Multidisciplinary study : traditional use of coca leaf in Bolivia -- final report

Specific areas of research on coca production and marketing included (i) analysis of the marketing structure for coca leaf at all levels, including information concerning how the system operates, the nature of the people involved in the marketing processes, and relationships between producers, intermediaries, wholesalers, retailers, and consumers; (ii) examination of the relationships between cost/price and demand/supply of coca leaf; (iii) examination of income generated by those involved in the legal marketing of coca, including intermediaries, truckers, wholesalers, retailers, and governmental entities at the municipal, provincial, departmental, and state levels; and (iv) collection of information on the number of people involved in the marketing of coca, both at the wholesale and retail levels. The study of consumption of coca leaf included (i) definition of the structure of traditional use in all its general aspects; (ii) examination of social and economic relationships among producers, intermediaries, truckers, and consumers; and (iii) estimation, by province, of the quantity of coca leaf marketed and the quantities demanded for traditional uses. In order to calculate production of coca leaf, various secondary data sources were consulted, such as recent studies, DNCSP coca crop registration records, records from the agricultural customs stations, and tax records kept by the government. Primary information on marketing and consumption was gathered from interviews with producers, intermediaries, wholesaler, retailers and consumers and through direct observations in regional second local markets. Because of limitations on both time and money only six of the nine departments in Bolivia were selected for study. These were chosen because they contain the principal production zones for coca leaf, as well as the traditional consumption areas. The capital cities of these six departments and the three tropical departments of Santa Cruz, Pando, and Beni were not included. Because more coca leaf is marketed in the Santa Cruz department than in any other department of Bolivia it is imperative that future research activities include that department. Two anthropologists were used as the principal researchers, one to supervise the work in the Quechua-speaking area and the other to control activities in the Aymara-speaking area. All six interviewers used were bilingual, either Spanish/Aymara or Spanish/Quechua. Of the 955 cantones located in these six departments, l00 were selected randomly or the sample and a total of 3,086 interviews were completed from the period 11/76-9/77. Categorizing the 100 cantones by ecological zones gave the following result: Highlands (Altiplano) 33; Valleys, 38; and Tropics, 29. The division according to predominant language was: Quechua, 39; Aymara, 30; and Spanish, 31. (Author abstract)