Abstract
The “neoliberal period” witnessed some of the largest forest clearing in Latin America, particularly in the relatively untouched eastern lowlands of sub-tropical Bolivia. This paper shows through the use of satellite imagery analysis that ~10,000 km2 of forest were cleared during this time period (1986–2006) from an area of forest measuring ~55,000 km2. It also shows through the use of semi-structured interviews that the role and the rationale of the individual producer was equally if not more important than structural adjustment policies and their accompanying effects in driving these changes. Producers decisions of how to use the land are influenced by their background and knowledge of production systems (“tradition”), physical and climatic factors, crops which require relatively little input and are easy to cultivate, soil and tillage factors, concerns over quantity of production, and government policies. The importance of this study lies in the fact that the factors which play an important role in land-use and land-cover change are complex and multivariable and include individual decisions of the producer which are sometimes external to the market and other outside influences. This study could possibly serve as an exemplar and a warning that conservationists and policy-makers should take heed of in the future. By focusing solely on macro-economic policies, we can often overlook the individual producer and their decision-making capacity to alter the landscape.
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Notes
In its most basic form, neoliberalism has been defined as a political philosophy or worldview of free markets and less government (Liverman and Vilas 2006: 329). This philosophy or view is built on the argument that less government intervention will lead to a more efficient market and therefore, greater economic growth (Stiglitz 2002). For a more thorough description of origins, components, and implementation in Latin America, see Gwynne and Kay (2000).
For this study, I have defined “decision-making” as the process whereby individual producers (i.e., farmers) decide on a course of action based on other possible alternatives. The result or choice can be based on action or opinion, regardless whether the choice is seen as rational or irrational since the producer has no advance knowledge of the consequences. This study largely takes into account the “psychological perspective” of decision making whereby I examine individual decisions in the context of a set of needs, preferences an individual has and values they seek (Kahneman and Tversky 2000).
High-input, high-output agricultural systems have been previously described by Brannstrom (2009) for southern Brazil, and are synonymous with ‘modern agriculture’ (Pretty et al. 2001) or ‘industrial agriculture’ (Horrigan et al. 2002; Wilson 2001). Under either name, crop production is typified by large amounts of inputs relying on outside industries to supply labor, tractors and irrigation equipment, fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, modified seeds, and fuel, in an effort to maximize yields for commercial export (Pimentel et al. 1973).
Created by the Santa Cruz Natural Resources Protection Project and funded by the World Bank in the mid-1990s, the PLUS map was designed to plan development in Santa Cruz by taking into account precipitation and soil fertility, depth, texture, slope, salinity and chemical toxicity. It is still closely followed by government agencies and producer associations.
The elbow of the Andes (or Arica elbow) is a geographical location at roughly 18°S where the orientation of the Andes begins to trend from southeast to a more southerly direction. The bend creates changes in topography, atmospheric wind patterns, local air circulation, and decreasing rainfall moving south.
Respondents stated that certain crops are relatively low input. Of course, this depends upon what the comparison is. For example, cotton is one of the most chemically intensive crops grown in many parts of the world. However, I chose to leave this list as written since these were original responses noted by the interviewees.
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Acknowledgments
This study was funded by the National Science Foundation, SBE DDRI Geography and Regional Science and Office of International Science and Engineering (Grant: BCS–0802672), and was additionally funded by Texas A&M University. I sincerely thank both institutions for their support as well the anonymous reviewers whose comments and suggestions helped to significantly improve this manuscript. I also thank the Human–Environment Group at Texas A&M, particularly Dr. Christian Brannstrom, and Dr. Mitchell Aide of the University of Puerto Rico for their valuable advice during the early drafts. My particular thanks to Phil Bender who patiently set up interviews with farmers, producer organizations, helped with the inevitable translation issues, and helped me to achieve one of my holy grails––to interview Mennonite farmers.
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Redo, D. The role of the individual producer in driving land change: the case of Santa Cruz, Bolivia, 1986–2006. GeoJournal 78, 69–84 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10708-011-9432-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10708-011-9432-8