Coca-growing areas in the Cochabamba Tropics, Bolivia

United Nations International Drug Control Programme (UNDCP) and executing agency Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO).

Illicit cultivation of opium poppy and coca is directly linked to rural poverty. Reduction of rural poverty - particularly through sustainable natural resource management - is therefore a necessary component of drug supply reduction activities supported by UNDCP. So called alternative development programmes aim to reduce and eliminate the illicit cultivation of drug crops through development measures.

Alternative development projects in the humid tropics are often faced with environmental conditions that severely limit agricultural and livestock production. High rainfall, humidity and temperatures and highly eroding soils with low natural fertility are among the obstacles to be overcome if alternative sources of income and employment based on licit agricultural products are to be sustained over time. This project aimed at creating new licit sources of income and employment and relieving pressure on native forests through promoting agro-forestry systems that combine crops, livestock, trees and simple soil conservation practices. The pilot phase of the project began in 1994 and a second phase has continued since 1997.

The project is helping local inhabitants to find ways of deriving licit income and employment from forest resources at the farm or community level. Where primary forests still stand and there is access to markets, selective harvesting and processing of logs with a portable sawmill under approved management plans have proved to be highly profitable or at least competitive with agriculture. Other wood products such as charcoal are being produced, and research is being carried out on non-wood forest products such as tropical flowers and honey.

Sustainable agriculture and economic growth.

• Before the pilot project began, interest in agro forestry and forest management was limited. The majority of the population, recently migrated miners from the Andean area, had little prior knowledge of tropical cultivation systems and the potential of forests. Agro forestry and forest management were also absent from alternative development strategies, and decision makers generally treated them as a curiosity or confused them with reforestation farmers. Now locals are beginning to realize the true economic value of their forests, and the concept of an integrated, sustainable approach to alternative development is clearly expressed in new government strategies.

• The small farmers themselves take all decisions relating to alternative development, in coordination with the project technicians. Since local factors and farmers’ knowledge vary greatly, a detailed appraisal of the potential of each area has to be made together with the farmers, using different rapid rural appraisal techniques. Both technicians and beneficiaries participate in preparing a micro project or a detailed plan of action, accounting for limitations and advantages, as well as the capacity and investment resources of each farmer.

• The project strengthened and created producer associations and locally managed rotating credit funds. Before project inputs such as plant material, seeds or other agricultural products were channelled to farmers through the associations, who also agreed upon a mechanism and time frame for partially recovering the value of the inputs.

• The agro-forest systems promoted contributed to reduce production costs, maintain soil fertility and provided a more sustainable flow of legal income.

• The project is widely recognized as one of the most successful alternative development initiatives in Latin America. It is contributing substantially to the achievement of the established targets for reducing illicit coca production in the region for the period 1998-2002.

• Training on the importance of sustainability needed to be included to complement the technical assistance provided to farmers.

• The active participation of women proved crucial for effective implementation. In Chapare, women play an important role in coca production. It is frequently women who bear the brunt of the economic consequences when illegal crops are eradicated. The special needs of women are therefore taken into consideration in the planning and implementation of the micro projects. An attempt has been made to maintain at fifty per cent the proportion of females working as technicians in the project, to promote the role of women in decision-making positions, as well as in positions such as agronomists and forestry experts. The relatively high proportion of women working in the project facilitates access to women farmers and also the introduction of ideas for specific activities for women.

• Technical support and training need to be provided to strengthen the organizational and administrative capacity of farmers, including provision of assistance in financial analysis.

• A strong social communication component helped to ensure the sustainability of the project activities beyond the life cycle of the project. Videos, television and radio programmes, newspaper articles and presentations in national and international forums are used to inform other institutions, groups of farmers, the private sector, other donors and the general public about the new approaches to alternative development followed in the project.

Mr. Rene Bastiaans,
UNDCP
Pasaje Jáuregui No. 2248, 3er. Piso (Detrás del Cine 6 de Agosto),
La Paz, Bolivia
Tel. (+591-2) 376-923/391-318/392-309; Fax (+591) 811-2746
Email: pnufid@ceibo.entelnet.bo