Bolivia’s oilseeds sector bets on hope

Bolivia’s soybean and sunflower sector is trying to keep moving despite logistical and regulatory obstacles. In the Andean region, oilseeds are valued for their protein content and benefit from cultivation in Bolivia’s fertile lands.

Peru is a particularly important market because of a decisive logistical advantage. Ronald Campbell Ivanoff, general manager of the Bolivian company Campivacorp, said Bolivian soybeans can reach Peru in about 11 days, while shipments from Argentina take nearly 30. Bolivia also exports oilseeds to Ecuador and Colombia, in the form of soybeans, soy meal used as a protein supplement, and crude and refined oil.

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Specifically in the case of Peru, Bolivian oilseeds are in high demand because of a key logistical advantage: while Bolivian soybeans can get there in about 11 days, shipments from Argentina take nearly 30.

The sector brings together different players. The National Association of Oilseed and Wheat Producers, known as ANAPO, represents about 14,000 farmers, mainly in Santa Cruz. The Agricultural Chamber of Small Producers of the East, or CAPPO, represents around 4,000 intercultural producers.

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Affiliated companies must inform the state about their sales and exports, as a control mechanism intended to guarantee domestic supply.

Processing companies belong to the Bolivian Chamber of Oilseed Industries, CANIOB. Its members include IASA, Alicorp, Intagro, Gravetal, Prolega, ETASA, Nutrioil and Industrias Oleaginosas S.A. David Diez Canseco, CANIOB’s technical manager, said affiliated companies must inform the state of their sales and exports as a control mechanism intended to guarantee domestic supply. The industry, he said, complies while continuing to export and supply the national market. He described that persistence as “playing on the hope factor.”

The oilseeds complex is one of Bolivia’s main sources of non-traditional exports. Vice Minister of Industrialization Policies Gustavo Jáuregui Gonzáles said it represented between 30% and 40% of such external sales in recent years, with annual values ranging from $1.5 billion to $2.5 billion. He estimated its direct and indirect contribution to national GDP at 5% to 7%, while Campbell put the sector’s direct contribution at 1.9% in 2025.

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We comply with this and continue exporting, as well as supplying the domestic market. That is why our members, despite the regulations imposed and the logistical challenges, persist in their work. I call that playing on the hope factor.