encourages various
increased incidence of pests and diseases – and subsequently monocultures and agricultural and ecological practices,
(Calvo and Baudoin Farah, 2021). At the reliance on external inputs – started with with an emphasis on nutrient cycling,
same time, AFOLU activities account for the colonial economy and the hacienda diversity, resilience, and building
80% of Bolivia’s GHG emissions (with an regime but was exacerbated with the synergies across food systems to
estimated 76 MtCO2eq/yr for forestry 1953 Agrarian Reform, the efforts to simultaneously support production
and land use change, and another 30 expand the agricultural frontier in the and multiple ecosystem services (FAO,
MtCO2eq/yr for agriculture)3 . lowlands (“marcha hacia el Oriente”) and 2018). This results in vital benefits such
the policies aimed to substitute imports as the preservation of the soil’s organic
- Between 35 and 50% of agricultural and liberalize Bolivia’s economy in the composition and more carbon storage,
soils are degraded (MMAyA, n.d.) and mid-1980s. In the face of the country’s and increases in biodiversity (Brito et al.,
about 40% of the country’s surface area current challenges in terms of the 2024). Agroecology is not only a technical
is in a desertification process (CBF, 2015) sustainability of the agricultural sector, approach to production, but also a field
– especially in the highlands and the efforts need to be dedicated to both of study and a social movement that
Chaco plains – resulting in stagnant or recover the ecological, social, knowledge, encompasses food systems in their
decreasing yields and an ever-increasing and human capital necessary to produce entirety from an integrated perspective
dependency of food imports (Baudoin in Bolivia’s complex geography while (e.g. centering on food sovereignty,
Farah, Calvo and Wanderley, 2021). innovating to face the new conditions equity, and resilience) (FAO, n.d.).
posed by demographic and climate
- Pesticide imports increased five-fold change. - Nature-based Solutions (NbS) in
between 2001 and 2017 (from 33 to 167 agriculture seek to maximize the ability
thousand metric tons); during the same of nature to provide ecosystem services
Frameworks to reconcile that help address a human challenge,
3 Our World in Data. https://ourworldindata.org/co2/country/
bolivia
agricultural production and such as climate change adaptation,
disaster-risk reduction or, in this case,
conservation food production. NbS can deliver a
triple benefit when deployed properly,
Food systems need to shift Food systems need to shift towards supporting agricultural production and
towards more sustainable more sustainable production models and resilience, mitigating climate change,
value chains to respond to the multiple and enhancing biodiversity (Hallstein and
production models and
environmental, socioeconomic, and Iseman, 2021). NbS encompass a range
value chains to respond to equity crises that humanity is facing. of practices or elements to improve
the multiple environmental, These transformations will provide ecosystem functions of landscapes
an opportunity to achieve positive affected by agricultural production
socioeconomic, and equity
environmental, social, and economic (Simelton et al., 2021).
crises that humanity is outcomes if properly designed and
facing. implemented. Different approaches are - Regenerative agriculture is a conservation
being advanced across scales by diverse and rehabilitation approach to food and
stakeholders. Some of them are: farming systems. While there is no single
definition for regenerative agriculture,
most definitions focus either on practices

