BOLIVIA SUB-TROPICAL LANDS DEVELOPMENT

The GOB executing agency will be the Instituto Nacional de Colonizacion (INC). This project will be limited to the colonization of two sub-areas within the Oriente, the Chane/Piray and San Julian areas. A.I.D. participation is limited to the provision of the loan. Loan funds will be used to construct penetration roads, including 180 kms of all-weather road and 800 kms of dry-weather access trails; and to establish production support services, such as one agricultural service center for each of the subareas and agricultural credit arrangements. Among the social services to be provided are rudimentary community water systems, a sanitary post and mobile health unit, and a short-term orientation for new settlers in these subareas. In addition, loan funds will be used to provide administrative support and TA to INC and for a land resource study to identify other areas suitable for intensive agricultural settlement. Participating in the project with INC will be nine other Bolivian public and private organizations. The GOB will provide the salaries of project support personnel, 200,000 hectares of agricultural land, and will pay for the operation of heavy equipment to be purchased for trail construction. The project will result in the migration of 5,000 families from the highland to the target areas, each with an estimated increase of $575 in net annual family income or production within 5 years of their arrival, assuming static production technologies. At the same time, the net family incomes of 6,000 families already in these areas are expected to increase by an estimated $483 within 5 years after the penetration roads are completed. The net result of increased migration and market access will be an increase, after 5 years, of $5.2 million in GNP, affecting 11,000 campesino families. Also, the GOB will have developed a process which can be replicated to develop other underutilized lands in the Oriente.