Bolivia, a country with harsh Andean highlands and fertile, wide lowlands, is today faced with increasing economic and social inequality of its rural population. In past years, the World Bank has supported a mono-cropping, export-based agricultural model that brings profit to lowland agri-business rather than a fair land reform process which would also benefit the rural poor in den Andean highlands.
As a consequence Bolivia is now faced with a regional confrontation between populations of the Andes and the Amazon plains and a dangerous game for regional autonomies.
In the light of the World Bank 2008 Development Report, the Bolivian government and the World Bank agree that it is indispensable to distribute the land equitably and to strengthen individual and community property rights, generating food security and environmental sustainability.

Miguel Urioste
La Fundación Tierra - La Paz, Bolivia
m.urioste@ftierra.org