Abstract
This chapter offers the empirical results of a local material, energy and land use analysis in the village community of Campo Bello in the Bolivian Amazon. It opens up with a general village description and a discussion of local demographic trends. Against this backdrop, the local metabolic study will be discussed along the following lines: (1) the data collection process, (2) the presentation of the metabolic results and (3) a biophysical discussion on the future prospects of the community. As far as the first is concerned, I am going to illustrate the data collection process in the field, pointing to the hurdles and challenges encountered during the process. The next section entails the calculation of biophysical indicators. This comprises the analysis of all biophysical stocks and flows (in terms of quantity, weight and nutritional values) that enter the social system, get transformed, and leave again. The biophysical analysis then moves to describe the local system’s land use practices and its human appropriation of net primary energy (HANPP).
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Notes
- 1.
School lessons held in the Tsimane’ language were first introduced in 1987 and replaced by a bilingual school 3 years later. While the school teacher had been trained by the missionaries, the wooden school building was provided communally by the villagers. In 1993, after the issue of indigenous rights had become a crucial political concern in the region, the local government constructed a school building out of durable materials which is still operating today. The electric installations ceased functioning a few years ago and have not been fixed since.
- 2.
For more than a decade, the farm has been a constant source of conflict between the Tsimane’ residents and the farm owner. According to the owner, the land was purchased before the Tsimane’ were granted land titles. Legal procedures had been taken by both parties and, at the time of my second field research in 2006, were still ongoing.
- 3.
In comparison, the general growth rate of the Tsimane’ population in the territory has been 4.86% during 1971–2002 (see Godoy et al., 2005b: 163).
- 4.
+7 could be observed for migration during 2003–2006 (immigration: 16, emigration: 9); +18 for reproduction (birth: 25, death: 7).
- 5.
As two girls are local to Campo Bello, oscillating movements between the two sets of kin are very likely for the newly married couples.
- 6.
Despite his efforts though, he frequently whined about the Tsimane’ limited sense of community: his modern ideas of moving the villagers closer to the school building in order to instil a somewhat communal spirit among the individual families were often met with incomprehension. When I returned to Campo Bello in April 2008, most residential dwellings had indeed moved closer to a newly built school building. Through his higher status within the community people trusted his ideas and followed his example.
- 7.
In line with Polanyi’s (1944) argument, in traditional societies the village economy does ‘not exist as a separate entity but is rather embedded in other institutions such as kinship or religion’ (in Godelier 1986: 181). Indeed, what he terms as the dominant principle of the integration of the economic process, namely reciprocity, is also an important aspect of the village production system.
- 8.
Average annual income per capita amounted to $295 USD in 2004. The minimum annual income per capita in Bolivia amounts to $980 USD (Vadez et al. 2005).
- 9.
Except for grass and timber when removed from woodland, all other materials were integrated in the flow balance with their fresh weight when harvested or traded from another system (see Matthews et al. 2000).
- 10.
According to Grünbühel (in Schandl et al. [2002: 81]) ‘households should be carefully selected and should present the entire social continuum of the considered community’. My choice of households was more erratic and rather determined by which households were prepared to offer me an insight into their daily consumption patterns.
- 11.
The number of consumers per household was derived by counting all adults of both sexes as whole consumers, while all children under 10 were counted as half-consumers.
- 12.
This figure has been calculated from information gathered during interviews as well as personal observation. Households often lack suitable material for adequate storage of field crops and people often complain about their inability to protect their produce against rats, insects and other bugs.
- 13.
- 14.
For the underestimation of working time, Pastore et al. (1999: 341–343) raises the problem of reliability of self-reported assessments. He claims that work invested by children and the elderly does not get the same consideration as the time invested by adults. Also, in households were the opportunity cost is low, the distinction between working and non-working time becomes somewhat blurred.
- 15.
There are also 80 cattle on the farm owned by a San Borjan citizen, which is located within the limits of the community. These cattle only grazed in Campo Bello during the dry season in 2004 (May–October) as for the rest of the year they were kept in a different community. These cattle, however, are not part of the social system and have hence not been included in the stock account.
- 16.
Two families have dual residences; one is the BBR; the remainder are abandoned. The additional building on the school premises was originally constructed to host the teacher’s family. The family, however, did not inhabit these premises but constructed their own home nearby.
- 17.
Uva grass is a sturdy but light-weight bamboo-like cane that grows wild in stands along the river banks.
- 18.
A total water content of 14% was assumed and taken account of in the weight calculations for all tree species.
- 19.
Calculations are based on the following estimates (all numbers per household): Within the household: (1) cooking: 16.5 l/d, (2) use for making beer 45 l each time (based on the assumption that around six households brew beer every week), (3) 13 l/d for drinking/cleaning, (4) 15.75 l/d for washing dishes, At the source: (1) 65 l/d for bathing, 225 l/week for washing clothes – both calculations are based on the assumption that half of the actual water use for both activities is taken from the river – this water fraction was not included in the water use balance. Agriculture: 50 l/week during the 6 month dry period.
- 20.
Open burning and smouldering increases Methane (CH4) emission rates from fuel combustion. CH4 emissions, however, are negligent in Campo Bello (extremely low number of ruminants, absence of flooded rice paddy fields).
- 21.
This relates to the high water content of plantains (74%) and the low water content found in grains (14%) (FAO 2001).
- 22.
Singh (2003: 121) points out that a traditional system with efficient animal husbandry shows an energetic return of around 10%.
- 23.
Sources on the efficiency generated by open fires diverge between previous researchers conducting studies at the local level. Whereas Haberl (2002: 74) suggests an efficiency rate of 20% (taken from Dutt and Ravindranath 1993), Singh (2003: 122) points to an efficiency ratio of 25%. For the purpose of this study, the latter value was opted for.
- 24.
Though not directly beneficial to the social system, the burning of forest cover is included in the calculation as failing to do so would distort the NPP figure prevailing in the ecosystem.
- 25.
Total imports of agricultural tools, shotguns, ammunition, etc. were calculated at 90 kg/year for the whole community.
- 26.
In 2005, the village was integrated into an extensive foreign-funded health and hygiene project covering various Tsimane’ communities along the Rio Maniqui. The entire project duration is 5 years.
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Ringhofer, L. (2010). Stocks, Flows and Land Use: The Metabolic Profile of Campo Bello. In: Fishing, Foraging and Farming in the Bolivian Amazon. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-3487-8_4
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