Rents, Actors, and the Expansion of Commodity Frontiers in the Gran Chaco

Abstract

Theories of frontier expansion in the last four decades have been mostly shaped by studies of state-driven smallholder colonization. Modern-day agricultural frontiers, however, are increasingly driven by capitalized corporate agriculture operating with little direct government intervention. The expansion of contemporary frontiers has been explained by the existence of spatially heterogeneous “abnormal” rents, which can be caused by cheap land and labor, technological innovation, lack of regulations, and a variety of other incentives. Here, we argue that understanding the dynamics of these frontiers requires considering the differential ability of actors to capture such rents, which depends on their access to production factors and their information, preferences, and agency. We propose a new conceptual framework drawing on neoclassical economics and political economy, which we apply to the South American Gran Chaco, a hot spot of deforestation for soy and cattle production. We divide the region into a set of distinct frontiers based on satellite data, field interviews, and expert knowledge, to review the drivers and actors of agricultural expansion in these frontiers. We show that frontier expansion in the Chaco responded to the rents created by new agricultural technologies, infrastructure, and rising producer prices but that the frontier dynamics were strongly influenced by actors' abilities to capture or influence these rents. Our findings thus highlight that understanding contemporary commodity frontiers requires analyzing the novel ways by which the agency of particular groups of actors shapes land-use outcomes.

过去四十年来, 边疆扩张的理论, 多半由国家驱动的小农殖民研究所组成。现代的农业边疆, 却逐渐由资本化的农企业所驱动, 且在有限的政府直接介入下进行营运。当代边疆的扩张, 已由空间上异质的 “例外” 地租之存在解释之, 且可能由廉价的土地与劳动力、技术创新、缺乏管制与各种其他的动机所导致。我们于此主张, 理解这些边疆的动态, 必须考量行动者获得此般地租的能力差异, 该能力取决于他们取得生产要素的管道, 及其信息、偏好与行动力。我们运用新古典经济学和政治经济学, 提出崭新的概念架构, 并将之应用于南美州的格兰查科——一个因生产大豆与畜养牛隻而去森林化的热点。我们根据卫星数据、田野访谈和专家知识, 将该区域区分成特定的边疆组, 以回顾这些边疆中农业扩张的驱力及行动者。我们显示, 查科的边疆扩张, 呼应新农业技术、基础建设和提高的生产者价格所创造出的地租, 但边疆的动态却也强烈地受到行动者获取或影响这些地租的能力所影响。我们的研究结果因而强调, 理解当代的商品边疆, 必须分析特定行动者团体形塑土地使用结果的行动所使用的崭新方法。

En las pasadas cuatro décadas, las teorías de expansión de la frontera han sido configuradas principalmente por estudios sobre colonización orientada por el estado con base en pequeños propietarios. Sin embargo, las fronteras agrícolas del momento actual cada vez más van quedando bajo el control de la agricultura empresarial capitalizada, que opera con muy poca intervención gubernamental directa. Se ha pretendido explicar la expansión de las fronteras contemporáneas por la existencia de rentas “anormales” espacialmente heterogéneas, que pueden generarse por la tierra y el trabajo baratos, la innovación tecnológica, la falta de regulaciones y una variedad de otros incentivos. En este artículo sostenemos que para entender la dinámica de estas fronteras es necesario considerar la habilidad diferencial de los actores para captar tales rentas, lo cual depende de su acceso a los factores de producción y de su información, preferencias y agencia. Proponemos un nuevo marco conceptual a partir de la economía neoclásica y de la economía política, el cual aplicamos al Gran Chaco sudamericano, que es un punto caliente de la desforestación orientada a la producción de soya y ganado. Dividimos la región en un conjunto de diferentes fronteras con base en datos satelitales, entrevistas de campo y el conocimiento de expertos, con el fin de confrontar los motores y actores que mueven la expansión agrícola en esas fronteras. Mostramos que la expansión de la frontera en el Chaco respondió a rentas creadas por nuevas tecnologías agrícolas, infraestructura y el aumento creciente de los precios del productor, pero donde las dinámicas de la frontera fueron fuertemente influidas por las habilidades de los actores para captar o influir estas rentas. Entonces, nuestros hallazgos destacan que para entender las fronteras contemporáneas de las materias primas se requiere analizar las maneras novedosas por medio de las cuales la agencia de grupos particulares de actores da forma a lo que resulta del uso de la tierra.

