The Avocado Connection to Ecosystem Degradation, Violence and Migration

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This project examines the social and environmental impacts of an agricultural commodity boom, particularly how a profitable agricultural export can influence the integrity of forest ecosystems and the involvement of organized crime groups in producing countries. “Boom” expansion of one crop can cause rapid deforestation in a producing region. Moreover, as criminal groups become involved in the industry, rural workers and small landholders are often dispossessed of land and forced to migrate. Violence, deforestation, and forced migration have each been associated with profitable commodities separately, but the interrelationship between them has rarely been examined holistically. Building on an interdisciplinary research group, this study addresses three questions: what type of native vegetation is lost when the cultivated area of a lucrative agricultural commodity expands? Is the high profitability of a commodity linked with increased cartel presence, and are women and children disproportionally impacted and forced to migrate? The project’s results have implications for commerce, human rights, and national security. Furthermore, it provides training, mentorship, and professional development to postdoctoral researchers and to undergraduate and graduate students. As Land Change scientists collect evidence and develop analytical approaches for understanding the relationship between global markets and loss of habitats, it is essential to know how markets create additional social externalities, as crime and violence flourish in the absence of effective institutions. Using a mixed-methods approach that integrates geospatial techniques, surveys, and oral history interviews, this study provides a layered analysis of how global markets relate to biodiversity degradation and the experiences of individuals forced to migrate due to organized crime violence. This project represents policy-relevant research that will result in science-based recommendations for sustainable production and consumption of commodities, conservation of ecologically dwindling important areas, and protection of human well-being both within the growing regions and at the US border with refugees.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.