Agriculture in BoliviaThe agriculture sector was the backbone of Bolivian labor in 1987 with 46% employment. In the late 1980s, a shift in Bolivian economic production forced by tin industrial decline led to an increase in agriculture's share of GDP. Agricultural output stood at 23% for 1987, compared with 17 percent in 1979. Most production was focused on the domestic market. The country's exports only accounted for 15%. For centuries, agriculture in Bolivia has had to overcome major structural obstacles that keep it from reaching its vast potential. These include a lack of roads and easy access for farmers due on ports hindered them getting their produce into domestic markets as well as export ones which provide the most growth opportunity within this sector.
Another long-standing problem caused by government policies used political ends with strict lending procedures at commercial banks making credit difficult for farmers in Bolivia. Bolivia farming has fallen victim to a lack of infrastructure and technological advancements. Bolivia had the worst farming technology in South America and an insufficient network of research institutions to reverse that trend. The combined lack of infrastructure, coupled with outdated techniques for water conservation led farmers towards vulnerability during droughts or floods which were nearly yearly occurrences at one point due to their bad luck climate. Bolivia has over 108 million hectares of farmland. However, only 10 per cent is currently being used for crops due to lacklustre land tenure policies and high costs associated with investing in agriculture. Most commercial agriculture in Bolivia is practiced on plots (50-5000 hectares) and carried out by farmers living near the eastern lowlands. The western highland regions are carried out by small farmers. Bolivia's rural poverty is still severe, with 53% living in moderate-level deprivation and 33%, at extreme levels. However this issue has not gone unnoticed by the Bolivian government which recently worked on policies aimed to decrease it even further through land reforms intended mainly for women or young adults who left their homes because they felt like there was no future there anymore. The Bolivian people, who provide 70% of their own country's food needs with smallholder farming practices are currently being threatened by an increase in industrial agriculture. Bolivia has a serious agriculture machinery deficiency, and imports most machinery from the United States, China, Argentina, and Brazil.
Bolivian Agricultural ProductionIn 2018, Bolivia produced 9.6 million tons of sugarcane (a type of biomass), 2.9 million tons of soybeans, 1,2 million tons of maize, as well as smaller yields in other products such wheat, bananas, oranges, tangerine, beans, sunflower seeds, cotton. Bolivia produced 1.1 million tons of potato and 1 million tons of sorghum too.
Potatoes crop - Potatoes, an important crop, and staple of Bolivia grown in the highland region since pre-Inca times. In 1988 approximately 190 thousand hectares produced 700 thousand tons of potatoes. Compared unfavorably with 1975 when 127 thousand hectares produced 834 thousand tons of potatoes. The country remains self-sufficient with over 200 varieties available for growers to choose from when it comes down to choosing what kind will thrive best on their land given its unique environmental conditions. In the late 1980s, Bolivia's potato growers were faced with a new crop of problems. They lacked financial credit at planting time and had exhausted highland soils that once produced record yields due to overuse or failure by farmers who could not afford proper irrigation systems for their farms.
Corn crop - The importance of corn in Bolivia was growing (the second major food crop). The traditional white variety, grown on more than 300 thousand hectares throughout the late 1980s had a value exceeding 475-kilo tons. The output of the yellow corn in Bolivia was becoming more common, 160,000 hectares produced 350 thousand tons in 1988. 60% is grown by small farmers in the valley while 40 percent is cultivated by medium-large farmers in Santa Cruz. Small farmers in Bolivia used 50% of their corn for human consumption, as animal feed, or for brewing chicha. The remaining crops were sold to private companies.
Popular agricultural products in Bolivia: soybeans, coffee, coca, cotton, maize, sugarcane, rice, potatoes, Brazil nuts, timber
Bolivian Agricultural nowThe traditional economy still relies heavily upon subsistence farming but recent innovations like crop loans are helping change things up so more Bolivians can earn an income while also improving food security.