water contamination affecting their land and livestock, as a result of the activities of the Inti Raymi company and its mining project
Kori Kollo. Acid drainage and heavy metals deriving from mining operations have severely contaminated water resources. High levels
of cyanide have been recorded in the soil, reportedly contributing to high levels of mortality and malformation in sheep and the
contamination of soil, reducing the productivity of the land.[38] This has reportedly resulted in the loss of 50 per cent of livestock,
affecting the livelihoods of farming communities dependent on selling milk and cheese products. Although local state authorities
ordered an environmental impact assessment to be carried out, this order was still to be implemented when the Special Rapporteur
visited Bolivia.[39] This may amount to a violation if the Government has failed in its duty to protect communities against the activities
of third parties that have negatively affected the rights of these communities to adequate food.
52. Approximately 100 indigenous communities in the departments of Potosi, Chuquisaca and Tarija are also reportedly affected
by the contamination of the basin of the Pilcomayo River by the extractive industry. Affected communities have reported that the
impact of such water contamination over the years has caused 80 per cent loss of agricultural production, 60 per cent loss of
livestock and 90 per cent loss of fish, greatly affecting people’s access to sufficient and adequate food and means for its
procurement.[40] The Special Rapporteur has been informed that the Office of the Ombudsman will conduct an inquiry into the
contamination of the basin of the Pilcomayo River and recommend the appropriate remedial measures to be taken by the
Government.
2. Failure to eliminate conditions of bonded labour
53. The Special Rapporteur received reports that forced labour, including situations of debt bondage, is still practised in some
sectors in Bolivia, including the sugar cane industry, the Brazil nut industry and on private ranches (haciendas) in the region of the
Chaco. The majority of labourers are held in some form of debt bondage. Estimates indicate that in 2003 there were approximately
21,000 forced labourers, including women and children, in the sugar cane industry in the Santa Cruz area and between 5,000 and
6,000 people became forced labourers on a permanent or semi-permanent basis in the Brazil nut industry in the Pando and Beni
(province of Vaca Diez) regions.[41] Of particular concern is the situation of forced labour that the Guaraní people have to endure on
some private ranches in the provinces of Santa Cruz, Chuquisaca and Tarija in the Chaco region. The ILO estimates that 7,000
people from the Guaraní indigenous group are held in forced labour although the Government’s figures in 1999 referred to 3,179
people (578 families living on 106 ranches). They are held in debt bondage and in some cases threats and violence are common to
prevent them from leaving the ranches. As they are paid extremely low wages which do not cover their basic living costs, they are
forced to rely on credit from their employers. In addition, women and children are expected to work but are not paid at all. The
Guaraní families on these ranches are rarely given any land to cultivate their own crops.
3. Failure to regulate advertising of milk formulas
54. While national law and policy promote breastfeeding to fight under-nutrition of babies and infants, this is reportedly being
undermined by aggressive marketing by corporations (including Nestlé) promoting milk formulas that suggests that these formulas are
more nutritious than breast milk. The Special Rapporteur received documented information of the persistence of aggressive marketing
which contravened the national Ley de Fomento a la Lactancia Materna y Comercialización de sus Sucedáneos as well as the
international standards encoded in the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes. The Special Rapporteur was
informed that much of the obvious publicity by corporations would be banned after the adoption of the new regulation concretizing
the national law.
4. Failure to provide adequate food and nutrition in prisons
55. The Special Rapporteur visited the prison of San Pedro in La Paz. He was alarmed by the nutritional status of many detainees
in the prison, as the nutritional quality of the food does not meet international standards. The Government reached the same
conclusion after a report was issued recognizing that many people in the prisons of San Pedro, Miraflores, Chonchocoro and
Obrajesare underweight. Recently, the Government increased the daily payment for food per prisoner from 3.5 to 4.5 Bolivianos per
day. This should improve the situation, but it is still essential to improve the nutritional value of the food distributed to prisoners.
C. Obstacles to the realization of the right to food
56. Clear obstacles to realizing the right to food of all Bolivians include discrimination, social exclusion and high levels of inequality,
as well as the legacies of a colonial social structure. Previous administrations have prioritized an exclusionary economic model that has
marginalized the poor and indigenous and failed to challenge the structures of clientelism and patronage of the traditional ruling elite.
Bolivia has undertaken more economic reforms in line with the Washington Consensus than almost all developing countries.[42]
However, the economic reforms and shock therapy policies imposed since 1985 have focused on generating export-led economic
growth, rather than on poverty reduction. Liberalization, privatization and fiscal reform have been successful in controlling inflation,
but have not delivered on the promises of trickle down to the majority of Bolivians. Most economic growth and foreign investment
has occurred in export sectors such as oil, gas, mining and agro-industry, but these provide little employment in the economy and
therefore have not contributed sufficiently to poverty reduction. Oil and gas now account for over 50 per cent of Bolivia’s export
earnings, but employ only 1 per cent of the population.[43] The approval of the hydrocarbons tax will therefore allow for greater
equity in the distribution of Bolivia’s natural wealth.
57. The promotion of investment in the export-oriented agro-industry has also failed to benefit the vast majority of small
subsistence farmers. Despite the importance of small-scale agriculture in generating employment, there has been little investment in this
kind of agriculture, particularly in the altiplano. Trade liberalization has also left small farmers facing unfair competition from the
dumping of highly subsidized imports, including wheat, driving rapid urbanization over the last 30 years.[44] The lack of a human
rights culture that recognizes the economic, social and cultural rights of all Bolivians appears to be behind the demands of social