Short Chains and Participatory Guarantee Systems in the Plurinational State of Bolivia

The Plurinational State of Bolivia is experiencing a new socialist period that has been characterized by the renationalization of the natural resources exploitation and the emission of public policies in order to support the... [ view full abstract ]

The Plurinational State of Bolivia is experiencing a new socialist period that has been characterized by the renationalization of the natural resources exploitation and the emission of public policies in order to support the agricultural revolution that is on movement. The National Law No 3525/2005 Promotion of organic agriculture and the National Technical Regulation for the Participatory Guarantee System (PGS) in 2012 helped to foster the organic agriculture in the country. In order to describe and explain the recent development of the PGS in the territory, three study cases were selected such as Bio Achocalla (La Paz) Municipal PGS, Bio Caracollo (Oruro) Communal PGS and Eco Feria (Cochabamba), Private PGS. To assess these PGS, a four dimensions food security approach was selected considering the availability, access, stability, utilization and happiness. The selected methods were surveys with key informants, direct observation of the PGS certification in each study case and review of secondary data of former projects and programs related to organic agriculture. The results showed that the municipal PGS of Achocalla is more efficient in the five dimensions rather than the Communal and Private PGS due to the satisfaction of the consumer’s demand and the huge variety of organic products they offer in the fair. The private PGS of Eco Feria has showed low values in the dimensions due to the specialization in the transformation and the communal PGS of Caracollo has showed also better results due to the capacity of the organization to produce and commercialize at the weekly fair of Caracollo as well as other fairs in other departments.