The aim of this paper is to understand the potentialities and the difficulties of small scale producers’ inclusion in Bolivian agri-food public purchase market and in particular in school breakfast programs (SBPs) market. This work analyzes the involved institutions and organizations, the common understanding of the existing regulation and how the latter is put into practice from the involved entities, how the involved entities perceive SBPs regulation, what are the main obstacles which hinder local small scale producers’ inclusion in this market and successful cases of small scale producers’ inclusion in the market. The attention is drawn to the rural municipalities.
The research design which has been chosen for this paper realization is the case study. As a matter of fact, the paper analyzes the case of local small scale producers’ inclusion in SBPs market in two rural Bolivian municipalities: Pazña and Yunchará. The paper provides an answer to the main research question through the analysis of empirical data collected alongside the research process, through the conduction of interviews.
The research is based on an interpretative approach of local small scale producers’ inclusion in SBPs market in Yunchará and Pazña; the aim is to understand the functioning and articulation of the involved organizations and of the institutional framework which characterize SBPs implementation and local producers’ inclusion. Furthermore, the paper aims at understanding the potential impact that local small scale producers’ inclusion in the market could cause on Rural Territorial Development of the considered territories. Another element - which plays an important role throughout the analysis - is the valorization of territorial cultural identity through local products distribution during school breakfasts.
The analysis is guided by some aspects of two theoretical approaches which help to understand SBPs functioning and dynamics. The New Institutional Economics approach is implemented especially for the purpose of analyzing the role of formal and informal institutions, the work of local organizations and the interaction among them. Rural Territorial Development with Cultural Identity approach is applied in order to give relevance to the impact that local producers’ inclusion in SBPs market can have on rural territorial development. The approach also helps to understand whether or not the current institutional framework is suitable to rural territorial development boosting and enhancement.
The paper’s empirical findings suggest that, within SBPs institutional framework in Pazña and Yunchará, informal institutions play a fundamental role in the process of facilitating local small scale producers’ inclusion in SBPs market. Particularly, it is relevant the interaction among local organizations and informal institutions. As regards the formal institutional framework, it has been observed that it is not completely suitable to favor rural producers’ access to this market, especially in rural areas. Finally, it is observable that local small scale producers’ inclusion in SBPs programs in Yunchará and Pazña have a strong potential to boost and foster rural territorial development. However, for this purpose, it is essential to count with a strong and efficient institutional architecture which combines both formal and informal institutions.