Bolivian quinoa producers and President Luis Arce announced this Monday the VIII World Congress of Quinoa 2023, with the aim of innovating in production and regaining the position of the first exporter of these grains in the world.
“We are launching the VIII World Quinoa Congress from March 28 to 31, 2023.”
“Quinoa is an ancient culture of the Andes, between Bolivia and Peru, which adapted to adverse climatic conditions and fed ancient civilizations such as the Incas for more than 7,000 years,” he explained in his speech.
Quinoa is a grain native to the Andes of South America and is the most complete food in vitamins and amino acids for human consumption, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
The President called on academics from other countries, producers and researchers to contribute to improving the production and industrialization of quinoa in Bolivia.
“We hope that important ideas can emerge from this congress to accelerate industrialization,” he said.
At the ceremony announcing the international event were representatives of cooperation agencies from Japan, Korea and Switzerland, among others, and organizations such as FAO and the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation in Agriculture IICA.
Bolivia consolidated in 2013 as the first exporter of quinoa in the world, with 35,000 tons for a value of 153 million dollars. According to data from the Bolivian Institute of Foreign Trade (IBCE) in 2014, it fell to 30,000 tons for $197 million.
The price per ton of quinoa in 2014 reached $6,602 and then fell to $2,000 in 2021.
In the first four months of 2022, just 7,729 tonnes were exported for a value of US$16 million, registering a 21% drop in value and 15% in volume, compared to the same period in 2021, according to figures from IBCE.
