The Socio-Ecological Ramifications of Boom Crops: Examining the Impacts of Oil Palm Expansion upon Food System Vulnerability in the Lachuá Ecoregion, Guatemala by Anastasia Hervas A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Geography & Planning and School of Environment University of Toronto © Copyright by Anastasia Hervas 2019 The Socio-Ecological Ramifications of Boom Crops: Examining the Implications of Oil Palm Expansion upon Food System Vulnerability in the Lachuá Ecoregion, Guatemala Anastasia Hervas Doctor of Philosophy Geography & Planning and School of Environment University of Toronto 2018 Abstract Integration of contract farmers into oil palm production schemes has been advocated as a strategy for spurring rural development and improving food security in the global South. In Guatemala, oil palm contract farming has been promoted through a contentions government program, which has led to rapid expansion of the crop in the country’s northern lowlands, including the Lachuá Ecoregion where this study is set. In this thesis, the socio-ecological food systems framework is used to demonstrate ways in which oil palm expansion has altered food system vulnerability and adaptation capacity in an oil-palm dominated community in the Lachuá Ecoregion, as compared to a neighbouring community with minimal oil palm presence and prevalent staple maize farming. Effects of oil palm on local land transactions, employment, and household income are examined in relation to cross-scalar dynamics of self-provisioning and market-provisioning of food. Ecological variables including the conditions ii of forests, water, and soil nutrient cycling are also considered as they lead to changes in local food access and consumption patterns, notably the reduced consumption of fresh vegetables, fruits, and herbs. This study challenges the official narrative that smallholder oil palm cultivation catalyses rural development, improves food security, and deters peasant land sales. Results indicate that oil palm expansion has accelerated land sales and put pressure on subsistence farming, while providing limited benefits to the host community – namely non-inclusive and precarious jobs. At the same time, it exacerbated many existing food system vulnerabilities, such as degraded soils and shrinking forest resources, and introduced new ones, including increased exposure to global commodity shocks. The study concludes that, in the absence of profound efforts to address the underlying causes of food system vulnerability, the promotion of cash crops like oil palm will exacerbate inequalities in food access and weaken the food system overall. iii Table of Contents Table of Contents .......................................................................................................................... iv List of Tables ............................................................................................................................... viii List of Figures ............................................................................................................................... ix List of Appendices ........................................................................................................................ xi Preface: Limitations, Disclaimers, and Acknowledgements .......................................................1 Chapter 1 .......................................................................................................................................11 1. Introduction ..............................................................................................................................11 1.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................11 1.2 The Study ..........................................................................................................................13 1.3 Thesis Outline ....................................................................................................................16 Chapter 2 .......................................................................................................................................19 Frameworks and Methods ......................................................................................................19 2.1 Origins and transformations of ‘food security’ ..............................................................19 2.2 Cash crops and food security...........................................................................................23 2.3 Targeting smallholders and contract farmers ...............................................................25 2.4 Oil palm contract farmers and development .................................................................28 2.5 The food security link ......................................................................................................35 2.6 Socio-ecological systems: a parallel narrative ...............................................................38 2.7 Methods: situated SEFS ....................................................................................................41 2.7.1 Food security in SEFS ...........................................................................................44 2.7.2 Defining vulnerability and adaptation ................................................................45 2.7.3 Study region ..........................................................................................................48 2.7.4 Participant communities .....................................................................................50 iv 2.7.5 Data collection methods ......................................................................................51 2.7.6 Data Analysis and Limitations .............................................................................55 2.7.7 Contribution to SEFS ............................................................................................57 2.8 Synthesis ...........................................................................................................................57 Chapter 3 .......................................................................................................................................59 Literature Review: Cash Crops in Guatemala ........................................................................59 3.1 From conquest to export capitalism ...............................................................................59 3.2 Democratic reforms .........................................................................................................63 3.3 Government-led developmentalism ...............................................................................64 3.4 Neoliberal restructuring ..................................................................................................66 3.5 New agrarian extractivism? .............................................................................................68 3.6 The Guatemalan oil palm boom ......................................................................................72 3.7 ProRural/ProPalma – emergence of oil palm contract farmers ...................................74 3.8 Oil palm, development, and food security in Guatemala ..............................................78 Chapter 4 .......................................................................................................................................84 Land, Labour, and Development in the Oil Palm Host Community .....................................84 4.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................84 4.2 Formation of Palm and Maize Villages ...........................................................................85 4.3 Agriculture in the Lachuá Ecoregion ..............................................................................86 4.4 Oil Palm Growers in Palm Village ...................................................................................88 4.5 Land distribution in Palm and Maize Villages................................................................89 4.6 Land history in Palm and Maize Villages ........................................................................91 4.7 Oil palm and outcomes for employment ........................................................................98 4.8 Recruitment and labour relations on oil palm operations ...........................................99 4.9 Oil palm and outcomes for household income ............................................................108 4.10 Oil palm and outcomes for wages .....................................................................109 v 4.11 Oil palm contract farming and future prospects for development ................110 4.12 Discussion ...........................................................................................................114 Chapter 5 .....................................................................................................................................119 Oil Palm Expansion and Staple Food Access .......................................................................119 5.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................................119 5.2 Results .............................................................................................................................121