By Héctor Miranda, Correspondent/La Paz
THE 70 legislators from 20 countries in the region who took part
in the 4th Parliamentary Front Forum against hunger in Latin America and the
Caribbean returned home convinced that Bolivia is fighting valiantly to erase
hunger, one of the ills suffered by its population.
The meeting, which met over two days in the eastern city of Santa
Cruz de la Sierra, was an opportunity to learn of the President Evo Morales
government plans to improve the people’s nutrition, part of a long-term project
which does not exclude current action.
In the opening session, attended by Vice President Álvaro García
Linera, the importance of giving decision making powers to campesino
organizations and small agricultural producers spread across the country was
emphasized.
García Linera highlighted the importance of working for food
sovereignty, but noted that this requires political decisions, a transformation
of the productive system and empowering of the original campesino social
organizations in the control of productive processes.
He also spoke of the need to diversify food cultivation after the
colonization of Latin America annihilated the scientific knowledge, engineering,
biotechnology and astronomy inherited from civilizations with advanced
agricultural and water cultures, among them that of the Inca people.
He likewise recalled that capitalism imposed a regime of food
economy subject to the free market and profit in Latin America.
When President Evo Morales assumed power in early 2006, four
million of Bolivia’s 11 million inhabitants suffered hunger; a figure that has
been reduced by half to date, but which does not satisfy those responsible for
leading the country and facilitating better living conditions for its
people.
The two million persons still experiencing hunger in Bolivia are
part of a 30 million total in Latin America, or 1.2 billion in the world, a
problem which would seem more and more difficult to solve.
BOLIVIA, WATER AND THE BICENTENNARY AGENDA
The first steps to turn around the situation took place in 2006 itself and became established over time, with an awareness of the need to obtain food sovereignty, based on the democratization of land and the strengthening of the neglected campesino economy.
The government distributed tractors and other farming implements, together with seeds and fertilizer and directed strong capital investment to foment food production, apart from support received by the large agro-industrial companies.
On the other hand, through the MI Agua (More Investment for Water) programs, now in their third stage, water was delivered to the most remote areas of the country and all communities, not just for drinking, but to increase production and make it possible for cultivators to be assured of harvests without being dependent on capricious rainfall.
President Evo Morales has reiterated on more than one occasion that he knows of campesinos who previously cultivated one product once a year. Now, with the possibilities provided by water, they can produce various harvests.
In 2012, Bolivia also implemented agricultural insurance to protect the finances of small farmers affected by natural disasters, with a compensation of 1,000 bolivianos ($145) per hectare.
All of this is included in the so-called pillars of the 2025 Patriotic Agenda, a strategy directed toward solving vital problems in the country to coincide with the bicentenary of Bolivian independence, the objectives of which were the central issue addressed at the Forum, convened to discuss, exchange experiences and learn about Bolivia’s advances in food security. (Orbe)
September 19, 2013
