The Sustainability of Quinoa Production in Southern Bolivia: from Misrepresentations to Questionable Solutions. Comments on Jacobsen (2011, J. Agron. Crop Sci. 197: 390–399)

Abstract

Reviewing the situation of quinoa production in southern Bolivia, Jacobsen (2011, J. Agron. Crop Sci. 197: 390) argues that the booming export market has a negative effect on the environment and on the home consumption of quinoa, thereby leading to an environmental disaster in the region. In view of the scarcity of scientific knowledge on the rapid social and environmental dynamics in the region, we consider that Jacobsen’s review misrepresents the situation of quinoa production in southern Bolivia. Specifically, we argue that (i) the data presented by Jacobsen (2011, J. Agron. Crop Sci. 197: 390) do not support any drop in quinoa crop yield supposed to reflect soil degradation and (ii) his demonstration regarding home consumption of quinoa is ill‐founded from both a nutritional and a cultural point of view. We suggest that the diffusion of the arguments exposed by Jacobsen (2011, J. Agron. Crop Sci. 197: 390), because of their flaws, might have strong negative impacts on those concerned with sustainable food production and fair‐trade with developing countries. We conclude that, rather than reinforced agro‐technical controls on local farmers, the rising competition in the international quinoa market requires a shift towards an ethical economy and ethical research cooperation with quinoa producers.

Conservation and Use of Genetic Resources of Underutilized Crops in the Americas—A Continental Analysis

“…Market demand is likely one of the most powerful; increasing customer demand on national and international markets for specialty products from a number of minor crops may already be an important incentive for moving forward national level research and development (and to a certain extent conservation through use), becoming more powerful than any international instrument or funding scheme. Although markets have been quite extensively analyzed for their sometimes controversial effects leading to erosion of diversity and unequal participation [67,68], their potentially positive driving role in the conservation and sustainable use of PGRFA has also been recognized [69][70][71][72][73].…”

Quinoa and production rules: how are cooperatives contributing to governance of natural resources?

“…The quinoa boom further accelerated the mechanization of agricultural production, and prospects for high profits led to conversion of massive amounts of pasture land into land under quinoa cultivation (Vieira Pak 2012). While the land conversion phenomenon existed prior to the quinoa boom, it sped up markedly around 2007-2008, together with high prices of quinoa on international markets (Winkel et al 2012;Orsag et al 2013;Kerssen 2015). The increasing conversion of pasture land led to a significant decline in CPR, especially pasture areas.…”

“…As such, the quinoa boom gave rise to major challenges for the region and significantly increased pressure on land. The precise socio-ecological impacts of the quinoa boom are difficult to assess accurately and comprehensively (Vieira Pak 2012;Winkel et al 2012). We have chosen to focus on land conversion from pasture to agriculture -which is a strong indicator of socio-ecological systems reaching their production limits (Winkel et al 2016) -and to examine how cooperatives may have helped mitigate negative impacts.…”

Calling for a reappraisal of the impact of quinoa expansion on agricultural sustainability in the Andean highlands

“…), supposedly depriving local populations of an invaluable food resource (Jacobsen, 2011;Small, 2013). This assertion is not only wrong because it ignores the processes of massive food donation and food westernization dating back to the 1960s, long before the quinoa boom (Laguna, 2011;Winkel et al, 2012;Kerssen, 2013), it also conveys a connotation of culpability supposed to weigh upon consumers of Andean quinoa in the importing countries. This might result in an ill-advised reaction of giving up these importations while promoting a new "local" quinoa production in northern countries.…”

“…However, these negative impacts remain unproven so far (Winkel et al, 2012) and give an example of how mere suppositions, after being propagated as facts by expert sources, are used to promote questionable solutions.…”