Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Local response to soyization in Santiago del Estero, Argentina
In the Southern Cone, soybean cultivation has left an indelible mark on the land-
scape and on the social conditions of its inhabitants. The province of Santiago del
Estero in northern Argentina (see Figure 11.1 ) is among the areas most recently im-
pacted by soyization and, given Navé's current researh in the region, we use it as
a case study to highlight some of the real-life implications of the process. While the
particular social, political and environmental conditions are unique to the region,
the impacts on land tenure, human and animal health, and productive capacity are
common to areas of soybean cultivation throughout eastern Paraguay and in south-
ern and central Brazil. The response of the campesino groups in Santiago del Estero
is also somewhat distinctive in the scale and coordination of the membership. Their
aspirations for appropriate tehnology, community-led development and active con-
tribution to domestic food security resonate with those of small-scale producers en-
countered elsewhere in the Southern Cone. Thus, the case study provides insight to
both the hallenges posed by soybean cultivation as well as the potential, locally-
initiated solutions that correspond to greater nutritional security and environmental
sustainability.
Figure 11.1 Map of Santiago del Estero Province, Argentina
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