Who is left behind in global food systems? Local farmers failed by Colombia's avocado boom

Bibliographic Data

ID4969110
AuthorsA Serrano (0000-0002-2954-0962, University of Wisconsin–Madison, corresponding author), Andrew Brooks (0000-0002-1900-9625)
Year2019
Volume2
Issue2
Pages348-367
Publication date2019-06-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueEnvironment and Planning E Nature and Space (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2514-8486 • E-ISSN: 2514-8494
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/2514848619838195
OpenAlexW2924807872
LanguageEN
Citations received11
References cited37

Work on global food systems has focused on the livelihoods of farmers directly affected as growers of agricultural export goods and has paid less attention to those who are left behind by new patterns of production and consumption. The connections between pre-existing agricultural livelihoods and the new systems of provision associated with fashionable products are poorly understood. Global trends in food culture have wide ranging local impacts. In this paper, we argue that researchers need to look beyond linear commodity chains and the goods that travel from producers in one country to consumers in another and expand global food systems analysis to understand what regional livelihoods are modified or displaced by globalized agriculture. Avocados are a popular health food among millennials. Colombia is experiencing a boom in exports. Avocados have long been grown in the Santander region, but global demand has turned them into a politically important crop. Using food systems analysis, our field research illuminates how new opportunities for capital accumulation are transmitted through global markets and shape regional agricultural practices. Large investors have profited, while small-scale farmers have been impoverished. We demonstrate how the interplay of requirements for homogenous fruit from local supermarkets, demand for the export Haas variety, as well as the government's export-oriented policies have modified local livelihoods.Our contribution examines the broader social space in which agriculture is located. We argue for the need to study food systems beyond the vertical relations that constitute linear supply chains and examine the horizontal context of systems of provision

Agriculture · Boom · Business · Commodity · Economics · Food security · Food systems · Geography · Livelihood · Market economy · Engineering · Global trade, sustainability, and social impact · Innovation and Socioeconomic Development · Organic Food and Agriculture

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