Bolivia: Food Sovereignty and Climate Change

This is a Food Sovereignty Tour [2] brought to you by Food First/the Institute for Food and Development Policy in partnership with Global Exchange Reality Tours. Guided by local expert guides as well as a Food First policy analyst, you will gain rare access to rural communities, local NGOs, research institutions, producers’ associations and social movements working for food and climate justice in Bolivia. You will also visit some of the most spectacular landscapes in South America…

Bolivia is one of the countries least responsible for global climate change—yet it is one of the most exposed to its effects. In recent years, changes in weather and water availability have taken a heavy toll on the country’s people and food production. Luckily, Andean farmers have a long history of coping with climatic variability. By drawing on this ancestral knowledge and collaborating with agricultural NGOs, they are now working to adapt their farming and herding systems to the new climate realities.

Bolivian social movements and the government of Evo Morales have positioned Bolivia as a moral authority on climate change in the world. In April 2010, Bolivia hosted a “People’s Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth” in the city of Cochabamba. Representatives from social organizations from 130 mostly poor countries were in attendance and produced a ‘People’s Agreement’ aimed at pushing the international community to adopt stiffer limits on greenhouse gas emissions in the North, and greater compensation for victims of climate change in the South.

On this tour, you will be immersed in Andean culture, which is marked an intimate relationship with nature.  The concept of the Pachamama (loosely translated as Mother Earth) is strongly interconnected with Andean food and agriculture. So while Bolivian farmers are disproportionately affected by global climate change, they also have much to teach the world about working with nature and adapting to the climate. Indeed, they are also at the forefront of a global movement linking food sovereignty and climate justice.

Add-Ons

For an additional cost, you can extend your visit of Bolivia with a guided eco-tour of one of three magnificent sites: Madidi National Park in the western Amazon Basin, the Jesuit Missions of Chiquitania, and/or the Uyuni Salt Flats of Potosí. These Add-On tours are operated exclusively by our Bolivian partner La Paz on Foot [3] and do not include Food First staff or Food First-directed content. For more information contact Tanya Kerssen.

Register Online with Food Sovereignty Tours [4]

For more information about this tour, please contact Tanya at tkerssen@foodfirst.org [5]