AGRICULTURE
While 43 percent of Bolivia's population depends on agriculture (to a large extend subsistence agriculture) for its livelihood, only three percent of the country's area is under cultivation. This is concentrated mainly in the northern part of the Altiplano, the basins and valleys of the Cordillera Oriental, and the western fringes of the eastern lowlands. In 1987 the main crops were corn (maize), potatoes, wheat, barley, rice, sugarcane, coffee, manioc, soybeans and cotton.
Cultivated areas have in recent years been expanding. Coca is grown in large quantities.
Of the total area, 24 percent is used for permanent pasture. The total number of livestock in 187 included 5.4 million cattle, 9.5 million sheep, 2.3 million goats and 1.8 million llamas and alpacas.
Sheep, goats, llamas, and alpacas are raised in the Altiplano and the Cordilleras; 5,200 tons of wool were produced in 1987. Of the total area, 51 percent (mainly in the eastern lowlands and northeastern flanks of the Cordillera Oriental) is covered by forest.
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