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Changes to Agricultural Decision Making and Food Procurement Strategies in Rural Paraguay

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 September 2022

Elizabeth Finnis ,
Clotilde Benítez ,
Estela Fatima Candia Romero  and
Maria José Aparicio Meza
Elizabeth Finnis
Affiliation:
University of Guelph, Canada
Clotilde Benítez
Affiliation:
Universidad Nacional de Asunción, Paraguay
Estela Fatima Candia Romero
Affiliation:
Universidad Nacional de Asunción, Paraguay
Maria José Aparicio Meza
Affiliation:
Universidad Nacional de Asunción, Paraguay
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Abstract

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This research note provides a preliminary discussion of changing agricultural and food procurement strategies in a smallholder farming community in Piribebuy District, Paraguay. Although considerable attention has been paid to the contemporary problems of soy agriculture in Paraguay, it is also important to engage with the experiences of smallholders who are not involved in or affected by soy cultivation, as this highlights farmers' diverse everyday experiences and their agricultural priorities. We consider three issues that have emerged as key to farmer agricultural decision making in this community: farmer perceptions of environmental changes, processes of dietary delocalization via the movement of food from urban centers to rural communities, and the intersection of labor issues and aging farmers.

Resumen

Resumen

Esta nota de investigación provee una discusión preliminar sobre los cambios agrícolas y en las estrategias de obtención de alimentos en una pequeña comunidad campesina en el distrito de Pirebebuy, Paraguay. Aunque se ha dado considerable atención en los problemas vinculados al cultivo de la soja en Paraguay, es también importante poner atención en las experiencias de familias de pequeños agricultores que no están afectadas por el cultivo de soja, y cómo estos agricultores destacan las experiencias cotidianas y sus prioridades agrícolas. Hemos considerado tres aspectos centrales que han emergido como claves para la toma de decisiones de las familias agricultoras en esta comunidad: las percepciones sobre los cambios ambientales, los procesos de deslocalización de la dieta por medio del movimiento de alimentos desde los centros urbanos hacia comunidades rurales, y la intersección de los temas laborales y de envejecimiento de los agricultores.

Type
Research Reports and Notes
Information
Latin American Research Review , Volume 47 , Issue 2 , 2012 , pp. 180 - 190
Copyright
Copyright © 2012 by the Latin American Studies Association

Footnotes

We thank LARR's editors and anonymous reviewers and Lisa Kowalchuk for helpful suggestions on early drafts of this article. For research assistance we thank Domitila Pereira, Noelia Ríos Méndez, and Sasha Planás. Special thanks go to the members of the community of Lindo Manantial. We appreciate the ongoing support of the dean of the Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias at the Universidad Nacional de Asunción. In addition, we gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (Canada).

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