The goodness of the Bolivian Amazon is on display at a fair in La Paz

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Juices and ice creams of Amazonian fruits such as copoazú and asaí, organic chocolates, green banana flour and a medicinal oil of tuyu-tuyu, a beetle larva, are part of the offer of a fair that seeks to promote local consumption.

The fair was installed this Thursday (8) in the Plaza Mayor de San Francisco, one of the most important and crowded in the historic center of La Paz, with the participation of dozens of producers of cocoa and Amazonian products from Bolivian regions such as northern Beni and Pando, eastern Santa Cruz, central Cochabamba and also north of La Paz.

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The initiative was promoted by the Ministry of Rural Development and Lands through the Decentralized Public Institution Food Sovereignty (IPDSA), whose director, Juan Carlos Santos, told Efe that the fair seeks to promote local consumption of these products.

“We want to insert these products in the market so that producers can have access to a safe market and a fair price,” said Santos. The exhibitors come mostly from rural Amazonian communities and many of the products on display are handmade or semi-processed, he said.

IPDSA has some specific programs in place since 2019 to provide technical support to producers, including one for cocoa that benefits 3,577 families in five Bolivian regions and another for Amazonian fruits that reaches some 4,230 people in three departments.

AMAZON DELICACIES

Among the participants are women from the Asociación Agropecuaria de Productores Amazónicos de Majo y Asaí (AAGROPAMA), from the Buen Retiro community in the town of Riberalta, in the department of Beni.

The asaí is a native palm fruit that abounds in the Amazon and has energizing and antioxidant properties, in addition to being rich in calcium, iron and zinc, Edilse Pérez, one of the members of AAGROPAMA, explained to Efe.

Highly recommended for those who practice sports, this fruit is consumed in liquefied juices, ice cream or even the pure pulp, as well as copoazú, another Amazonian fruit similar to cocoa.

“All our products are organic,” said Perez and also thanked that they are allowed to publicize their production in La Paz. “Let people consume what is ours, what we make and what we have. We have the wealth in our hands, in our beautiful Bolivia there is everything,” she said.

Also on offer were urucú, a seasoning similar to paprika, hibiscus flower jams, oils, flour and detergents made from chestnuts and chila, a green plantain flour that contains little sugar and is gluten-free.

The Bolivian valleys had a space with the presence of producers of dried fruits such as dried peaches, raisins and blueberries.

There was also coffee, cocoa beans and organic chocolates produced by different organizations, such as the Association of Agroforestry Producers of the Amazon Region of Bolivia (APARAB) from Riberalta.

The chocolate offered by APARAB is “100% natural”, has “a good aroma” and has competed in local and international competitions, including one in Paris, the organization’s vice-president, Miguel Ángel Cordero, told Efe.

Other striking products are the medicinal oils produced in northern La Paz, such as lizard, motacú, coconut and tuyu-tuyu.

The tuyu-tuyu is a beetle larva that is part of the gastronomy in some rural communities in northern La Paz, although the oil is promoted for its benefits for the lungs, according to exhibitors.