Social Control of Coca Production: Lessons from the Tropic of Cochabamba, Bolivia

The Bolivian state stands out for its innovative policies in defence of the coca leaf and coca growers’ rights, such as the 2004 Cato Agreement, signed between the state and coca growers to assign legal plots for coca cultivation and to launch a social control system for their monitoring. Based on interviews and secondary information conducted in the Tropic of Cochabamba, we argue that, although this system of coca social control faces some challenges, it leaves replicable lessons for Andean countries in terms of reducing conflict, promoting peace in coca-growing territories, and generating legitimacy for coca-growing activities. Bolivia’s pioneering approach to legalising coca-growing areas serves as a transitional mechanism in the pathway towards a regulated coca economy.