Bolivia

Assessing the impacts of climate change on women’s poverty: A Bolivian case study

Climate change affects men and women differently, and pre-existing gender disparities may worsen. We use a gendered computable general equilibrium model linked with microsimulations to assess the distributive effects of climate change in Bolivia. Two scenarios are evaluated. The first scenario addresses capital and land damages, while the second analyses the decrease in agricultural production yields. We find that both scenarios have negative impacts on the Bolivian economy. The scenarios drive down employment and increase the burden of domestic work, especially for women. Furthermore, both simulations reveal negative impacts on poverty, with women in rural areas being the most affected.

Illusions and disillusions with poverty reduction strategies: Growth, crisis and the MDGs in Bolivia, Honduras and Nicaragua

Bolivia: Agricultural R&D indicators factsheet

Bolivia’s agricultural R&D spending is characterized by considerable year-toyear fluctuations. The costs of R&D programs, running the day-to-day operations of laboratories, and muchneeded capital investments are chiefly funded by donors and development banks. Dependence on this type of funding—which by nature is volatile and ad hoc—makes the country somewhat vulnerable to funding shocks. Bolivia’s agricultural research spending has not kept pace with growth in agricultural output. The country’s agricultural research intensity ratio—that is agricultural research spending as a percentage of agricultural GDP—halved from 1.0 to 0.5 percent during 2015–2020. Bolivia’s agricultural research investment is too low to effectively address farm productivity challenges of the rural poor and threats posed by climate change. Compared with most countries in South America, Bolivian agricultural R&D agencies employ relatively few researchers with PhD degrees. In addition, a considerable portion of the most highly qualified researchers are set to retire in the coming decade. The country will need to recruit and train the next generation of agricultural researchers without delay and provide the necessary conditions to maintain their commitment over time.