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The effects of rural development policy on land rights distribution and land use scenarios: The case of oil palm in the Peruvian Amazon

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  • Bennett, Aoife
  • Ravikumar, Ashwin
  • Cronkleton, Peter

Abstract

Decades of development history show that rural agricultural policies and government support for specific en vogue crops can seriously alter land rights, land tenure regimes and land use strategies for local people in tropical forests. Today, oil palm is such a crop, and it is an emergent commodity that is proliferating in the Peruvian Amazon. This paper asks: How is government interest in promoting oil palm development affecting property rights formalization for smallholders in the Peruvian Amazon region of Ucayali, and what are the socio-ecological implications? While there are strong theoretical reasons that expect these phenomena to be related, the precise nature of their interaction has not been rigorously examined in Peru. The study analyses data from a large household survey, and three years of participant observation work in those villages to unpack how these factors interact. The paper presents descriptive results comparing smallholder claims to their formal rights, and finds a large discrepancy between de facto and de jure land ownership scenarios – especially with relation to old-growth forest fragments. Furthermore, whilst our statistical model testing qualifies our hypothesis about the link between oil palm and land right in the region at both the household and village levels, it is not a direct causal relationship. The empirical results suggest a more complex nuanced picture of how migration, oil palm expansion and development are more broadly linked to land use change in the region. We conclude with policy recommendations that could facilitate improved forest conservation in the area, and a more equitable distribution of land rights to smallholders.

Suggested Citation

  • Bennett, Aoife & Ravikumar, Ashwin & Cronkleton, Peter, 2018. "The effects of rural development policy on land rights distribution and land use scenarios: The case of oil palm in the Peruvian Amazon," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 84-93.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:lauspo:v:70:y:2018:i:c:p:84-93
    DOI: 10.1016/j.landusepol.2017.10.011
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    1. Pacheco, Pablo, 2009. "Agrarian Reform in the Brazilian Amazon: Its Implications for Land Distribution and Deforestation," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 37(8), pages 1337-1347, August.
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    1. Andrieu, N. & Blundo-Canto, G. & Cruz-Garcia, G.S., 2019. "Trade-offs between food security and forest exploitation by mestizo households in Ucayali, Peruvian Amazon," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 173(C), pages 64-77.
    2. João Carrilho & Jorge Trindade, 2022. "Sustainability in Peri-Urban Informal Settlements: A Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(13), pages 1-35, June.
    3. Glinskis, Emmalina A. & Gutiérrez-Vélez, Víctor H., 2019. "Quantifying and understanding land cover changes by large and small oil palm expansion regimes in the Peruvian Amazon," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 95-106.
    4. Augusto Carlos Castro-Nunez & Ma. Eliza J. Villarino & Vincent Bax & Raphael Ganzenmüller & Wendy Francesconi, 2021. "Broadening the Perspective of Zero-Deforestation Interventions in Peru by Incorporating Concepts from the Global Value Chain Literature," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-17, November.
    5. Genowefa Blundo-Canto & Gisella S. