Sustainable peanut cultivation in Bolivia
Project description
Title: Sustainable peanut cultivation in BoliviaCommissioned by: German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)
Country: Bolivia
Partner: Intersnack Procurement B.V.
Overall term: 2013 to 2016
Context
The provinces of Ichilo and Cordillera in the Bolivian lowlands are particularly poor. People here often suffer from malnutrition and leave their homes in the country to seek work in towns and cities. Although Bolivia is the home of the peanut, only small amounts are cultivated in this region using small-scale farming methods. Producers lack the capital, expertise, machines and organisational capacity to increase productivity. Many farmers prefer the simpler cultivation of maize in monocultures. However, this causes soil degradation.
Objective
Bolivian peanut producers in the Intersnack supply chain have increased their yield, productivity and product quality and are therefore generating more income.
Approach
Since 2013, the Dutch company Intersnack, which sources peanuts from small-scale Bolivian farmers, has been in a development partnership with GIZ. To improve the knowledge of local producers, two training facilities for peanut cultivation have been established in the project provinces of Ichilo and Cordillera. Producers are trained in good agricultural practices, mechanising farming, quality control, entrepreneurship and administrating cooperative associations.
Field trips to the Bolivian project partner, AgriNuts, are used to demonstrate the professional and modern approach to peanut cultivation. The introduction of mechanised farming methods is also being promoted. AgriNuts provides the machinery needed to train 100 producers every year. The aim of establishing a community-based, cooperative service company is to give small-scale producers access to a pool of agricultural machinery to cultivate peanuts. Partner communities and associations receive organisational development and product commercialisation training.
In addition to Intersnack and GIZ, partners include the Bolivian company AgriNuts and the Bolivian non-governmental organisation Centro de Promoción Agropecuaria Campesina (CEPAC), which support project measures at the local level.
Results achieved so far
More than 130 producers have taken part in training at the training facilities for peanut cultivation. The producers’ association ACHA has also been established. Mechanised farming methods are now used on more than 120 hectares of farmland. Individual producers have already increased cultivation by 40 per cent.