Agricultural Intensification, Monocultures, and Economic Failure: The Case of Onion Production in the Tipajara Watershed on the Eastern Slope of the Bolivian Andes

Abstract

This article documents and analyzes the historical process of agricultural intensification in Bolivia's Tipajara watershed. There is a particular focus on the recent rise and decline of a commercial onion monoculture. An econometric model indicates altered livelihood patterns as an outcome of the combination of rising costs for pesticides and declining yields from disease. Reliance on pesticides and a failure to rotate crops has led to an increase in the incidence of disease-causing organisms, which has resulted in a collapse of the onion economy in the Tipajara watershed. Emigration is currently the primary strategy employed by smallholder farmers as a response to the collapsing agricultural economy.