Native American Agriculture

Introduction There are many times where a heralded blessing for a country’s struggling economy can have an unpredicted down side. Despite being a very resource-rich country, almost half of the population lives below the poverty line. For generations the people’s livelihoods of harvesting the nutritious, drought, cold, and saline tolerant quinoa crops to sustained them. Now, with the modern age of information and health awareness in the industrialized countries, the Bolivian farmers have the chance to grow and expand their crops, harvesting them to make a cash profit. While this can seem like the saving grace for the struggling indigenous Andes farmers, there is the unforeseen plight of the impoverished natives that relied on the grain

As well as being rich in vitamins and minerals, the grain is considered a complete protein because it contains all nine of the essential amino acids not produced by the body. It is thought that around the mid 1500’s, the Spaniards began taking the native Andeans to use as slave labour in mines. This greatly disrupted trade among tribes, but European crops were unable to grow in the harsh climate, so quinoa became more heavily relied upon (Richardson). The indigenous people continued to utilize the crop that they knew would be

With demand for the grain much higher, farmers began selling off llama herds and focusing solely on utilizing all of their lands for quinoa production (Richardson). Rural agricultural communities heavily stress community ties and do not welcome those from urban areas coming in to try to profit from the crop. Not all of the land is used solely for quinoa production; the majority, over 60%, of land is used for crops that are grown for export include soy, corn, wheat and potatoes. With the inhospitable climate of much of the land impacting these cash crops, much of the remaining land is used for quinoa production because nothing else will successfully grow in those areas. Quinoa is not just a staple as far as diet. Its leaves and stems also contain medicinal properties and are still used throughout the region. External applications are used to treat abscesses and bleeding (Capodistrias), and quinoa is known to alleviate depression, stress, and provide stimulants for growth hormone that is essential for developing children. These health practices are just a few practiced by the local healers and is central in an abundance of their remedies.