- Title: BOLIVIA: Quinoa producers enjoy rising prices for "golden grain"
- Date: 25th January 2011
- Summary: THE CITY OF EL ALTO EL ALTOS LARGEST MARKET, THE JULY 16 MARKET VARIOUS OF STAND SELLING PESKE, AN AYMARA DISH MADE FROM QUINOA RESIDENTS CHOQUE CASTANA AND VICTORIA LAURA QUISPE EATING PESKE CLOSE-UP OF PESKE DISH (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) RESIDENT CHOQUE CASTANA, SAYING: "It used to cost one peso. Then it went up to a 1.50 and then three [pesos]. Now peske costs five pesos." LA PAZ, BOLIVIA (RECENT) (REUTERS) MARKET VARIOUS OF QUINOA BEING SOLD (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) QUINOA VENDOR, HORTENSIA LIMA, SAYING: "Quinoa is well known abroad, and I've been told that this one pound bag costs $25 dollars. That's why there is hardly any quinoa on the market. It is so expensive that homemakers don't use it very much." HUAQUI, BOLIVIA (JANUARY 24th, 2011) (REUTERS) CLOSE-UP OF QUINOA PLANT VARIOUS OF QUINOA FIELDS EL ALTO, BOLIVIA (RECENT) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) HURTADO, SAYING: "These traditional Andean regions that just 15 years ago were classified by the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and even the United Nations as poor subsistence regions are now producing one of the best foods in the world. The Aymaras are demonstrating to the word that they have an enormous ability to incorporate themselves and benefit the global community." LA PAZ, BOLIVIA (JANUARY 21, 2011) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF QUINOA PRODUCTS PRODUCED FOR EXPORT HUAQUI, BOLIVIA (JANUARY 23, 2011) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF FARMER WORKING IN QUINOA FIELD
- Embargoed: 9th February 2011 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Bolivia, Plurinational State Of
- Country: Bolivia
- Topics: Industry,Quirky,Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
- Reuters ID: LVAB4VID4T7MLW4HBYWMHSIL82DF
- Story Text: Bolivian farmers are cashing in on a surge in prices for the super grain quinoa as demand booms in overseas markets.
While the boom is good news for impoverished farmers, the rising prices are part of a global surge in food prices which will come under the spotlight at this week's World Economic Forum summit in Davos.
But in Bolivia, rising food prices spell opportunity.
Families have begun planting small plots of the superfood, which is often called a whole grain though it is actually tiny seeds taken from a leafy green vegetable plant, and selling it in local markets as larger producers increasingly look overseas.
The edible seeds are packed with nutrients and full of protein, iron and calcium which has spurred interest in the U.S. which has in turn caused the price of the "golden grain" to soar in the last few years.
Farmers near the altiplano city of Hauqui say climate change has allowed them to begin growing small patches of the colorful crop where they couldn't before.
An Aymara farmer now growing quinoa, Felix Tintuma Quispe, told Reuters local growers could produce more if they were given some aid.
"There isn't an especially big program to support the production of quinoa. We have this small production, but we could have a lot more. We're not accustomed to producing a lot because it hadn't worked. Sometimes we would grow enough for us to consume. But if we could get support from some institution we could produce enough to export a lot," Quispe said.
Producers here say cultivating quinoa has become attractive not only because of the higher price the superfood is demanding overseas, but also because it is resistant to frost which is common here some two miles above sea level and say it is easier to tend to than other traditional crops such as potatoes, beans and barley.
Though climate change has brought beneficial warmth allowing quinoa to thrive here beyond its more traditional altiplano planting grounds, it has also had devastating effects in other parts of the country where rain in already arid regions has become sparser.
Some worry that the good news of spreading quinoa fields is only in the short term and is not sustainable in the future, but the president of organic Andean grain exporter Irupana Industries, Javier Hurtado, told Reuters global climate change was causing an important shift, putting more power into the hands of producers who have traditionally been the outsiders.
He said climate change had created more opportunities for quinoa and the farmers who produced it.
"I'd say this is one of the best times for quinoa in terms of developing markets. There is more demand than we can meet and this demand is going to grow," Hurtado said.
Moreover, Hurtado said quinoa's position was being strengthened because of the demand for more nutritional food.
The president of Nray Incorporated, Nimesh Ray, agreed with Hurtando's assessment, saying American consumers were attracted to the grain because of their health benefits.
"We started (importing) quinoa in 2009 and the interest we've seen continues growing up year after year. Also we have seen a wide spectrum of consumers adapting quinoa because of its nutrition and health benefits and that trend will increase in the future," Ray said.
As demand has grown, so too has the price in U.S. grocers like Trader Joe's and Whole Foods where 16 ounces of quinoa retailed at $2 dollars just a few years ago now goes for $4 dollars.
But rising prices aren't strictly a foreign phenomena. Choque Castana and his wife Victoria Laura Quispe used to visit the July 16 market in El Alto on a regular basis and would usually have a serving of peske while shopping.
But the price of peske, a traditional Bolivian dish made of quinoa cooked with milk and cheese, has gone up with the price of quinoa forcing them to cut back.
"It used to cost one peso ($0.15 dollars). Then it went up to a 1.50 and then three [pesos]. Now peske costs five pesos ($0.71 dollars)," Castana explained.
Bolivians who have long relied on quinoa as a nutritional and accessible staple are finding themselves priced out as it is shipped overseas where it fetches an unmatched priced compared to local markets.
The government has granted loans to producers to try to meet obligations at home and abroad, but the local supply could further be squeezed as vendors like Hortensia Lima look for larger margins in exports.
"Quinoa is well known abroad, and I've been told that this one pound bag costs $25 dollars. That's why there is hardly any quinoa in the market. It is so expensive that homemakers don't use it very much," Lima said.
There are different varieties of Quinoa, but the most nutritional is known as quinoa real and is only produced in Bolivia.
The volcanic soil in parts of the altiplano have a unique mineral content which is also benefited by the nearby salt flats along with the high altitude and dry weather creating the perfect growing conditions for the crop.
Quinoa real comes in three colors, white, red and black.
Other varieties are mostly unique to the Andes highlands and are grown in Bolivia and Peru. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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