Quinoa, the “Golden Grain”, coveted by the world and exciting to Bolivia
Quinoa the Golden Grain
Small snowflakes are diluted in the trenches of a newly opened land,
previously parched and thirsty. Miguel Choque exhales the damp and cold
air of the Bolivian highlands, smiles, and says that the snow is a good
omen for planting quinoa. In seven months, flower clusters will color
the rugged landscape yellow, green and red.
Quinoa is a grain that helped save the Incas from
hunger, and is now transforming one of the poorest regions of Bolivia
ever since it became popular in wealthier countries for its exceptional
nutritional properties. These properties have even led NASA to include
quinoa in the diet of astronauts. Sales of quinoa has increased
sevenfold since 2000, when demand of the grain began to rise.
The government of Evo Morales included the cereal as a “strategic”
food source for Bolivian food security, and is boosting its domestic
consumption. Known as the golden grain of the Andes, quinoa is the only
plant food that provides ten essential amino acids for humans. It has a
high protein content (14-18%) and is a good source of phosphorus,
calcium, iron and vitamin E, and may even replace breast milk, according
to FAO.
The crop, which grows in the arid and poor region of the highlands
located at 3700 meters above sea level, is resistant to the frost and
droughts that periodically hit the region.
Bolivia produces 46% of worldwide production, followed by Peru with
30% and the U.S. with 10%, according to the Ministry of Production and
the Plural Economy.
In 2000, Bolivia exported 1439 tons of
quinoa for
$1.8 million. Last year, exports reached 14,500 tons, generating over
$25 million, with the EU, U.S. and Japan as the largest consumer
markets.
This year’s goal is to produce 30,000 tons of quinoa, said Deputy Minister of Rural Development, Victor Hugo Vasquez.
Quinoa is a seed that is eaten as a grain, has no gluten and is easier to digest than corn, wheat, rye, millet and sorghum.
The native people who cultivate it are among the poorest in the
world, and until recently, often lived on a barter system. As it became
more popular in wealthier countries, these natives introducted quinoa
into the market, remembers Brigido Martinez, president of the National
Association of Quinoa Producers.
In 1983,
quinoa
cost about $3 a bushel and was known as “Indian food”, while today it
trades at a hundred dollars, says Martinez. The boom began during the
Spanish king’s first visit to Bolivia in mid-1987. King Juan Carlos I
included the grain in his diet, gaining the attention of the worldwide
public.
The most recognized variety of quinoa is the actual quinoa in
Bolivia, which only grows in a region neighboring huge salt lakes in the
southwest. Constant sun, salty air coming from the sea, and salty earth
all help to produce the prized grain that the Bolivian government seeks
patent. It is more expensive, as its price can reach $3000 a ton.
Many in Bolivia believe that quinoa can transform the impoverished
highlands, much like soybeans have. Prices paid in U.S. and European
markets per metric ton of
quinoa are up to five times more than those for soybeans.
Martinez, however, does not think the grain will greatly influence
the economic boom of the Altiplano. The highland farmers have little
land, 10 hectares on average.
“Quinoa is not lifting us out of poverty, but we do live better,” he says.
The seed was ignored by the Bolivians themselves by their slightly bitter taste.
Today, it is a luxury item.
“Quinoa is like the rice of the highlands,” said Evo Morales in late December during a visit to Venezuela. “Before people would not eat
quinoa, calling it Indian food and, [as because of that], would not eat it. Now the Bolivian people have started to react ‘.
Some authorities say that because the traditional farming methods for
the cultivation of quinoa is less harmful to the environment than other
crops, quinoa fits the model of society that President Morales, the
first indigenous Bolivian to govern the country, hopes to build. His
stated goal is to double the crop to 100,000 hectares, strengthen
ecological
quinoa production, and industrialize and boost domestic consumption.
Source: http://www.oaquinoa.com
