Bolivia is home to a rich cultural, biological diversity as well as a long recorded history of pre-colonial agriculture. These characteristics make it an interesting country to explore empirically the concept of Biocultural Diversity (BCD). The current Political Constitution of the Plurinational State of Bolivia (2009) explicitly addressed the importance of Pacha mama (only poorly translated as “Mother Earth”), ancestral cultures, a decolonizing development, food sovereignty and the resistance to food globalization. Despite this interesting cultural and political context, peasant and indigenous agriculture in Bolivia is becoming increasingly marginal, devaluated and unsupported by governmental strategies. At the same time, albeit the political focus on Mother Earths’ rights, Bolivia is among the four most deforested countries in South America, jeopardizing its biological diversity.

Bolivian agricultural practices have evolved over time and has incorporated contemporary agriculture techniques tending to intensification. The resulting hybridity involves several worldviews, cultural practices and values  linked to earths’ food production and equilibrium. This varied contexts, and the still existing link of peasants to their traditional cultures, raise questions about the models of agriculture and the social-ecological trade-offs that co-exist in these systems, as well as their contribution to social and ecological sustainability.