BOLIVIA

Location

Bolivia is a landlocked country located in the heart of South America. It is surrounded by Peru to the west; Brazil to the north/east; Paraguay to the south-east; Argentina to the south and Chile to the south-west. The country has a total area of 1,098,581 sq km and its climate varies between regions of different altitudes; the country has both cold and tropical temperatures.

Agricultural sector

Bolivia's min crops include soybeans, indigenous cattle meat, indigenous chicken meat, potatoes, indigenous pig meat, sugar cane, bananas, maize, paddy rice, whole fresh cow milk.

Brief overview of organic farming
There are 41,004 hectares of organic land in Bolivia and approximately 11,743 organic farms operating in the country. Organic land makes up 0.1% of the country's arable land. The most important organic products produced by Bolivia are coffee, quinoa, chestnut, cocoa, vegetables, tea and herbs. The country also produces a smaller scale of amaranth, dried fruits and beans.

Brief overview of key organic products
Major traditional organic export products include coffee, quinoa, chestnut, cocoa, vegetables, tea and herbs, and lesser volumes of amaranth, dried fruits and beans. Bananas, sesame seeds, sugar cane, soybeans and honey have been increasingly produced and are rising in prominence (2008).

The network
The organic network in Bolivia is comprised of research institutions and programmes, several organization and associations. The Ecological Producers Association (AOPEB) is a key actor in Bolivia's organic field. It links up to 56 different organizations, connecting producers- mainly small holders.

Website and contact information:
Asociación de Organizaciones de Productores Ecológicos de Bolivia (AOPEB)
Av. Landaeta # 554 esq. c/Luis Crespo (Zona San Pedro)
Casilla Postal: 1872
La Paz - Bolivia
Tel: ++ 591-2-2490686 / 2490691 / 2129287
Fax: ++ 591 - 2 - 2129286
Email: info@aopeb.org
Website: www.aopeb.org

References

- CIA FactBook, 31.05.07 - https://www.cia.gov

- FAO, 26.10.2006: Key Statistics of Food and Agriculture External Trade. Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Statistics Division.
http://www.fao.org/es/ess/top/country.html?lang=en 

- Yussefi, Minou and Willer, Helga, Eds. (2007): The World of Organic Agriculture: Statistics and emerging trends