Key Words:

• cattle
• frontiers
• Gran Chaco
• rent
• soy

关键词：:

• 牛支
• 边疆
• 格兰查科
• 地租
• 大豆。

Palabras clave:

• fronteras ganaderas
• Gran Chaco
• renta
• soya

Acknowledgments

This article contributes to the Global Land Programme (www.glp.earth). We thank the editor and four anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments.

Funding

This work has received support from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation (grant agreement GBMF 426); the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (grant agreement 677140 MIDLAND); German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF, grant agreement 031B0034A PASANOA); and the German Research Foundation (DFG, grant agreement KU 2458/5–1).

Notes

1. Calculated as where F is the forest area.

2. Santa Cruz is only partially in the Chaco ecoregion; its northern part pertains to the more humid Chiquitano forest.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Yann le Polain de Waroux

YANN LE POLAIN DE WAROUX is Assistant Professor at McGill University, Montreal, QC H3A 0B9, Canada. E-mail: [email protected]. He was a postdoctoral researcher at the School of Earth, Energy, and Environmental Sciences and Woods Institute for the Environment, Stanford University (United States) for the duration of this study. His research addresses the relationship between dynamics of land-use and land-cover change and processes of economic globalization.

Matthias Baumann

MATTHIAS BAUMANN is a Postdoctoral Researcher at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (Humboldt University Berlin), 10099 Berlin, Germany. E-mail: [email protected]. His research addresses land-use science-related questions, currently with a regional focus on South America. Remote sensing and statistical modeling form the backbone of his work.

Nestor Ignacio Gasparri

NESTOR IGNACIO GASPARRI is a researcher at the Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (National Scientific and Technical Research Council, CONICET) of Argentina and a lecturer of landscape ecology at the Universidad Nacional de Tucumán (National University of Tucumán), CP 4107 Yerba Buena, Tucumán, Argentina. E-mail:  [email protected]. His research interests include contemporary deforestation frontiers and questions of carbon balance related to forests and land-use change. In particular, he studies soybean expansion as driver of deforestation in the Gran Chaco region.

Gregorio Gavier-Pizarro

GREGORIO GAVIER-PIZARRO is a researcher at the Centro de Investigación de Recursos Naturales (Center for Natural Resource Research, CIRN) and Instituto de Recursos Biológicos (Institute for Biological Resources, IRB), of the Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (National Institute of Agrarian Technology, INTA), Hurlingham, Provincia de Buenos Aires, Argentina. E-mail: [email protected]. His research focuses on understanding the biodiversity response to human-related landscape changes, including agricultural expansion and forest loss and fragmentation, exurban development, biological invasions, and land use change.

Javier Godar

JAVIER GODAR is a Senior Research Fellow at the Stockholm Environment Institute, 104 51 Stockholm, Sweden. E-mail:  [email protected]. His primary research focus is on transitions toward more sustainable land-use systems in the forested tropics, in particular by mapping and understanding global trade flows and the risks associated to the local production and trade of forest-risk commodities (e.g., soy, beef, or palm oil). He is a cofounder of the Trase platform (http://trase.earth/).

Tobias Kuemmerle

TOBIAS KUEMMERLE is Professor at the Department of Geography at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (Humboldt University Berlin), 10099 Berlin, Germany. E-mail: [email protected]. His research focuses on understanding dynamics in land systems, how these dynamics impact the environment, and how to balance human resource use and environmental conservation. Regionally, he has recently focused on South America and Eastern Europe.

Robert Müller

ROBERT MÜLLER is a biologist and a geographer, working as an independent consultant in Berlin, Germany. E-mail: [email protected]. His research interests include land-use change, biodiversity conservation, and climate change, with a focus on South America.

Fabricio Vázquez

FABRICIO VÁZQUEZ is a lecturer at the National University of Asunción, San Lorenzo, Central, Paraguay. E-mail:  [email protected]. He researches regional economic development, agricultural value chains, and demographic processes in Paraguay.

José Norberto Volante

JOSÉ NORBERTO VOLANTE is a National Project Coordinator at the Salta Experimental Station of the Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (National Institute of Agrarian Technology, INTA), Cerrillos, Salta, Argentina. E-mail:  [email protected]. His research interests include land-use and land-cover changes and their impacts, particularly in the Argentine Chaco.

Patrick Meyfroidt

PATRICK MEYFROIDT is Research Associate at the F.R.S.-FNRS, Brussels, Belgium, and Professor in the Earth and Life Institute at Université Catholique de Louvain, 1348 Louvain-La-Neuve, Belgium. E-mail: [email protected]. His research interests include the causes of land use changes and the role of globalization in tropical landscapes.