Social, environmental and territorial consequences of the agribusiness model in the Chaco region in Argentina

ABSTRACT

Since the mid-19th century, the unequal distribution of and access to land and common goods such as water have exacerbated the socio-economic differences to land and common goods such as water have exacerbated socio-economic differences between the inhabitants and agro-industrial entrepreneurs in the province of Chaco, Argentina. In this scenario, relations based on socio-environmental injustice have meant that the main people affected are the members of the indigenous and peasant communities who have historically lived in these territories and whose ways of knowing and living in these spaces have been violated on a daily basis. From an anthropological perspective, this article aims to describe and analyse the scenario in which these differences emerge, configuring spaces of power and contestation in which heterogeneous interests converge. where heterogeneous (and often contradictory) interests converge. This article, based on more than a decade of fieldwork, recovers ethnographic interviews, as well as a review of specialised literature and analysis of sources, from which the aforementioned scenario will be described.

RESUMEN

Depuis le milieu du XIXe siècle, l’inégalité de la répartition et de l’accès à la terre et aux biens communs tels que l’eau a exacerbé les différences socio-économiques entre les habitants et les entrepreneurs agro-industriels de la province du Chaco, en Argentine. L’inégalité de la distribution et de l’accès à la terre et aux biens communs tels que l’eau a exacerbé les différences socio-économiques entre les habitants et les entrepreneurs agro-industriels de la province du Chaco, en Argentine. Dans ce scénario, les relations fondées sur l’injustice socio-environnementale ont eu pour conséquence que les principales personnes affectées sont les membres des communautés indigènes et paysannes qui ont historiquement vécu dans ces territoires et dont les modes de connaissance et de vie dans ces espaces ont été violés au quotidien. D’un point de vue anthropologique, cet article vise à décrire et à analyser le scénario dans lequel ces différences émergent, configurant des espaces de pouvoir et de contestation dans lesquels convergent des intérêts hétérogènes. où convergent des intérêts hétérogènes (et souvent contradictoires). Cet article, basé sur plus d’une décennie de travail sur le terrain, reprend des entretiens ethnographiques, ainsi qu’une revue de la littérature spécialisée et une analyse des sources, à partir desquelles le scénario susmentionné sera décrit.

KEYWORDS:

• Indigenous peoples
• environment
• territory
• agribusiness
• Chaco

PALABRAS CLAVES:

• peuples indigènes
• environnement
• territoire
• agro-industrie
• Chaco

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. Chaco’s main navigable rivers are the Bermejo and Paraguay-Paraná. Among other of the province’s important rivers are the Negro, Tapenagáe, Bermejito – tributary of the Bermejo – and the Teuco.

2. https://www.diarionorte.com/258077-el-gran-resistencia-es-por-lejos-el-aglomerado-urbano-con-mas-pobres-e-indigentes.

3. Several factors can cause soil salinization. One is when groundwater rises to the surface and evaporates, leaving salt particles dissolved in the soil. Another is when rivers or streams flood or overflow. Salinization is also generated when forests and hills are cleared, thereby preventing the natural drainage of soils.

4. Biomass is organic matter –plant or animal – that can be used as a source of energy.

5. The project covered Provincial Route N°5 and another 2.5 km downstream from the Lavalle Bridge (National Route N°95), in the north-central area of Chaco.

6. An article published by a group of engineers from the National University of the Northeast analyzes the effects of this project in the region and concludes that: “It is important to highlight that the construction of the defenses as a lateral levee modifies the runoff conditions of the Bermejo River and, consequently, the probability of occurrence of different levels” (Pilar et al. 2016, 171).

7. “Peche Met with Producers from Pampa del Indio” (available at: https://www.tn24.com.ar/2019/05/peche-se-reunio-con-productores-de-pampa-del-indio/).

8. Drinking water and sanitation project, 2017 (available at: https://ucpypfe.mininterior.gob.ar/BirfPIVNG/RP3/EIA/EIACap4-Chaco.pdf).

9. Daily reports from the National Fire Management Service, National Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development (available at: https://www.argentina.gob.ar/ambiente/fuego/reporte-diario-manejo-del-fuego).

10. SAMEEP Report (available at: https://ucpypfe.obraspublicas.gob.ar/BirfPIHNG/IEA-PmpaIndioCap4.pdf).

11. Ibid.

12. NEA Observatory of social conflicts, 2020 (available at: http://fundacionideaschaco.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Pampa-del-Indio-Informe-fumigaciones-con-agrot%C3%B3xicos-2006-2018_OCSO-NEA.pdf).

13. Webinar: Water management in the Gran Chaco americano (available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAbUyILGnPk).

14. Available at: https://chaco.gov.ar/noticia/58501/capitanich-presento-el-plan-ganadero-provincial-buscamos-un-modelo-mas-equitativo-y-con-mayor-valor-).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Malena Castilla

Malena Castilla, BA and PhD in Anthropological Sciences from the Faculty of Philosophy and Literature (FFyL), University of Buenos Aires (UBA). She teaches as an Adjunct Professor at the National University of La Matanza, where she directs research and university extension projects together with students, graduates, and teachers of the University. In the framework of her position as assistant researcher at the National Council for Scientific and Technical Research (CONICET), she works on the environmental and territorial conflicts emerging in the Province of Buenos Aires and in the Chaco region, where indigenous communities are the protagonists. She is involved in different extension and research projects related to the problems she addresses in her work and directs undergraduate and postgraduate students in their academic training.