Bolivia: 20 years of pig growth

Bolivia has been increasing pig production year after year since 2000. Production reached 117,676 tons in 2021, up 85.6% from the start of the century, according to the country's Ministry of Rural Development and Lands.

This is remarkable given that Bolivian producers began to view pig farming as a profitable economic activity in the 1980s, only 4 decades ago. The pig population in the Andean country now stands at 3.3 million, an 89.7% increase from 20 years ago.

Large farms: 25% of total production

In terms of production systems, large commercial farms contain approximately 25% of the total number of pigs, while 75% of pigs are kept by medium and small farms. Sanitary control and biosecurity have been a priority since the 1990s and significant investment has been made in them.

Bolivia consists of 9 departments, of which over 80% of pig production is concentrated in 4 departments:

Santa Cruz (41.9%);

Chukisaka (17.9%);

La Paz (13.5%); and

Tarija (8.9%).

As a consequence, pig farming plays an important role in the labor market here. Santa Cruz is also home to over 80% of all pig processing facilities. The two largest producers are Cabaña Agradece and Paichanetú Farm, both located in the Department of Santa Cruz. In this region, too, the annual per capita consumption of pork is, for cultural reasons, the highest in all of Bolivia: around 10 kg.

Not only pigs, but also cattle, llamas and alpacas

Bolivia's livestock model has several features. In addition to 3.3 million pigs, the most mountainous country in South America has large herds of other animals:

Cattle (10.1 million);

Sheep (7.1 million)

llamas (2.6 million);

Goats (2.2 million); and

Alpacas (450,000).

The government is implementing the so-called Plan de Desarrollo Pecuario (Livestock Development Plan 2020-2030) aimed at achieving "sovereign food security" and eliminating hunger and malnutrition throughout the country. In this sense, the government has promised to support livestock sectors such as cattle, camelids (llamas and alpacas) and pigs. Another goal is to create surpluses and EXPORT MEAT. Bolivia currently has a technical partnership with Brazil and is already exporting beef to CHINA .

In recent years, Bolivia has also been a supplier of pork to other countries in South America. In 2017, the Bolivian government arranged for surplus products to be shipped to Peru. This is already a serious difference from the situation in the past. Historically, Bolivia has imported about 10,000 tons of pork per year. Since around 2000, genetic material has been imported to improve local production, and pork imports have declined significantly.

At the beginning of the century, Bolivia, along with 19 other countries, took part in the "Continental Plan for the Eradication of Classical Swine Fever". The FAO project was supported by the National Association of Pig Breeders of Bolivia (Anapor).