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 Andrea Baudoin Farah -Isla del Sol
or outcomes. From an outcomes-based production is extremely limited. There payments for environmental services,
perspective, regenerative agriculture are interesting new interinstitutional frameworks, and monitoring instruments
focuses on topsoil regeneration, initiatives to promote sustainable are significantly less common. The agro-
increasing biodiversity, improving the practices in the agribusiness sector, environmental policies they reviewed
water cycle, enhancing ecosystem including the reduction of pesticide are mostly concerned with fertilizer
services, supporting biosequestration, use, centered on the demonstration of management (33%), forests (15%), soils
increasing resilience to climate change, potential economic gains with increased (14%), biodiversity (12%), pesticide
and strengthening the health and vitality input efficiency4. use (11%), and land use (10%)5 . The
of farm soil (Newton et al., 2020). geographic distribution of the policies
is not homogeneous either. There is a
The proportion of organic agriculture in Agro-environmental correlation between gross domestic
Bolivia is relatively low (0.5%); it spans product (GDP) and number of policies,
policies around the world with the caveat that variance increases
about 180,000 hectares and involves
about 14,000 producers (Willer et al., at higher GDP levels (Wuepper et
The recognition of the severe limitations
2023). Most of those producers are small- al., 2024). The European Union (EU)
of conventional agriculture has led to
scale farmers dedicated to diversified concentrates the highest number of
policy efforts to regulate the sector and
production (fruits, vegetables, grains, agro-environmental policies, and the
generate incentives to shift agricultural
etc.) or export crops like quinoa, cacao African continent the lowest (Wuepper
production towards more sustainable
and coffee. Some of these farmers are et al., 2024a; Ritchie, 2024). Enforcement
practices. There are thousands of agro-
organized in the Association of Ecological also tends to be higher in countries with
environmental policies around the
Farmers Organizations (Asociación higher GDP and lower corruption levels
globe aiming to improve environmental
de Organizaciones de Productores (Wuepper et al., 2024a). It is worth
sustainability in agriculture. The scale
Ecológicos de Bolivia – AOPEB). While noting though, that given that most
of implementation (from local to
some are not certified, others have agro-environmental policies are centered
supranational), scope (biodiversity,
third party certifications or are engaged around fertilizer management, countries
soils, fertilizer use, etc.) and approach
in participatory guarantee systems with high fertilizer use have more reasons
(legislation, monitoring, regulation,
(PGS). In the agribusiness sector, the to enact policies than countries with low
etc.) of these policies varies greatly.
Association of Oilseeds and Wheat fertilizer use (such as most countries in
In a revision of over 6,000 policies
Producers (Asociación de Productores Africa) (Ritchie, 2024).
established between 1960 and 2022
de Oleaginosas y Trigo – ANAPO)
in about 200 countries, Wuepper et al.
has been promoting conservation Whilethere is still a need for comprehensive
(2024a) found that the number of policies
agriculture among soy producers with analysis on the effectiveness of these
implemented has been increasing over
recommendations of no tilling, crop different instruments, there is some
time with over 70% of them enacted
rotations, and cover crops. However, evidence that, when carefully designed,
since 2000 (and 40% since 2010). The
the introduction of genetically modified the adoption of agri-environmental
researchers found that about 50% of
soy – which progressively replaced policies leads to better environmental
policies consist of new legislation and
conventional soy entirely – has been outcomes. Studies of discontinuities
another 25% of new regulations, while
accompanied with a sharp increase in in environmental indicators between
4 https://www.landinnovation.fund/es/biblioteca-de-proyectos-es-
pesticide use (Crespo, 2020). Organic soy paol/practicas-regenerativas-este-bolivia 5 Some if not most policies address more than one of these issues.

5
 neighboring countries which control
for other factors have shown that agro-
environmental policy adoption does have
an impact: about 43% of the differences
in soil erosion rates can be attributed to

