"I feel more competitive; I offer my product, they see that it is good quality, and I can compete," says Rosemary Pinto, a Bolivian farmer who dreams of becoming the largest producer of hydroponic lettuce in Cochabamba (Bolivia). Rosemary comes from a long line of farmers, but unlike her predecessors, she has had access to training and comprehensive assistance that have enabled her to improve production.
In Bolivia, much of the population lives in rural areas where poverty and inequality rates remain high, but where there is also enormous potential for food production.
The agricultural sector employs 1 in 3 Bolivian workers and contributes four times more than the hydrocarbon sector and twice as much as the mining industry to the country's economy. Nevertheless, small-scale producers face many challenges, including a lack of access to financing, technology, and training, as well as natural disasters, which have become increasingly frequent.
The Rural Alliances Project
Like Rosemary, over 107,000 Bolivian producers have participated in the Rural Alliances Project (PAR) since it was launched in 2006 with ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ funding. Through alliances among producer organizations with food markets, cooperatives, companies and local governments, the PAR seeks to improve the lives of producers in rural areas, increasing the quality and quantity of their production and, consequently, their competitiveness and income. To date, the PAR (phases I and II) has made 2,601 alliances possible and has supported producers participating in these alliances throughout Bolivia with investment capital and technical assistance.
Technical assistance focusses on the design of business and marketing plans, adoption of sustainable and efficient crop management practices, increase of efficiency in irrigated water usage, enhanced management of agricultural inputs, procurement processes, finances and consolidate production costs, among others.
¡°A lot has changed: I used to work outside in the rain, in the sun. Hydroponics is important because it is a new form of agriculture for me. With this process I can produce year-round,¡± Rosemary says.
The PAR also seeks to improve rural infrastructure. For example, local roads, bridges and automated irrigation systems are being built to improve agricultural productivity and market accessibility.
All these advances have laid the groundwork for the new phase of the PAR program. In 2022, the ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ approved a US$300 million loan to la