oil palm boom: socio-economic implications for Q’eqchi’ households in the Polochic valley, Guatemala

• Published in: Environment, development and sustainability Vol. 16; no. 4; pp. 841 - 871
• Main Authors: Mingorría, Sara, Gamboa, Gonzalo, Martín-López, Berta, Corbera, Esteve
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer-Verlag 01-08-2014; Springer Netherlands; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Access to land; Agricultural commodities; Agricultural economics; Agricultural ecosystems; Arthropods; Biodiesel fuels; Biodiversity; Biofuels; Carbon sequestration; Case studies; Consumption; Corn; Crops; Cultivation; Cultivation practices; Development strategies; diet; Earth and Environmental Science; Ecology; Economic Geology; Economic Growth; Economic models; Economic statistics; Economic theory; Ecosystems; Elaeis guineensis; Emissions; Environment; Environmental Economics; Environmental Management; exports; Focus groups; Food consumption; Food security; Gender; Guatemala; Households; humans; Indigenous peoples; interviews; Laboratories; Land; Land tenure; Local economy; Maize; Native peoples; Oils & fats; Palm; Plantations; Remote sensing; Rural areas; Rural development; Security; Social behavior; Socioeconomic development; Socioeconomic factors; Studies; Subsistence agriculture; subsistence farming; Sustainable Development; Valleys; Vegetable oils; women; Guatemala; Guatemala; Societal metabolism; Palm oil; Gender; Indigenous communities; Well-being indicators
• ISSN: 1387-585X; 1573-2975
• DOI: 10.1007/s10668-014-9530-0

Oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) has become one of the most rapidly expanding crops in the world. Many countries have promoted its cultivation as part of a broader rural development strategy aimed at generating paid work and producing both export commodities and biofuels. However, oil palm expansion has often occurred at the expense of ecosystems and subsistence agriculture, and on lands riddled with tenure conflicts. In this article, we analyse the implications of the combined effect of labouring in oil palm plantations and land access on households, and we discuss how these implications affect human well-being in two indigenous communities of the Polochic valley, Guatemala. Combining participant observation, semi-structured interviews, and land-time budget analysis at household level, we reveal how oil palm cultivation increases incomes for plantation workers’ households, but decreases the productivity of maize cultivation, reduces the time that household members have available for other activities and, particularly, reduces women’s resting time. In contrast, households that focus more intensively on maize cultivation show higher degrees of food security and women can allocate more time to social activities. However, our results also show that maize consumption per capita has not decreased in households working in oil palm plantations since such crop is considered sacred by the Q’eqchi’ and plays a central role in their diet and culture. In conclusion, we argue that while working for an oil palm cultivation can increase specific elements of the basic material conditions for a good life, other aspects such as food security, health, freedom of choice, and social relationships can become deteriorated.