Andrea Baudoin Farah - Santa María de la Junta

soil-related agro-environmental policies
(Wuepper et al., 2024a), and a third of
differences in pesticide use can also be
traced back to policies (Wuepper et al.,
2023), as well as about 22% of tree cover
loss risk (Wuepper et al., 2024b). In China,
for example, the adoption in 2015 of “zero-
growth” policies for chemical fertilizers
and pesticides has led to rapid decreases
in chemical fertilizer use per hectare
and overall decreases in pesticide use
agricultural production in the world is which will require that all cattle, cocoa,
(Ritchie, 2024). For fertilizers, the “zero-
embedded in international trade and coffee, oil palm, rubber, soy, and timber
growth” policy focuses on soil-testing to
importing countries are increasingly products that make it to the EU’s
adjust fertilizer quantity, prioritizing the
recognizing their role in reducing the market be guaranteed deforestation-
use of improved or organic fertilizers,
environmental externalities of their free (compared to a 2020 baseline) by
and managing cropland to improve soil
consumption. Of the 318 regional the end of 2024. While this regulation
fertility over time (Jin and Zhou, 2018).
trade agreements established between is expected to have significant positive
For pesticides, the policy focuses on pest
1957 and 2019, 131 included at least impact on environmental outcomes
monitoring and early warning systems,
one environment-related provision, of in supplier countries, it also raises
scientific use of pesticides, replacement
which 71 (or 22% of all the agreements) significant challenges for traceability
of high toxicity products with lower
explicitly targeted interactions between and compliance, especially for small-
toxicity ones, and integrated pest control
the environment and agriculture (Matoo scale producers (RECOFTC, 2024). The
(Jin and Zhou, 2018).
et al., 2020). For example, the Common exclusive focus on forests has also
Market for Eastern and Southern Africa raised concerns about the potential
However, agro-environmental policies can
(COMESA) includes provisions for the displacement of harmful agricultural
have negative impacts – environmental
reduction of transboundary air and expansion to savannas, fragile grasslands,
and otherwise – if they do not consider
water pollution arising from agricultural and wetlands – all critical for biodiversity
trade-offs with other sectors or goals, or
activities and the use of chemical fertilizers and other ecosystem services worldwide
if they fail to account for spill-over effects
and pesticides (FAO, 2022b). As with (FSC, 2022; Bergau et al., 2023).
(Ritchie, 2024). Some agro-environmental
jurisdiction focused agro-environmental
policies can lead to decreased yields and
policies, there is incipient evidence that In this context, monitoring and
production, jeopardizing food security
environment-related provisions in trade measuring advances in the sustainable
and livelihoods (e.g. the abrupt and strict
agreements can have positive effects transformation of agriculture is key. In
ban on chemical fertilizer imports in Sri-
on environmental outcomes if they are that sense, frameworks and platforms
Lanka in 2021 led to massive declines in
equipped with a robust political and legal have been created, which do not
food production and exports), or lead to
framework addressing environmental necessarily propose specific practices,
the displacement of food production to
externalities (FAO, 2022b). However, but set principles, generate dialogue
countries with less stringent regulations,
attention should be given to evaluating to advance the agenda, and introduce
leading to overall increases in pollution
and preventing potential spill-over recommendations on monitoring and
or GHG emissions at the global scale
effects to countries not included in the reporting mechanisms.
(Ritchie, 2024; Smith et al., 2019). Thus,
agreements (FAO, 2022b).
agro-environmental policies need to
- Regen 10 is a collective action plan
be carefully designed with a systems
Similarly, voluntary third-party “green” designed to scale regenerative food
perspective that considers interactions
certification schemes (e.g. organic production systems worldwide within a
between context, multiple goals and
agriculture standards, Rainforest decade. The initiative aims to transform
sectors (e.g. energy production, water
Alliance’s Roundtable on Sustainable agricultural systems so that by 2030, over
management, poverty reduction, equity,
Palm Oil) are increasingly being 50% of the world’s food can be produced
etc.), and scale.
encouraged – and occasionally adopted in a way that drives positive outcomes
– by trade agreements (FAO, 2022b). for people, nature and climate. Regen
Trade agreements and regulations are
The most ambitious example so far is 10 is based on 10 principles that include
also policy tools that are increasingly
the enactment in 2023 of the European farmer-centricity, resilience, landscape-
incorporating environment-related
Union’s regulation on deforestation- alignment, equity, fairness, rights,
provisions for agricultural commodities.
free products (EUDR; 2023/1115) diversity, healthy climate, collaboration,
Indeed, a significant portion of all

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partnership, inclusivity, transparency,
innovation, and ongoing learning 6.

