Figure 1
San Lorenzo and Uriondo Transects, transect zones and a sub-group of 48 research participant households currently engaged in primary production activities.
Figure 2
Timeline of rural transformation in the Central Valley (based on CODETAR, 1979, 1991; Prefectura del Departamento de Tarija Secretaría de Planificación e Inversión, 2006; and interview data).
Figure 3
Household food system (c. 1975), example from Tarija Cancha Sud (Andrea’s childhood household).
Figure 4
Household food system, example from Tarija Cancha Sud (Andrea’s household c. 2013).
Figure 5
Contemporary household production strategies.
Notes: Crop production refers to limited production of traditional agricultural products, such as field crops (e.g. corn, potatoes), vegetables (e.g. onions, tomatoes) and fruit trees (e.g. peaches). It is distinguished from specialised commercial production, which includes non-traditional fruits and vegetables (e.g. berries, asparagus) usually introduced during the late 1990s and 2000s. Viticulture refers to households involved in commercial grape production. In most cases, these households also produce other fruit and vegetables for market and household purposes. Dairy producing households (involved in commercial dairy production) also produced some or all of their livestock feed (e.g. corn, alfalfa). Agriculture with animal husbandry refers to households involved in mixed production, with pastured livestock playing a significant role alongside traditional crop production.
Table 1
Occurrence of livestock and crop types within research participant households’ past and current production profiles.14
| Crop and livestock types | Past Use | Current Use | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Households (out of possible 43) | % of sample | Households (out of possible 48) | % of sample | |
| Livestock | ||||
| Goats | 22 | 51 | 10 | 21 |
| Sheep | 17 | 40 | 13 | 27 |
| Creole cattle | 18 | 48 | 9 | 19 |
| Crops | ||||
| Wheat | 11 | 26 | 0 | 0 |
| Quinoa | 6 | 14 | 0 | 0 |
| Amaranth | 8 | 19 | 0 | 0 |
Table 2
Numbers of goats, sheep and creole cattle owned by households currently and in the past.
| Household location | Historical livestock portfolio | Contemporary livestock portfolio |
|---|---|---|
| Tarija Cancha Sud | 80 goats Several dozen sheep 7–8 creole cattle | 1 sheep |
| Marquiri | 50 goats 50 sheep 10–12 creole cattle | A few creole cattle |
| Marquiri | 120 goats | 6 goats 6 creole cattle |
| Marquiri | Unclear | 50 goats Less than her grandparents |
| Saladillo | 30 goats 30 sheep Several creole cattle | 6 creole cattle |
| Saladillo | 50 goats 50 sheep | 12 creole cattle |
Figure 6
Historic and contemporary distribution of ancient grains (wheat, amaranth and quinoa) and pastured livestock (goats, sheep and creole cattle) among 48 primary production households.
Table 3
Factors prompting reductions in pastured livestock.
| Theme | Factor | Primary effect | Linked effects | Representative quotations |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Changing land use and access | Landscape change | Higher density land occupation and commercial use (i.e. vineyards) restricted space for pastured livestock | Increased conflict between livestock herders and commercial producers | ‘There is very little common land now because there are lots of people now [and agricultural development]. On this side above here, there are vineyards…. And now also above – a little more above – there is the big vineyard. All of these hills, all of it is full of vineyards’ (Manuel, La Compañía). |
| Enclosure of common lands | Processes of land titling and development | Less access to pasture lands | ‘…before there was a lot of common land and people didn’t plant…so the common lands, it was there they pastured their livestock…[now] the owners have taken it and sold it… because of that today the neighbours don’t raise animals because they don’t have anywhere to do it, anywhere to pasture them’ (Alejandra, Saladillo). | |
| Establishment of ecological reserves | Restricted access to highland pastures | Fewer areas to pasture livestock | ‘When the Sama Reserve was created they weren’t able to pasture their animals there any more, so that was another reason that they stopped having goats’ (Patricia, cheese maker and Tarija market vender). | |
| ‘Modern’ lifestyles, production methods, and household economies | Changing lifestyle norms | Children had to attend school | Less family labour for livestock herding | ‘Before they had their children that would look after them, but now… there is nobody’ (Emilia, La Calama). |
| Lack of institutional support | Incentives for other types of production (e.g. new livestock breeds) | Increased opportunity cost of having pastured animals | ‘There was nothing [for other livestock]. For the [dairy] cows there is. I don’t know why’ (Eva, Tarija Cancha Sud). | |
| Increased disease prevalence | Increased production costs | Less incentive to maintain herds | ‘If they aren’t vaccinated 3 or 4 times a year, they get sick’ (Leticia, Marquiri). | |
| Higher opportunity costs | Other activities (e.g. dairy, vineyards) became possible | Land and labour became scarcer | ‘So becoming a dairy producer has also given rise to the substitution of crops like corn and wheat that stopped being profitable [for other commodities]. So there has been substitution’ (Jose, Villa San Lorenzo). |
Table 4
Factors prompting changes in crop selection (e.g. abandonment of wheat, quinoa and amaranth).
| Theme | Factor | Primary affect | Linked effects | Representative quotations |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Production challenges and reliance on external inputs | Increased prevalence of crop diseases | Need to purchase agricultural inputs (pesticides) | Increased costs of production | ‘[In the past] it wasn’t necessary to treat anything. And now, how many treatments do you have to do to produce a harvest? You have to buy chemicals’ (Consuela, Saladillo). |
| Changes in soil fertility and composition | Need to purchase agricultural inputs (fertilizers) | Increased costs of production; Changes in soil composition | ‘It doesn’t produce… These lands don’t produce much… If you aren’t treating it with chemicals, it doesn’t produce anything’ (Catia, La Calama). | |
| Weather and climatic conditions | Weather events | Loss of harvest and seeds (e.g. quinoa and amaranth seeds were lost in Marquiri) | Increased costs of production | ‘It was a drought year, 1983. In that year it didn’t rain and, like that, we lost quinoa, amaranth, everything. After that year, we didn’t go back to planting it’ (Pablo, Marquiri). |
| Availability and access to market-bought alternatives | Availability of cheap imports | Wheat from Argentina is cheaper | Less demand for locally produced grains | ‘The flour is from Argentina, right? … Everything, pretty much everything is from Argentina, right? It is brought from there’ (Ernesto, baker in Lajas). |
| Increased cash income | Greater ability to purchase food stuffs | Substitution of household production for purchased food stuffs (e.g. rice and pasta) | ‘They didn’t know how to buy. They grew… Now there aren’t beans, or fava beans, or wheat, nothing. Only what you can buy in Tarija’ (Alba, Marquiri). | |
| More frequent and faster motorised transportation | Easier to purchase food stuffs | Easier to transport goods to and from markets | ‘It is more comfortable to bring it from the there [the Campesino Market in Tarija]…since my husband has a car, we buy from there for the week. It is easy for us’ (Gabriela, Villa San Lorenzo). | |
| New production technologies and infrastructure | Introduction of more profitable breeds, varieties and crops | Potential of production activities with higher returns | Increased opportunity costs associated with use of space | ‘We have seen that it [dairy production] gives better money, that it is better economically. It is more secure work, you could say, than producing potatoes or peas. [Dairy] cows are more secure’ (Huberto, La Calama). |
Figure 7a–c
Linear regression models of change over time in mean annual temperature, annual number of precipitation days and total annual precipitation.