Commodity Agriculture Research Articles

What is still at stake in the Gran Chaco? Social-ecological impacts of alternative land-system futures in a global deforestation hotspot

Commodity agriculture continues to spread into tropical dry forests globally, eroding their social-ecological integrity. Understanding where deforestation frontiers expand, and which impacts this process triggers, is thus important for sustainability planning. We reconstructed past land-system change (1985–2015) and simulated alternative land-system futures (2015–2045) for the Gran Chaco, a 1.1 million km2 global deforestation hotspot with high biological and cultural diversity. We co-developed nine plausible future land-system scenarios, consisting of three contrasting policy narratives (Agribusiness, Ecomodernism, and Integration) and three agricultural expansion rates (high, medium, and low). We assessed the social-ecological impacts of our scenarios by comparing them with current biodiversity, carbon density, and areas used by forest-dependent people. Our analyses revealed four major insights. First, intensified agriculture and mosaics of agriculture and remaining natural vegetation have replaced large swaths of woodland since 1985. Second, simulated land-system futures until 2045 revealed potential hotspots of natural vegetation loss (e.g. western and southern Argentinian Chaco, western Paraguayan Chaco), both due to the continued expansion of existing agricultural frontiers and the emergence of new ones. Third, the strongest social-ecological impacts were consistently connected to the Agribusiness scenarios, while impacts were lower for the Ecomodernism and Integration scenarios. Scenarios based on our Integration narrative led to lower social impacts, while Ecomodernism had lower ecological impacts. Fourth, comparing recent land change with our simulations showed that 10% of the Chaco is on a pathway consistent with our Agribusiness narrative, associated with adverse social-ecological impacts. Our results highlight that much is still at stake in the Chaco. Stricter land-use and conservation planning are urgently needed to avoid adverse social-ecological outcomes, and our results charting the option space of plausible land-system futures can support such planning.

Relationships of regeneration in Great Plains commodity agriculture

Relationships of regeneration in Great Plains commodity agriculture

‘Cropaganda’: Mythology of Corn Belt agriculture

Even as scholars have increasingly recognized the role of industrial agricultural practices in contributing to non-point source pollution, drinking water in the Corn Belt remains perilously contaminated with excess nitrates, which pose a significant risk to human health and the environment. A recent lawsuit filed by the city of Des Moines, Iowa against three upstream counties over chronic nitrate pollution sparked heated debate around the roles and responsibilities of agricultural production. Drawing on Barthes’ theory of mythology, this paper explores how three core myths influence agricultural management paradigms and practices that contribute to the water quality crisis in Iowa and shape how key stakeholders have responded (Barthes, R. 1972 [1957]. Mythologies. New York: Hill and Wang). This article relies on ethnographic data to explain agricultural nitrate pollution and the stalled progress on water quality improvement. Together these myths draw on post-enlightenment ideas of nature, security, and modernity to perpetuate productivist behavior, claim resources for conventional commodity agriculture, and impede widespread adoption of alternative agricultural practices. By identifying and interrogating each myth, I aim to reveal and complicate the inherent contradictions in its representation of reality to strip it of ideological function and, in doing so, cultivate opportunities to imagine and create an alternative system that benefits both people and the planet.

A framework for understanding land control transfer in agricultural commodity frontiers

AbstractAcross the globe, the expansion of large‐scale commodity agriculture is occurring not into empty space but over existing social systems. An understanding of the dynamics of expansion and associated impacts of commodity agriculture thus fundamentally requires examining how existing control regimes are dissolved and, simultaneously, how novel ones are assembled in order to make way for the changes in resources use that characterize these transitional moments. With this in mind, in this article, I provide a broad review of the strategies used to secure control over land prospected for agricultural commodity production, distinguishing between the tactics that are applied by agro‐interested actors in order to ‘break down’ forms of existing land control, those they apply in parallel to ‘build up’ new control structures, and those strategies that are applied by actors (often smallholders) wishing to ‘hold on to’ the control that they have. I then present a framework for examining the dynamics of control transfer that builds on this analytical structure of ‘breaking down’, ‘building up’, and ‘holding on to’ control.