- The Task Force on Nature-related

Andrea Baudoin Farah - Motacuzal

Financial Disclosures (TNFD) has
developed a set of disclosure
recommendations and guidance that
encourage and enable businesses and
finance to assess, report, and act on
their nature-related dependencies,
impacts, risks, and opportunities. The
recommendations are structured around
four pillars: governance, strategy, risk
and impact management, and metrics
and targets7 . This framework is essential
for companies in the food sector or
those with supply chains rooted in
agricultural lands, as it provides a road for environmental management in the expansion of the agricultural frontier
map for ensuring that the private sector general (e.g. articles 9, 33, 342, and 345) (Rivero Lobo, n.d.), such as:
can support producers appropriately in but also for agroecological practices
the systemic transformation towards specifically (articles 405, 406, 407, - Laws that establish exceptions to Forestry
sustainability. 408, and 409) alongside enshrining Law 1700 and condone deforestation and
the right to food (article 16) (Calvo and the use of fire to clear land in exchange
- Natural capital accounting (NCA) is Baudoin Farah, 2021; Rivero Lobo, n.d.). for a small infraction fee and the
the process of calculating the total Other legislation has more specifically registration of burnt or deforested areas
stocks and flows of natural resources advanced the framework of the rights in the “program of food production and
and ecosystem services provided by of nature (Law 71 of the Rights of forest restitution” (Laws 337 of 2013, 502
nature’s different ecosystems (Lars Hein Mother Earth and Framework Law of of 2014, 739 of 2015, 952 of 2017, and
et al., 2020). Because agriculture relies Mother Earth and Integral Development 1171 of 2019) (Villalobos, 2020).
heavily on natural capital, quantifying for Living Well or Law 300, both from
and understanding the relationship 2012); the promotion and regulation - Laws that allow the expansion of
between production and the ecosystem of agroecological products, including the agricultural frontier over forests
is important, and this method provides the creation of the Nacional Council of with increases in the allowances for
the necessary data to do so (FAO, 2015). Ecological Production (Consejo Nacional deforestation for smallholders (Law 741
If properly applied, it can be an approach de Producción Ecológica – CNAPE) and of 2015), extensions in the verification
to understanding farming that puts the “ecological product” national label period of the socio-economic function
nature on the balance sheet alongside (Law 3525 of 2006); the promotion of land use (which encourages land
the sales from produce. of sustainable agriculture based on speculation) (Law 740 of 2015), and the
family farming and food sovereignty promotion of the expansion of the area
(Law 144 of 2011); the promotion of dedicated to biofuels (Law 1098 de 2018)
Agro-environmental policy associativity in family farming in the (Villalobos, 2020).
framework of food sovereignty (Law 338
landscape in Bolivia of 2013); and planning mechanisms at - The authorization, despite their
the national level that include territorial prohibition in the 2009 Constitution,
Bolivia has a complex regulatory planning, comprehensive development of genetically modified seeds (GMO).
landscape that simultaneously fosters and conceptions, and climate change The use of GMO seeds is particularly
hinders sustainable agro-environmental management (Law 777 of 2016) (Calvo problematic because the authorized
practices. Bolivian society has been and Baudoin Farah, 2021; Rivero Lobo, varieties are resistant to glyphosate
discussing environmental policy aimed n.d.). According to the database compiled and thus imply the use of highly toxic
at achieving sustainable development by Wuepper et al. (2024), Bolivia has pesticides (Decree 3874 of 2019).
since the 1990s (e.g. Environmental Law about 18 agro-environmental policies8 .
1333 of 1992, Forestry Law 1700 of 1996,
- New land use plans in Santa Cruz and
land-use and territorial plans, National However, these policies not only lack Beni that allow the expansion of the
Biodiversity Management Strategy, institutional frameworks and financing agricultural frontier in forested areas,
watershed management plans, etc.) to be effectively implemented, but they natural savannas, and wetlands.
(Calvo and Baudoin Farah, 2021). The are also undermined by a series of other
2009 Constitution cemented provisions policies that concurrently promote
6 https://regen10.org/ unsustainable practices in agriculture and
7 https://tnfd.global/publication/recommendations-of-the-task-
force-on-nature-related-financial-disclosures/ 8 Compared to over 90 in the EU

