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The construction of an alternative quinoa economy: balancing solidarity, household needs, and profit in San Agustín, Bolivia

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  • Andrew Ofstehage

Abstract

Quinoa farmers in San Agustín, Bolivia face the dilemma of producing for a growing international market while defending their community interests and resources, meeting their basic household needs, and making a profit. Farmers responded to a changing market in the 1970s by creating committees in defense of quinoa and farmer cooperatives to represent their interests and maximize economic returns. Today farmer cooperatives offer high, stable prices, politically represent farmers, and are major quinoa exporters, but intermediaries continue to play an important role in the local economy. Meanwhile, some farmers rebuff the national cooperatives and intermediaries in favor of a denomination of origin and closer association with local cooperatives. This article, based on 4 months of ethnographic research, explores the reasons for the continued presence of intermediaries on the market landscape and how farmers have worked to create a quinoa economy embedded with fair trade values. Farmers demand stable prices, flexible standards, provision of services, and promises of maintaining the distinctive qualities of San Agustín quinoa. They frame their trades in economic, utility, and solidarity terms to reflect their livelihood strategies, farming capabilities, and personal concepts of fair trade. Meanwhile cooperatives, development initiatives, and intermediaries each argue that their particular buying practices allow farmers to attain household goods, credit, and cash for food and economic security. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2012

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  • Andrew Ofstehage, 2012. "The construction of an alternative quinoa economy: balancing solidarity, household needs, and profit in San Agustín, Bolivia," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 29(4), pages 441-454, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:agrhuv:v:29:y:2012:i:4:p:441-454
    DOI: 10.1007/s10460-012-9371-0
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Alberto Arce, 2009. "Living in times of solidarity: Fair trade and the fractured life worlds of Guatemalan coffee farmers," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 21(7), pages 1031-1041.
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    1. Pedersen, Søren Marcus & Lind, Kim Martin & Xhoxhi, Orjon & Yazar, Attila & Jacobsen, Sven-Erik & Ørum, Jens Erik, 2020. "Introducing quinoa in Turkey – farmers perception in the region of Adana," Economia agro-alimentare / Food Economy, Italian Society of Agri-food Economics/Società Italiana di Economia Agro-Alimentare (SIEA), vol. 22(1), February.
    2. Winkel, Thierry & Núñez-Carrasco, Lizbeth & Cruz, Pablo José & Egan, Nancy & Sáez-Tonacca, Luís & Cubillos-Celis, Priscilla & Poblete-Olivera, Camila & Zavalla-Nanco, Natalia & Miño-Baes, Bárbara & Vi, 2019. "Mobilizing common biocultural heritage for the socioeconomic inclusion of small farmers: panarchy of two case studies on quinoa in Chile and Bolivia," SocArXiv qwtu5, Center for Open Science.
    3. Kristie O’Neill, 2018. "Traditional beneficiaries: trade bans, exemptions, and morality embodied in diets," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 35(2), pages 515-527, June.
    4. Thierry Winkel & Lizbeth Núñez-Carrasco & Pablo José Cruz & Nancy Egan & Luís Sáez-Tonacca & Priscilla Cubillos-Celis & Camila Poblete-Olivera & Natalia Zavalla-Nanco & Bárbara Miño-Baes & Maria-Paz V, 2020. "Mobilising common biocultural heritage for the socioeconomic inclusion of small farmers: panarchy of two case studies on quinoa in Chile and Bolivia," Post-Print ird-02381132, HAL.
    5. Cindybell Gamboa & Goedele Van den Broeck & Miet Maertens, 2018. "Smallholders’ Preferences for Improved Quinoa Varieties in the Peruvian Andes," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-22, October.
    6. Dev Narayan Sarkar & Kaushik Kundu, 2018. "The overlap spaces of alternative economy and subaltern businesses: a study of emigrant peddlers," Journal of Economic Structures, Springer;Pan-Pacific Association of Input-Output Studies (PAPAIOS), vol. 7(1), pages 1-24, December.
    7. Thierry Winkel & Lizbeth Núñez-Carrasco & Pablo José Cruz & Nancy Egan & Luís Sáez-Tonacca & Priscilla Cubillos-Celis & Camila Poblete-Olivera & Natalia Zavalla-Nanco & Bárbara Miño-Baes & Maria-Paz V, 2020. "Mobilising common biocultural heritage for the socioeconomic inclusion of small farmers: panarchy of two case studies on quinoa in Chile and Bolivia," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 37(2), pages 433-447, June.
    8. Gamboa, Cindybell & Van Den Broeck, Goedele & Maertens, Miet, 2018. "Adoption of improved quinoa varieties among smallholder farmers in the Peruvian Andes," Working Papers 277984, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Centre for Agricultural and Food Economics.

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