South America is growing fewer Coca plants – the raw ingredient for making the illegal drug cocaine – according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.  But it doesn’t translate to less cocaine in the world, as the drug lords have improved their own efficiency and productivity.

Peru and Bolivia have each reduced the area planted with coca.  Peru reduced the size of its coca plantations by 17.5 percent between 2012 and 2013, bringing them down to 49,800 hectares.  Bolivia chopped coca by 9 percent to 23,000 hectares – the lowest in 12 years. 

Bolivian President Evo Morales got this done, even though he’s long been a champion of allowing indigenous groups to plant coca for traditional medicinal uses.  The practice of chewing coca leaves as a mild stimulant is an ancient tradition in Bolivia, where coca tea is also consumed.

Colombia’s government confirms that the area used for coca agriculture remained stable at 48,000 hectares.  Right wing and leftist rebel groups have used coca cultivation as an income source in Colombia for decades.  But with President Juan Manuel Santos’ peace talks with the Marxist FARC, new deals are in place to cooperate in fighting cocaine trafficking.