Bolivia
advancing in the battle
against hunger
Héctor Miranda,
Correspondent/La Paz
THE 70 legislators from 20 countries
in the region who took part in the 4th Parliamentary
Front Forum against hunger in Latin America and the
Caribbean returned home convinced that Bolivia is
fighting valiantly to erase hunger, one of the ills
suffered by its population.
The meeting, which met over two days
in the eastern city of Santa Cruz de la Sierra, was
an opportunity to learn of the President Evo Morales
government plans to improve the people’s nutrition,
part of a long-term project which does not exclude
current action.
In the opening session, attended by
Vice President Álvaro García Linera, the importance
of giving decision making powers to campesino
organizations and small agricultural producers
spread across the country was emphasized.
García Linera highlighted the
importance of working for food sovereignty, but
noted that this requires political decisions, a
transformation of the productive system and
empowering of the original campesino social
organizations in the control of productive processes.
He also spoke of the need to
diversify food cultivation after the colonization of
Latin America annihilated the scientific knowledge,
engineering, biotechnology and astronomy inherited
from civilizations with advanced agricultural and
water cultures, among them that of the Inca people.
He likewise recalled that capitalism
imposed a regime of food economy subject to the free
market and profit in Latin America.
When President Evo Morales assumed
power in early 2006, four million of Bolivia’s 11
million inhabitants suffered hunger; a figure that
has been reduced by half to date, but which does not
satisfy those responsible for leading the country
and facilitating better living conditions for its
people.
The two million persons still
experiencing hunger in Bolivia are part of a 30
million total in Latin America, or 1.2 billion in
the world, a problem which would seem more and more
difficult to solve.
BOLIVIA, WATER AND THE BICENTENNARY
AGENDA
The first steps to turn around the
situation took place in 2006 itself and became
established over time, with an awareness of the need
to obtain food sovereignty, based on the
democratization of land and the strengthening of the
neglected campesino economy.
The government distributed tractors
and other farming implements, together with seeds
and fertilizer and directed strong capital
investment to foment food production, apart from
support received by the large agro-industrial
companies.
On the other hand, through the MI
Agua (More Investment for Water) programs, now in
their third stage, water was delivered to the most
remote areas of the country and all communities, not
just for drinking, but to increase production and
make it possible for cultivators to be assured of
harvests without being dependent on capricious
rainfall.
President Evo Morales has reiterated
on more than one occasion that he knows of
campesinos who previously cultivated one product
once a year. Now, with the possibilities provided by
water, they can produce various harvests.
In 2012, Bolivia also implemented
agricultural insurance to protect the finances of
small farmers affected by natural disasters, with a
compensation of 1,000 bolivianos ($145) per hectare.
All of this is included in the so-called
pillars of the 2025 Patriotic Agenda, a strategy
directed toward solving vital problems in the
country to coincide with the bicentenary of Bolivian
independence, the objectives of which were the
central issue addressed at the Forum, convened to
discuss, exchange experiences and learn about
Bolivia’s advances in food security. (Orbe)
