Browsing by Autor "Daniel Bertero"

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Calling for a reappraisal of the impact of quinoa expansion on agricultural sustainability in the Andean highlands
(University of Tarapacá, 2014) Thierry Winkel; Ricardo Álvarez-Flores; Daniel Bertero; Pablo Cruz; Carmen Del Castillo; Richard Joffre; Santiago Peredo Parada; Luís Sáez Tonacca
The debate on the environmental and social sustentainability of quinoa in its area of major world production (southern highlands of Bolivia) revived with the acceptance by the United Nations of the Bolivian proposal to declare in 2013 as the Year of the Quinoa. Public debate focused on local impacts of quinoa expansion in the Southern highlands of Bolivia, denouncing several negative impacts of quinoa culture such as land degradation, socioeconomic disrupts and biodiversity loss. However, the global or at least the international implications of the expanding quinoa market were less debated and often in caricature, varying between culpability and ingenuity among consumers, while Andean producers were described as trapped by poverty or short sighted greed. If researchers are to make a relevant contribution to the debate on the impact of quinoa expansion on the social and environmental sustainability of the Andean agriculture, is it necessary to re-evaluate present knowledge and ignorance about local Andean production systems integrated with links at the global scales, taking into account local- global interactions. In the present paper are revisited some major ill- founded assertions commonly expressed in this debate and three lines of arguments are used to support the need for a more cautious and ethical approach to quinoa related issues.
Quinoa
(University of Copenhagen, 2012) Sam Geerts; Magali García; Sven-Erik Jacobsen; Jean Vacher; Thierry Winkel; Daniel Bertero
The Sustainability of Quinoa Production in Southern Bolivia: from Misrepresentations to Questionable Solutions. Comments on Jacobsen (2011, J. Agron. Crop Sci. 197: 390–399)
(Wiley, 2012) Thierry Winkel; Daniel Bertero; Pierre Bommel; Jean Bourliaud; Marco Chevarria Lazo; Geneviève Cortés; Pierre Gasselin; Sam Geerts; Richard Joffre; F. Léger
Abstract Reviewing the situation of quinoa production in southern Bolivia, Jacobsen (2011, J. Agron. Crop Sci. 197: 390) argues that the booming export market has a negative effect on the environment and on the home consumption of quinoa, thereby leading to an environmental disaster in the region. In view of the scarcity of scientific knowledge on the rapid social and environmental dynamics in the region, we consider that Jacobsen’s review misrepresents the situation of quinoa production in southern Bolivia. Specifically, we argue that (i) the data presented by Jacobsen (2011, J. Agron. Crop Sci. 197: 390) do not support any drop in quinoa crop yield supposed to reflect soil degradation and (ii) his demonstration regarding home consumption of quinoa is ill‐founded from both a nutritional and a cultural point of view. We suggest that the diffusion of the arguments exposed by Jacobsen (2011, J. Agron. Crop Sci. 197: 390), because of their flaws, might have strong negative impacts on those concerned with sustainable food production and fair‐trade with developing countries. We conclude that, rather than reinforced agro‐technical controls on local farmers, the rising competition in the international quinoa market requires a shift towards an ethical economy and ethical research cooperation with quinoa producers.