© T. M. Whitmore TODAY Agriculture and rural development continued  V: Internal Colonization of Tropical Lowlands - Amazonia  The issue of lowland tropical deforestation Mexican Agriculture- an example of a dual system Other examples of Commercial Agriculture in LA

© T. M. Whitmore LAST TIME- Questions? Agriculture and rural development continued  IV: Dual agricultural systems or “The Productivity Paradox”  V: Internal Colonization of Tropical Lowlands

© T. M. Whitmore Agricultural and Rural Development V: Internal Colonization of Tropical South American LowlandsLowlands Example III from Amazonia  > 600 million ha  Amazonian environments  Terra firme  Várza  Savanna

© T. M. Whitmore Development history in Amazonia I Early extractive usesextractive “Spontaneous” peasant agricultural colonization and Governmentally planned colonization in  Brazilian Amazon Brazilian  Andean Amazon Andean

© T. M. Whitmore Development in Amazonia II Patterns of peasant colonization  Fishbone patterns Fishbone  Scale & geography of change Scale  Causes  Cattle ranching Cattle  Consequences Consequences  Ecuadorian “Oriente”Oriente Commercial expansion of modern agriculture  Example of soy in Mato Grososoy in Mato Groso

© T. M. Whitmore Amazonian deforestation Wider consequences  In Brazil  speculation and abandoned lands  Loss of rare tropical rain forest  Destruction of species  Destruction of Indigenous people’s traditional livelihood  Consequences for global warming  Fails to solve land tenure problem  Local weather impacts Solutions?

© T. M. Whitmore Fordlândia Jarí Area of high density of rubber trees

© T. M. Whitmore

© Greenpeace / Felipe Goifman

Planned Spontaneous Amazonian colonization

USGS

© T. M. Whitmore

Source: NASA

Source: Frontiers in Ecology

© Roger J. Harris, 2001

Ecuadorian Oriente © Christine Erlien

© Koeppe

Soy in S America

© Koeppe

© T. M. Whitmore Tropical DeforestationDeforestation Deforestation ratesrates Causes  Agricultural clearing  Pasture clearing  Timber harvesting  Oil exploration/extraction  Population growth?  Degradation of lands in source areas of migrants  Poor land tenure equity in source areas of migrants  Urban poverty

© T. M. Whitmore Mexican Agriculture-examples Dual system spatially and functionally Regions in Mexican agriculture  Northern irrigated oasesirrigated  Mesa Central and BajíoBajío  Commercial, specialty, & small holderspecialty  Southern highland Mexico, lowlands near Gulf of Mexico, and Yucatan Southern highland Mexico, lowlands near Gulf of Mexico, and Yucatan  Commercial & small holdersmall holder

Bajío

Irrigated maize in Bajío

Tequila

Pulque (like tequila & mezcal, pulque is from maguey, a species of agave) – not a cactus

Magueys in fallow field C. Mexico

© T. M. Whitmore Traditional maize cob storage

Milpa (i.e., field – usually corn) in Chiapas

© T. M. Whitmore Commercial Agriculture in LA Argentina Chilean central valley Brazil Peru’s coastal oasescoastal Columbia’s coffee Columbia’s Specialty crops: coca, flowers, fernscocaflowersferns Central America’s 3 Cs3 C

Pampas Wines

Argentine Soy (98% GMO)

Navin Ramankutty, Nicholas J. Olejniczak, and Jonathan A. Foley Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment Cultivation Intensity

© T. M. Whitmore Soy Citrus Fruit

© T. M. Whitmore

© Chris Jochem 2006 North coastal Peruvian cane

© T. M. Whitmore

Cut flower cultivation on ancient terraces; near Tarma, Peru

© T. M. Whitmore Cut flower cultivation on ancient terraces; near Tarma, Peru

© T. M. Whitmore Fern growth under mesh In cloud forest in the Sierra de las Minas, Guatemala

© T. M. Whitmore

coffee Tropical plantation crops Cotton, sugar

© T. M. Whitmore