A Small Garden Fair is Growing Big Dreams in Bolivia

Photo: Families in Alpacoma, Bolivia sell their produce at a community fair called the My Little Entrepreneur Fair.

In a quiet neighbourhood in Alpacoma, just southwest of La Paz, Bolivia, something remarkable is taking root. What began as a modest idea – families sharing the extra produce from their home gardens – has grown into a vibrant, community-led initiative called My Little Entrepreneur Fair. Launched with the support of Kinvia’s donors and our local partner, SCSJ, this family-driven market is cultivating more than just vegetables: it's nurturing skills, confidence, and a deeper sense of community.

Freddy, an agronomist and family food security coordinator at the Alpacoma community centre.

“The mini fair started because families [were producing] surplus vegetables like lettuce and chard,” explained Freddy, an agronomist and family food security coordinator at the Alpacoma community centre. While families were minimizing food waste by trading with each other, the opportunity to scale it up and reach a broader market took hold.

“We can produce our own food here in the city not by going to rural areas,” Freddy said.

With his guidance, 15 families now take part in the fair held in the Alpacoma neighbourhood. The stalls brim with fresh produce – leafy greens like lettuce and chard, vibrant tomatoes and beets, and fragrant herbs like parsley and cilantro. But the real beauty lies in what happens in the homes and gardens where families prepare food together, teach their children to eat healthy, and learn new techniques to grow fruits and vegetables like precision irrigation and building small greenhouses near their homes.

Eva and her children

Eva, a mother of three, is one of the early participants. For her, the opportunity to make additional income was a motivator, but the rewards went deeper: “My children helped me dig, plant and water the plants, and take them out to sell.” She is hoping to have a bigger garden someday so she can grow even more produce.

Her son Jimmy, 9, is now an enthusiastic helper in both the garden and at the fair. “Sometimes I go with my mom to the garden and I help her pull out the chard and lettuce,” he said. He likes eating the produce best, but, like his mother, he appreciates the family time that working in the garden gives them.

Flora gardening with her young daughter

Flora, another mother involved in the fair, echoed the satisfaction she gets from being able to eat what she grows and sell the extra. She also notes that her family, like others, are now eating more fruits and vegetables: “Since we started gardening, we have been eating more vegetables and preparing more soups. We use what we produce to make salads and eat more vegetables.”

As families learn to grow food not just for their own consumption but also for sale, they're acquiring key business skills like budgeting, marketing, and customer service. While they don’t yet have a permanent space to market their products, My Little Entrepreneur Fair has ignited aspirations.

Flora’s long-term vision is to “learn more about cookies and pastry making,” another project that SCSJ supports in the community, build another garden, and gain the knowledge to expand her culinary offerings.

Even young Jimmy has his eye on the future. He hopes “that my family continues producing and selling to all the people who are here,” he said.

While the fair may be small in scale, it’s generating a lot of interest. According to Freddy, families are hearing about it and are interested in starting their own family gardens and getting involved in the fair. He thinks it’s just a matter of time before they have a more permanent space “where families can sell their products on a larger scale,” growing – and earning – more.

What began as a way to make sure surplus produce didn’t go to waste is becoming a platform for community development, family bonding, personal growth – and bigger dreams.