About the project
Argentina is a paradigmatic case when it comes to GM production in Latin America. Since 1996 there has been a formidable expansion of GM soybean production for export, causing the decline of production of other agricultural products in the poorer areas of the country. Today soy bean crops cover fully half of the available arable land in the country and Argentina is the number three largest soybean producer in the world. The project focuses on the national development strategy associated with expansion of GM soy beans and its impact on small and medium family farmers, based on fieldwork in Santa Fe province. The project is part of a longitudinal study of agrarian change that was started in 1973-74 and continued in 1988, covering processes of transformation since the first Italian immigrants settled in the area in the 1880s. The present project focuses on the last two decades, and the local impact of the expansion of the new biological technologies.
An overall concern is whether the GM production has contributed to the reduction of poverty and inequality (in terms of class, gender and ethnicity) as its defenders sustain.
Changes in property rights, land tenure and use, employment and income pattern, and migration at household, community and regional level will be investigated. Possible environmental and health problems associated with the new biological technology will also be covered.
Duration
Ongoing
Cooperation
- Universidad de Belgrano, Buenos Aires
- IDES, Instituto de Desarrollo Económico y Social, Buenos Aires