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LATIN-AM-Latin-Amerika-programmet

Gender and Agricultural Change in Argentina: The Impact of Gene Modified Soybean Revolution

Tildelt: kr 0,62 mill.

Based on anthropological fieldwork among Argentine farmers in Santa Fe province, this project is a continuation of an over-time research on social change in rural Argentina initiated in 1973. It aims to analyse the impact of the "GMO revolution" that has taken place in Argentina over the last two decades. Since GM soy was introduced in Argentina in 1996, the country has become the world's third largest producer (after the United States and Brazil), and the world's largest exporter of soy. This product now accounts for more than half of Argentina's agricultural production, over a quarter of the country's exports, and soybean production continues to grow. Almost all soy is exported, mainly to China and the EU as animal feed and bio-fuel. Due to high demand and high market prices globally, soy plays a crucial role in the Argentine economy. With an export tax of 35% on soy, it represents huge revenues for the state. At the same time, it creates a number of social and environmental problems. The project focuses on the direct and indirect effects of increased soybean cultivation among farmers in Santa Fe province. Results from the project indicate that the direct impact of GMO revolution is less extensive in the study area compared with other parts of the country, where production no longer is controlled by farmers, but by large commercial companies with limited interest in environment and sustainability. Although there has been a gradual increase in soy cultivation locally, soy has not eradicated other crops and/or livestock as in many other parts of Argentina. It is usually grown in rotation with other crops, with less negative environmental impacts. However, the expansion of soy cultivation has resulted in major economic and social changes in the countryside. New technologies require heavy investments and larger production areas. Family farms have been replaced by small agribusiness units. Some farmers have managed this transition, most have not. They rent out their land or combine farming with employment or other sources of income, to prevent selling the land that in most cases has been in the family for generations. Rural urban migration has accelerated and the countryside is becoming emptied of people. This restructuring has caused economic and social problems, but also brought new opportunities, especially for women and significant changes in gender roles and relations. Living in rural towns it is now common for women to pursue higher education and join the workforce, especially those born after 1980. In contrast to earlier generations, younger women of today have an active life outside the household, most have economic independence (the rule is no longer that men carry the wallet and women the coin purse), and couples make important decisions together. Similarly, men are more involved at home by helping with house chores and raising the children. Virginity and chastity are no longer defining the value of women in society and the topic of sexuality is more openly discussed. Women and men know that they can decide if and when they want to have children and how many they will have. Finally, it is also now more common (particularly for those 35 or younger) to date and change partners, unlike before when divorces or break ups were unacceptable. Women have not become involved in agriculture. Agriculture has remained a male domain as it has always been.

The main aim of this project is to study the impact of the recent GMO revolution on social and gender relations as part of a longitudinal study of processes of social change among farmers in Argentina. Argentina is a paradigmatic case when it comes to GM production in Latin America, being the only country that has permitted massive liberation and commercialization of GM production, mainly soy beans and corn. 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 the Santa Fe province. The project is part of a longitudinal study of agrarian change that wa s 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 bi ological technologies. An overall concern is whether the GM production has contributed to the reduction of poverty and inequality, as its defenders sustain. What are the direct and indirect effects of the introduction of GM soybeans on land use patterns ? Here 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. A major focus of the study will be to investigate continuity and changes in gender relations in light of the changes in production and residence patterns.

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LATIN-AM-Latin-Amerika-programmet

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