Bolivia aims to promote quinoa internationally

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – “Our quinoa has a unique organoleptic feature, it has the potential to be marketed in different countries worldwide,” said Foreign Trade and Integration Deputy Minister Benjamín Blanco.

Blanco explained that the quinoa sector is experiencing a difficult situation, considering that in 2021 sales dropped the most compared to the past 5 years.

“Bolivia accounted for 46% of the international market, Peru was in second place with 30%. The figure has been reversed since 2020, now Bolivia accounts for 30% and Peru for 41% of the market,” he said.

In addition, countries that did not produce this grain are now exporting, such as Spain, the United States and the Netherlands, Blanco said.

In this context, the Deputy Minister said that efforts will be made to promote Bolivian quinoa and achieve its designation of origin.

According to experts, the pandemic has severely impacted the country’s productive sector, as well as the reduction in demand for the product, the closure of distribution channels, lower prices and a recent increase from 20 to 100 producing countries.

Quinoa is a pseudo-cereal with high nutritional and agro-industrial value grown in the inter-salt zone of Bolivia’s Southern High Plateau, whose crop is characterized by its resistance to extreme abiotic factors, such as droughts, frost and saline soils.