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The construction of an alternative quinoa economy: balancing solidarity, household needs, and profit in San Agustín, Bolivia

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Abstract

Quinoa farmers in San Agustín, Bolivia face the dilemma of producing for a growing international market while defending their community interests and resources, meeting their basic household needs, and making a profit. Farmers responded to a changing market in the 1970s by creating committees in defense of quinoa and farmer cooperatives to represent their interests and maximize economic returns. Today farmer cooperatives offer high, stable prices, politically represent farmers, and are major quinoa exporters, but intermediaries continue to play an important role in the local economy. Meanwhile, some farmers rebuff the national cooperatives and intermediaries in favor of a denomination of origin and closer association with local cooperatives. This article, based on 4 months of ethnographic research, explores the reasons for the continued presence of intermediaries on the market landscape and how farmers have worked to create a quinoa economy embedded with fair trade values. Farmers demand stable prices, flexible standards, provision of services, and promises of maintaining the distinctive qualities of San Agustín quinoa. They frame their trades in economic, utility, and solidarity terms to reflect their livelihood strategies, farming capabilities, and personal concepts of fair trade. Meanwhile cooperatives, development initiatives, and intermediaries each argue that their particular buying practices allow farmers to attain household goods, credit, and cash for food and economic security.

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Notes

  1. Colcha “K” is not a pseudonym; the “K” is used to distinguish it from Colcha, a city near to Oruro and Cochabamba.

  2. All names in this paper have been replaced with pseudonyms.

  3. The values of fair trade being: fair prices that exceed production costs, financing of social projects that benefit the community, pre-financing for goods, long-term trading partnerships, minimum criteria to ensure socially, economically, and environmentally responsible trade (www.fairtrade.net).

  4. Various types of quinoa are also produced in Chile, Ecuador, Argentina, United States, Canada, Australia, and elsewhere.

  5. One quintal is 100 pounds.

  6. For more on the topic of fair trade quinoa, see Laguna (2008).

  7. Peruvian border guards accused the committee of having earned their money in the drug trade and confiscated most of the earnings. To this day, a number of farmers suspect the story is a fabrication created to allow the committee members to pocket the money.

  8. At the time of writing and at the time of research, one United States Dollar equals approximately seven Bolivian Bolivianos.

  9. Although I have no doubt that this scenario occurs, most intermediaries offer a lower price for quinoa than cooperatives.

  10. The practices of intermediaries working in Los Lipez are similar, but not representative of quinoa intermediaries working in other areas of Bolivia. The distance to markets and inadequacy of transportation make the market context in Los Lipez fairly unique.

  11. Another intermediary in the area commented that he doesn’t barter or provide credit. As he said, “Se viene, se vende, se va.” (One comes, one sells, one leaves.) Intermediaries are less likely to provide services in quinoa-producing regions where farmers have greater access to marketplaces and banks.

  12. They are able to provide goods at Uyuni prices by purchasing at Challapata, a more vibrant and centrally located market.

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Acknowledgments

I am deeply grateful for the substantial advice provided by Rudi Colloredo-Mansfeld, the guidance of Alberto Arce and Pablo Laguna, and the editing done by Amanda Johnson. I am also grateful to the four anonymous reviewers and Dr. Harvey James for their comments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anthropology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, CB # 3115, 301 Alumni Hall, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599-3115, USA

    Andrew Ofstehage

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Ofstehage, A. The construction of an alternative quinoa economy: balancing solidarity, household needs, and profit in San Agustín, Bolivia. Agric Hum Values 29, 441–454 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-012-9371-0

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