Small Ruminant CRSP - University of Missouri 
ANNUAL REPORT, 1996
Sustainable Agropastoral Systems on Marginal Lands-Bolivia

Research
Activity I: Synthesis of the Component

Problem Statement and Approach

A synthesis proposal was submitted to the management entity in October of 1994. With some modifications, this activity will be lead by L. Coppock. The contributions of social sciences to this synthesis will be the responsibility of C. Valdivia. Some specific areas of contribution in social sciences are: Characterization of peasant households, their differentiation and interaction with higher order systems (the markets and the macroeconomy); the social and economic mechanisms securing access to resources for crop and livestock production; terms of trade between peasant agriculture in the Andes and the rest of the economy; marketing systems for livestock products in San José Llanga; and the role of market integration in risk reduction are on-going activities of the sociology and economics workplan that have been initiated to contribute to the synthesis. An agricultural calendar and a study on technological change in San José are part of the synthesis identifying labor constraints and the role of technology in crop and livestock activities.

Progress

The following are chapters completed that have or are being revised:

Chapter 2: National and Regional Context describing the national policy, and population, economic and historical context affecting the Altiplano region, specifically the Central highlands of Bolivia. The geography and ecological setting are also presented. Chapter 4: "Historical and Contemporary Aspects of the Social and Economic Setting for San José Llanga Region" by Valdivia, Jetté, Markowtiz and Valdivia has been submitted for review. A draft of Chapter 6 has been completed by Valdivia on "Household Organization and Dynamics" which covers household peasant strategies under normal and drought conditions in San José and the role played by small ruminants in both climatic conditions. A chapter 8 on Technology Adoption and Appropriate Technological Concepts for Development" by Markowitz and Valdivia is almost complete. Remain to be added the technology adoption study on the development experiences by development and U.S. research institutions in the 1960s that today are found in the Aroma region.

A logit model to analyze factors affecting the adoption of improved sheep in the Aroma Province, conducted with Dekha Sheikh is showing training, agroecological characteristics, and number of criollo sheep as the independent variables that affect the probability of adoption of improved animals. The results of this study will be included in Chapter 8, and we will develop it further as an expost analysis of the study conducted on returns to research investments by Wennergren and Whittaker. Finally, a paper summarizing the projects findings on Social and Agropastoral Production Cycles in San José Llanga is being developed jointly with L. Markowitz.


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