FORMATION OF FOOD SECURITY OF UKRAINE IN THE CONDITIONS OF EUROPEAN INTEGRATION

The problem of food security in Ukraine today is more urgent than ever. Due to the intervention of the aggressor country in the socio-economic and political processes of Ukraine, the constant displacement of the population within the country and large-scale migration abroad, the destruction of infrastructure and other reasons, there is a negative impact on the production and stability of commodity agriculture and agro-industrial complex, including the impact on production of agricultural machinery and equipment, processing of agricultural raw materials, production of fertilizers, agrochemicals and other materials necessary for agriculture and providing citizens with food in general. The article examines the current problem of food security formation in Ukraine in the context of European integration. The current state of the food security system in the country was analyzed and the main challenges faced by Ukraine in the process of integration with the European Union were revealed. Particular attention is paid to the risks and technical aspects associated with the formation of food security in the context of European integration. The influence of the European integration process on the development of agriculture, in particular, the increase in export opportunities and the use of modern technologies, is considered. Strategies for improving food security in Ukraine through legislative changes and training of relevant specialists are proposed. It is recommended to introduce the effective agricultural methods that would reduce the impact on the environment and contribute to the preservation of the soil fertility, efficient use of water resources, improvement of transport and logistics infrastructure, investment to scientific research, development of scientific and technical development programs, etc. The article highlights the standards and requirements that are relevant in the EU in the formation of food security, and examines their impact on the Ukrainian economic system. The need to adapt national legislation to European standards was considered, and recommendations were made for improving the system of quality control and food safety.

The uneasy marriage of private standards and public policies for sustainable commodity governance

AbstractGlobal value chains for commodity agriculture have been the target of a broad array of sustainability governance efforts led by both public and private actors. In this paper, we ask: how do public policies and private standards interact in commodity‐exporting countries? To answer this question, we examine the interactions between voluntary sustainability standards and domestic public policies in three cases: soybean farming in Brazil, palm oil production in Indonesia, and pangasius aquaculture in Vietnam. We find that in each case, public and private governance interactions go through a period of competition before ending in a state of reluctant complementarity. We argue that this reluctant complementarity results from the need of governments in commodity‐producing countries to maintain export markets for their goods. This finding challenges the idea that complementarity between public and private sustainable commodity governance is driven by goal alignment and tempers expectations that standards and certifications can mitigate deforestation.

Does farmer sexual orientation influence profitability on US farms? An empirical examination using census of agriculture data

AbstractUsing Census of Agriculture (2017) data, we investigate the association between the principal operator's sexual orientation and farm profitability. Farms run by a male principal operator married to another male (MMM) have higher profits than farms run by a male principal operator married to a woman (MMW), a woman married to a man (WMM), and a woman married to another woman (WMW). Having two men on farm confers profit advantages. Compared with other marital combinations studied, MMM operate large‐scale farms, are more experienced farmers, and are more likely to engage in commodity agriculture. Findings suggest gender, not sexual orientation, is driving the observed profit gaps.

German Colonies of St. Petersburg Province

Russia of the 18th – 19th centuries faced a crucial challenge of sparsely populated suburbs consolidation through their economic development. Acute shortage of work force to be involved for transformation of Novorossiya, the steppes of the North Caucasus and the Middle Volga region, Siberia and some other regions into the centers of commodity agriculture and industrial production, forced the authorities to turn to the use of European experience and place a bet on foreign colonization. Central Europe, devastated by the Seven-Year War, brought to life tens of thousands of potential colonists, who answered the call of Empress Catherine the Great to move to the unoccupied lands of the Russian Empire. Since 1765, the first colonies (Novo-Saratovka, Srednaya Rogatka, Yamburg and Izhora colonies) were formed near St. Petersburg. Investigation of the history of these settlements in the imperial period is extremely poor in modern historiography. The article examines the initial period of their existence (1765 – 1800s). It took about 30 years for German colonists to adapt to new living conditions. Some colonies (Srednaya Rogatka) became centers of commodity production of agricultural products (potatoes, etc.), sold in the capital-city market, at the beginning of the 19th century already. Experiments on the advanced multi-field system implementation, initiated by Semyon Dzhunkovsky, opened the way to increase productivity and income of the colonists. The new crop rotation system spurted into popularity not only in the colonies, but in the neighboring settlements of Russian peasants as well. The article is intended for specialists engaged in the study of agrarian development, ethnic minorities of Russia in the imperial period.

Feasibility of Local Commodities on Peatlands

Indonesian peat ecosystem, generally managed for protection and cultivation functions, contributes to providing economic benefits to the local community through agricultural practices. This study aims to evaluate the feasibility of local commodity agriculture (coffee, areca, coconut, and pineapple) on peatland from social, ecological, and economic perspectives using descriptive and quantitative approaches in Mendahara-Batanghari, Jambi. Data was collected from interviews of 60 farmers in two villages with three types of farms, including monoculture and polyculture of commodities. The results of this study showed that socially, farmers still have difficulty with access and infrastructures. Coconut, areca, and coffee are popular among the smallholders because of land suitability, low maintenance, and high selling price. From an ecological perspective, intercropping on polyculture farms is able to store more carbon with a high density of biomass than on monoculture farms. Generally, the carbon emissions of local commodity farms are lower than other types of plantations, such as oil palm and rubber plantations. Lastly, from an economic perspective, local commodity farming in the study area is feasible based on analyses of net present value, benefit cost ratio, and internal rate of return. Polyculture farms provide higher benefits compared to monoculture land. The income is considered sufficient for standard living needs, and there is potential to increase the revenue by developing and optimising processing product industries.

Effectiveness of protected areas in preventing forest loss in a tropical mountain region

As forest loss is accelerating in tropical mountains globally, protected areas (PAs) are seen as bastions to protect sensitive ecosystems, preserve biodiversity, and safeguard headwater catchments from degradation. However, the effectiveness of PAs in preventing forest conversion has rarely been determined. Complicating the issue is that many PAs are inhabited to some extent by long-standing residents, causing illegal logging that is commonly reported. To assess the effectiveness of PAs in preserving forests, as well as investigate the drivers of forest loss in/near PAs, we compare forest loss rates inside and outside PAs before and after their establishment in a tropical mountain region (northern Thailand, the epicenter of mainland Southeast Asia, including 84 PAs). Over the 17-year period from 2000 to 2016, we found that the percentage of forest loss was lower within the PAs than outside (1.69% versus 4.94%). Mean annual forest loss in the PAs was 20% of that in unprotected area. Total forest loss inside PAs included 888.12 km2 (1.93%) in national parks, 325.18 km2 (1.34%) in wildlife sanctuaries/conservation areas and 16.37 km2 (0.65%) in no hunting areas. Forest loss also tended to be highest along boundaries within a 300-m buffer both inside and outside the PAs. Using gradient boosting decision trees, we determined that accessibility variables (elevation, and distance to road) and population were key drivers associated with forest loss in PAs. Further, we found a two-year lagged correlation between forest loss in PAs and international maize price (R2 = 0.73, p < 0.001), indicating the sensitivity of forest loss in some locations to commodity agriculture trends. Finally, we acknowledge the difficulty of managing forest loss in PAs because of the large populations of people living within the boundaries who rely on forest products to support their livelihoods, as well as difficulties in enforcing illegal logging laws.

Menguak Realitas Jejak “Goah” Sebagai Simbol Sakralitas Pertanian Di Desa Ciasmara Kecamatan Pamijahan Kabupaten Bogor

Agriculture is one of the important sectors that contribute to national income. However, agricultural development currently has a tendency to increase productivity so that it impacts on the agricultural system which tends to make agriculture is more just an activity that produces agricultural "commodities" Mainstreaming agriculture into "commodity agriculture" has an impact on the destruction of cultural infrastructure supporting agriculture. This study aims to: Identify "Goah" in Ciasmara Village, Pamijahan District, Bogor Regency. This study uses a Rapid-Ethnography approach, located in the village of Ciasmara, Pamijahan District, Bogor Regency from March 2019 - August 2019. This research found that in Ciasmara village there is still a "goah", but its form is no longer limited to a special space where to place rice but the "Goah" has transformed into another form such as a bucket or a special drum. The transformation form of the "Goah" is a result of the limitations of domestic space and the shift in the value of agricultural sacredity in the village.

Agricultural expansion and the ecological marginalization of forest-dependent people

Agricultural expansion into subtropical and tropical forests causes major environmental damage, but its wider social impacts often remain hidden. Forest-dependent smallholders are particularly strongly impacted, as they crucially rely on forest resources, are typically poor, and often lack institutional support. Our goal was to assess forest-smallholder dynamics in relation to expanding commodity agriculture. Using high-resolution satellite images across the entire South American Gran Chaco, a global deforestation hotspot, we digitize individual forest-smallholder homesteads (n = 23,954) and track their dynamics between 1985 and 2015. Using a Bayesian model, we estimate 28,125 homesteads in 1985 and show that forest smallholders occupy much larger forest areas (>45% of all Chaco forests) than commonly appreciated and increasingly come into conflict with expanding commodity agriculture (18% of homesteads disappeared; n = 5,053). Importantly, we demonstrate an increasing ecological marginalization of forest smallholders, including a substantial forest resource base loss in all Chaco countries and an increasing confinement to drier regions (Argentina and Bolivia) and less accessible regions (Bolivia). Our transferable and scalable methodology puts forest smallholders on the map and can help to uncover the land-use conflicts at play in many deforestation frontiers across the globe. Such knowledge is essential to inform policies aimed at sustainable land use and supply chains.

Fenced off: Measuring growing restrictions on resource access for smallholders in the Argentine Chaco

The rapid expansion of commodity agriculture worldwide is threatening forest ecosystems and the livelihoods of millions of people who depend on them. Forest-dwelling smallholders in agricultural frontier regions are facing mounting pressures due to changes in land control, notably through the privatization and enclosure of natural resources. Impacts of agricultural expansion on smallholders are often approximated by measuring deforestation, yet changes in land control and associated pressures on smallholder livelihoods occur well beyond the limits of deforested areas. We propose a novel approach to evaluate changes in access to land for smallholders stemming from gradual changes in land control along commodity frontiers. We apply this approach in the Argentine Gran Chaco, a region that has experienced amongst the highest global rates of deforestation for agriculture in recent years. Our findings suggest that access to natural resources for smallholders has been reduced far beyond what would be expected if only looking at deforestation, and that the degree to which access has decreased differs between livelihood activities. As such, this study highlights the fact that forest smallholders are likely facing pressures to move or shift their livelihood strategies well in advance of the actual conversion of forest in their immediate vicinity.

Large-scale commodity agriculture exacerbates the climatic impacts of Amazonian deforestation

In the Amazon rainforest, land use following deforestation is diverse and dynamic. Mounting evidence indicates that the climatic impacts of forest loss can also vary considerably, depending on specific features of the affected areas. The size of the deforested patches, for instance, was shown to modulate the characteristics of local climatic impacts. Nonetheless, the influence of different types of land use and management strategies on the magnitude of local climatic changes remains uncertain. Here, we evaluated the impacts of large-scale commodity farming and rural settlements on surface temperature, rainfall patterns, and energy fluxes. Our results reveal that changes in land-atmosphere coupling are induced not only by deforestation size but also, by land use type and management patterns inside the deforested areas. We provide evidence that, in comparison with rural settlements, deforestation caused by large-scale commodity agriculture is more likely to reduce convective rainfall and increase land surface temperature. We demonstrate that these differences are mainly caused by a more intensive management of the land, resulting in significantly lower vegetation cover throughout the year, which reduces latent heat flux. Our findings indicate an urgent need for alternative agricultural practices, as well as forest restoration, for maintaining ecosystem processes and mitigating change in the local climates across the Amazon basin.

The political economy of unsustainable lock-ins in North American commodity agriculture: a path forward – Response to Struckman

In this commentary, I argue that in North America, the overuse of synthetic nitrogen fertilizer is due to institutional and technological lock-ins, which are the result of historical policies with deep roots in an agricultural system focused on increasing production of commodities with disregard for their full social costs. Further, excessive fertilizer use is integral to production systems that have disconnected crop and livestock production to the extent that manure is a waste product, which further creates environmental problems. In order to address the environmental and social problems associated with industrial agriculture, it will be necessary to bring market prices closer to true social costs, thereby eliminating overproduction of commodity grains and oilseeds, and to promote more diverse agricultural landscapes.

A contemporary concept of the value(s)-added food and agriculture sector and rural development

ABSTRACT The changing structure of agriculture strains the historically close relationship between commodity agriculture and rural development. Meanwhile, growth in consumer interest for differentiated, value-added products has the potential to create community economic development opportunities. However, the evidence regarding the benefit of value-added programs for broader community wealth is mixed. We argue that the mixed findings result, in part, from differences in how “value-added” is defined. Value-added agriculture has been conceptualized in many ways. Taking a US-focused approach, we first review four main concepts: value-added, short food supply chain, values-based supply chain, and civic agriculture. Building on these, we present our definition of a value(s)-added food and agriculture sector, incorporating three features: (1) Consumers make purchases that simultaneously provide utility and enable a price premium; (2) the shared principles among firms and their relational arrangement support the distribution of the value, and thus the premium, across the chain and between owners and employees (the use of “principles” or “values” prompts the “(s)” in our definition); and (3) supply chain actors have a demonstrated commitment to the community. We discuss how this definition contributes to debates in, and has implications for, community economic development policy.

De agrovila a nó logístico do agronegócio na Amazônia: o caso de Miritituba, Itaituba, Pará

A presente pesquisa tem como objetivo analisar as políticas públicas e coorporativas de logística do agronegócio da soja para viabilizar a exportação de commodity agrícola pelos portos do Arco Norte, com ênfase para o distrito de Miritituba, Itaituba, Pará e seus reflexos no lugar, face à implantação de Estações de Transbordo de Cargas (ECT) em Miritituba. Com o avanço do asfaltamento da rodovia Cuiabá - Santarém e da aprovação da lei 12.815\2013 (lei de portos), a partir de 2014 começa a instalação de ETC na localidade transformando o pequeno povoado, localizado a margem direita do rio Tapajós em um importante nó logístico estrada-rio do agronegócio na Amazônia no atual período histórico.

Analysis of Regional Economic Competitiveness of Gorontalo Province (Case Study of Gorontalo Province Corn Commodity)

This study aims to determine the analysis of regional economic competitiveness in Gorontalo Province by looking at the value of export of superior corn commodity agriculture. This research covers regional areas in Gorontalo Province. The specific objective to be achieved is to obtain analytical data on the economic competitiveness of the Gorontalo Province in terms of the competitiveness of corn commodity exports. This list is expected to be an input for stakeholders to issue policies in increasing economic competitiveness in corn commodities in Gorontalo Province. This research was carried out in Gorontalo Province with objects in 5 districts and 1 city in Gorontalo Province detecting the competitiveness of each region. The method of analysis of this study uses the RCA (Revealed Comparative) comparative analysis method with the time of the 2013-2017 study. The results of the RCA (Revealed Comparative Advantage) analysis describe the competitiveness of Gorontalo Province's corn commodity exports experiencing fluctuations in which Gorontalo Province's corn commodity exports in 2014, 2015 and 2017 had strong competitiveness, while in 2013 and 2016 Gorontalo Province's maize commodity decreased due to that year Gorontalo Province did not export corn besides the absence of exports because domestic corn prices were quite good.Keywords: Competitiveness, Corn Leading Commodities

Scaling up sustainability in commodity agriculture: Transferability of governance mechanisms across the coffee and cattle sectors in Brazil

A number of governance mechanisms address socio-environmental challenges associated with commodity agriculture in tropical forested countries. Governance mechanisms that prove effective in one agricultural sector are often applied to other sectors as well. For example, voluntary certification programs have been adopted by producers of commodities as diverse as beef, coffee, palm oil, and soy. However, there are substantial differences in the extent to which governance mechanisms scale up and achieve impact in different sectors. This paper analyzes how the potential for scaling up a particular governance mechanism is influenced by environmental, market, and social geographies that differ between sectors. Through stakeholder interviews, farm-level surveys, and a literature review, we examine two types of voluntary governance mechanisms (third-party certification, and sustainable intensification programs) in the coffee and cattle sectors in Brazil, to understand why the two governance mechanisms have scaled differently between these two sectors. We find that third-party certification programs have scaled up relatively well in Brazil's coffee sector, more so than its cattle sector, in part owing to differences in sustainability priorities, market orientations, supply chain traceability, and social networks between the two sectors. We also find that pilot sustainable intensification programs in the cattle sector have had more success than certification in engaging farmers, in part because they involve less investment from participating farmers. We conclude that the distribution and quality of environmental resources, markets, knowledge, actors, and networks can play an important role in the ability of a governance mechanism to effectively take root.

Czy można wykorzystać instrumenty zwrotne do rozwoju sektora rolnego w krajach UE?

The objectives of the article include, firstly, identifying determinants of the capital needs of agriculture (at various levels), and secondly, an attempt to assess the feasibility of using repayable instruments for agricultural development in EU countries. A situation of the commodity agriculture in EU countries was depicted. A comparative assessment of current implementations of financial instruments in Latvia, Bulgaria and Romania was presented. While utilisation of repayable instruments may bring various benefits, the limitations of institutional and micro-economic considerations should be taken into account.