Toxic Dispossession: On the Social Impacts of the Aerial Use of Glyphosate by the Sugarcane Agroindustry in Colombia

Abstract

Over the last five decades, the total area cultivated with sugarcane in Colombia has increased by 280%. The consolidation of the sugarcane agroindustrial cluster has been based on a process of modernization that has included the aerial spraying of more than 783,442 kg of glyphosate since 2001. The resulting increase in productivity for the sugar mills has been accompanied by what we refer to as “toxic dispossession” of ethnic communities in the Alto Cauca region. This article presents a critical examination of modern-day agroindustrial activities, particularly those pertaining to the chemical maturation of sugarcane, and provides evidence for the environmental and social damage that the industry has generated for rural ethnic communities, whose well-being, livelihoods and traditional territories have deteriorated rapidly.