INESAD
Scientific and applied knowledge is the key to development
At a global level, a new paradigm of development and well-being is based on the creation of green jobs – that is, decent or dignified jobs that, at the same time, contribute to preserving and regenerating the environment. In Bolivia, the Political Constitution of the State (2009) establishes “decent jobs for all”; but progress has been very modest. Still, jobs in harmony with the environment are scarce; although there is some progress in environmental mitigation, preservation and regeneration measures.
In this context, small agricultural producers are in the worst situation in terms of exclusion and vulnerability – despite the fact that the sector is key to sustainable socioeconomic development. In terms of employment, in 2019, for example, vulnerable jobs reached 91% in the agricultural sector!, and labor income in the sector represented, on average, 37% of the national average (estimates based on Household Surveys); the situation of women is even more alarming. These conditions respond both to exclusionary labor regulations – focused on employer-employee relations – and to the agricultural situation itself, which faces a series of productivity and sustainability problems.
Within this framework, the INESAD Foundation and members of the Private University of Santa Cruz and the Institute of Economic Studies of the Technical University of Oruro, under the auspices of the International Development Research Center (IDRC), seek to advance the creation of green jobs through agricultural development that allows not only fairer, more stable and sustainable income but also better working conditions with a gender focus. The initiative finds the collaborative support of the Quinoa Network from a research-action perspective, making the work viable under an initial vision of: Building broad evidence of the social protection system from a perspective of generating green jobs for quinoa producers, focused on indigenous women, in response to a low-carbon Covid-19 recovery. The quinoa sector is key because it faces sustainability problems due to soil degradation and greater climate problems, as well as the sharp drop in prices.
Systemic Approach to the Project
Source: INESAD.
PROJECT ACTIVITIES
