Economical importance of quinoa in South America and North America

Economic Importance of Quinoa in South America and North America
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Economic Importance of Quinoa in South America and North America
Introduction
Quinoa is described by Jacobsen (2003) as a chenopod with higher levels of protein, iron, and calcium. Being one of the core sources of nutrition among Bolivians, quinoa boasts of its long history as a delicacy of the antediluvian Incas since 2900BC (Fritz et al., 2017). To date, the levels of acceptation of this commodity have increased, particularly in foreign markets such as ha of the United States and the European Union zone where it is considered as one of the potential sources of economic advancement for the developing and underdeveloped countries such as Bolivia. Jacobsen (2017) defines economic growth as the net output of a country as expressed by its Gross Domestic Product (GDP). On the other hand, the scholars reveal that a state’s economic development is determined by being core indexes such as the Human Development Index (HDI) which measures the country’s state of advancement in critical areas such as healthcare, food security, and education.
The trade potentials depicted by quinoa in Europe and the United States, coupled with the explosion in global popularity of this delicacy in the last five years increased the prices of the commodity fourfold (Jacobsen, 2017). According to Bazile, Baudron, and Green (2015), such an increase in demand and popularity of this ancient grain-like seed has increased the levels of cultivation of quinoa in Bolivia, the coastal valleys of Peru, Chile, and Ecuador. Martínez, Fuentes, and Bazile (2015) explain that to date, scholars and breeders across the globe have increased their interests in this potential cash crop and have come up with effective measures of developing varieties that are suited to the diverse climatic and geographical conditions in South and North America. According to Jacobsen (2003), quinoa reveals great potentials in its ability to produce optimal yields in different areas of North America. The current study seeks to undertake a critical analysis of the gains presented by quinoa by underscoring its economic significances in North America and South America.
Economic Significance of Quinoa
The international consumption of quinoa has seen a steady increase over the years. According to Vilcacundo and Hernández-Ledesma (2017), the cultivation and production of this commodity gas grown from the conventional notion of being considered as a crop restricted to the Andean mountains to the acquisition of new breeds with the ability to survive in other mountainous regions of Africa and the Himalayas. For instance, Martínez, Fuentes, and Bazile (2015) explain that quinoa was introduced in England in the 1970s with great potentials in countries such as Denmark, Scotland, the Netherlands Greece Czech Republic and Italy. Jacobsen (2017) reveals that in the United States, mega projects aimed at breeding suitable species have been initiated in establishments such as the White Mountain Farm located in the Colorado Rockies since 1987. Bazile, Baudron, and Green (2015) explain that while the greatest portion of quinoa seeds consu...