7
 Recommendations for Bolivia
In Bolivia, addressing the environmental demanded organic products for export, - Develop environmental
challenges posed by agriculture requires (iii) aggregated value and transformation. responsibility policies for agribusinesses.
concerted efforts to promote sustainable Public policies should be aimed at
land management practices and support - Invest in and strengthen generating incentives for sustainable
diversified farming systems. Given that organizational capacity for small production and regulating practices that
about 25% of the population depends on producers to access markets under better deteriorate the country’s productive
the sector for their livelihoods (Colque, conditions. and natural capital (Calvo and Baudoin
2020), the country faces a significant - Promote and support territorial Farah, 2021). The private sector should
challenge in curtailing deforestation and climate change management be involved in the design of sustainability
and environmental degradation while through: (i) integrated watershed standards based on efficiency gains
safeguarding livelihoods and food management and reforestation, (ii) through the preservation of the
security for its population. This means optimization of water management and ecosystems that sustain agricultural
adjusting, designing and implementing irrigation systems (rain harvesting, water production (e.g. through integrated
public policies centered around storage, etc.), (iii) soil management and water, soil, and pest management, as
land governance and stewardship gully control, and (iv) strengthening of well as diversification).
for sustainable development. Given risk management systems including local
international experience and the Finally, in addition to the policy-oriented
climate prediction systems (Calvo and actions described above, the State should
country’s context, for Bolivia to achieve Baudoin Farah, 2021).
the sustainable transformation of its also pilot programs that can provide
agricultural sector, we recommend that: - Support the transition to guidance to the whole sector and decision
organic or agroecological production makers in key areas that can advance the
- Agro-environmental regulations through specialized credit programs and agricultural sustainability agenda. One of
are reviewed and organized to guarantee innovative certification mechanisms (like these areas is concerted support for the
their coherence with the Constitution participatory guarantee systems). different stakeholders in the value chain of
and Environmental Law 1333. This will priority crops to implement sustainability
mean that some laws and decrees will - Support the conservation and measures. Because producers make
need to be revoked, while others are recovery of agrobiodiversity through the decisions based on the requirements and
adjusted or strengthened. Provisions establishment of locally managed seed opportunities presented by off-takers,
for agroecological production should be banks. and these in turn consider wholesalers
centered on public policy instruments, - Promote the development and ultimately retailers, the only way to
while responsibilities and sanctions of knowledge and skills through aspire to a sustainable sector is working
for environmental damages from the conventional, alternative and adult with the whole value chain. Some initial
agricultural sector should be defined education processes that rescue and actions that could be implemented in a
and enforced (Calvo and Baudoin Farah, strengthen traditional ecological pilot program include:
2021). Policy incentives for the expansion knowledge and complement it with
of the agricultural frontier should be - Empower farmer organizations
approaches related to agroecological and cooperatives to collectively bargain
eliminated. production, territorial and watershed for better prices and to access markets.
- Establish an independent management, soil management, business This process should include providing
and rigorous monitoring system of the organization, and marketing (Calvo and organizational development support,
performance of the agricultural sector Baudoin Farah, 2021). facilitating knowledge-sharing and peer-
– including in environmental terms – in For the agribusiness sector specifically, to-peer learning among farmer groups,
conjunction with academia, NGOs, and we consider that the concept of and training smallholder farmers on
producers. “sustainable intensification” is useful sustainable farming techniques, such
(Friedrich, 2020). It is not merely an as nutrient cycling, diversification, and
- Generate scientific information integrated pest management, to improve
to guide planning, zoning, and land intensification in capital or technology,
but in management practices that allow productivity and resilience.
use from an integrated and sustainable
perspective that concurrently analyzes recovering the productive potential of - Implement traceability and
needs for food production, energy soils (Friedrich, 2020). In that sense, we certification systems, to support the
generation, water management, and recommend to: adoption of organic, Participatory
conservation. - Stop the expansion of the Guarantee Systems (PGS), or other
agricultural frontier in forested areas, relevant certification schemes to verify
- Regulate the import and the sustainability claims of agricultural
use of pesticides, prohibiting highly natural savannas, and wetlands. Bolivia
does not need more cultivated areas products. The pilot certification should
toxic substances and promoting the include or develop robust traceability
implementation of integrated pest (Calvo and Baudoin Farah, 2021). The
amount of agricultural land per capita systems to ensure the integrity and
control. authenticity of sustainable agricultural
in Bolivia is 3.61 ha/hab compared to
Given the differentiated challenges of 0.61 ha/hab in the world (1.23 ha/hab in products, building consumer trust and
family farming and the agribusiness South America and 0.99 ha/hab in high- demand. There is probably an opportunity
sector, specific recommendations also income countries)9 . An implication of the to leverage the cultural and nutritional
need to be differentiated. For small- above recommendation is the need to value of traditional Andean crops to
scale producers and family farming we better regulate the concentration of land develop niche market opportunities that
recommend to: to reduce socioenvironmental conflict preserve indigenous knowledge and
and enhance social justice, which is also promote food sovereignty.
- Center agro-environmental and
food production policy on the promotion a pillar of sustainability.
of (i) fresh agroecological products for 9 Includes grazing areas. Our World in Data: https://ourworldindata.
local and national markets, (ii) highly org/grapher/agricultural-area-per-capita?country=BOL~OWID_
WRL~OWID_SAM~High-income+countries

8
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Researchers
Andrea Baudoin Farah - Assistant Professor, Colorado State University.
Carlos Solis - Economist, The Nature Conservancy.

The opinions expressed in this document are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official position of the sponsoring
institutions or of Fundación INESAD (Instituto de Estudios Avanzados en Desarrollo).

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