A Socioeconomic Evaluation of Alternative Development in the Tropics of Cochabamba, Bolivia: Findings, Observations and Policy Recommendations

Abstract

The coca plant, from which the narcotic cocaine is derived, has been at the core of a destabilizing and often violent national debate in Bolivia for more than two decades. Between July and September 2005, a Columbia University research team con ducted an evaluation of the Bolivian government’s Alternative Development programs in the Tropics of Cochabamba. The team’s fi ndings reveal that Alternative Development, which aims to eliminate coca production, has inadequately planned and developed viable markets for alternative goods, and has been implemented in a divisive manner that has provoked further tensions in this unstable region. This paper provides specifi c policy recommendations that aim to address defi cien cies in the current Alternative Development agenda and offer concrete suggestions for future development programs in the Tropics of Cochabamba.