The Avocado Connection to Ecosystem Degradation, Violence and Migration

鳄梨与生态系统退化、暴力和移民的联系

• 批准号: 2242268
• 负责人: Eugenio Arima
• 金额: $ 40万
• 依托单位: University of Texas at Austin
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-09-01 至 2026-08-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2242268&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Avocado; Connection; Ecosystem; Degradation; Violence

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.

本项目审查农业商品繁荣对社会和环境的影响，特别是有利可图的农产品出口如何影响生产国森林生态系统的完整性和有组织犯罪集团的参与。一种作物的“繁荣”种植可能会导致产区的森林迅速砍伐。此外，随着犯罪集团涉足该行业，农村工人和小土地所有者往往被剥夺土地并被迫迁移。暴力、砍伐森林和强迫移民都分别与有利可图的商品联系在一起，但它们之间的相互关系很少被整体审查。在一个跨学科研究小组的基础上，这项研究解决了三个问题：当一种有利可图的农产品的种植面积扩大时，什么类型的原生植被会消失？一种商品的高利润率是否与卡特尔存在的增加有关，妇女和儿童是否受到不成比例的影响并被迫移徙？该项目的结果对商业、人权和国家安全都有影响。此外，它还为博士后研究人员以及本科生和研究生提供培训、指导和专业发展。随着土地变化科学家收集证据并开发分析方法，以了解全球市场与栖息地丧失之间的关系，至关重要的是了解市场如何造成额外的社会外部性，因为在缺乏有效机构的情况下，犯罪和暴力猖獗。这项研究采用综合了地理空间技术、调查和口述历史访谈的混合方法，对全球市场如何与生物多样性退化以及因有组织犯罪暴力而被迫迁徙的个人的经历进行了分层分析。该项目代表了与政策相关的研究，将为商品的可持续生产和消费、生态日益萎缩的重要地区的保护以及在增长地区和美国与难民接壤的边境地区保护人类福祉提出基于科学的建议。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。