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   After 10 years, the violence associated with an illegal crop and an underground economy far outweighed the financial rewards of coca growing for small farmers Don Ricardo Diaz and his son Ernesto.In 1990, Bolivia’s Cochabamba Tropics, also known as the Chapare region, was one of the major coca leaf producing areas in the world with more than 50,000 hectares under cultivation. Don Ricardo grew coca for processing into cocaine, because that’s what most of the farmers in the region did. But he was uncomfortable living outside the law and with the constant threat of eradication by angry drug lords or the Government. Coca leaf production and subsistence agriculture have also caused serious deforestation in the Chapare. Farmers cut and burned forests to make room for coca and had little interest in growing more sustainable crops. Much of this was due to the mistakenly low economic value placed on forest resources and a limited knowledge of modern agricultural methods. Since the late 1980’s, the United Nations Drug Control Programme (UNODC) Agro-Forestry project has helped Bolivian farmers to switch production from coca, develop alternative sources of legal income and preserve the natural rainforest environment. UNODC assistance comes into play at every stage of production, from the farm to the market. Today, Don Ricardo makes his living by processing natural latex rubber from the trees on his land and he also has some hearts of palm on his 19 hectares. Since Don Ricardo uses lemon juice and all natural processes to cure the rubber, environmentally-friendly international companies are also interested in his rubber. "It’s a very noble plant and I am making enough money to live just fine," he said. UNDODC also helped his son Ernesto finance the small machinery needed to process the latex into long strips of rubber. He sells the latex to a tire company called "Todo Gomma" in the nearby town of Chimorè. Success stories like Don Ricardo's are commonplace in Chapare today. The Bolivian government's "Dignity Plan" to end coca cultivation by 2003, with the help of UNDCP’s alternative economic development projects, have reduced the total production of coca to a little more than 14,000 hectares nationwide The alternative development projects in the Chapare region are coordinated by two UN agencies — UNODC and the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) — in collaboration with the Bolivian Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. FIND OUT MORE about how the UN works to help farmers produce sustainable crops and protect their environment. Go to the links next to the photo of Don Ricardo. ADDITIONAL DEVELOPMENT STORIES: A partnership pays off Mrs. Dang is open for business Photo credit: Zach Messitte / ODCCP |
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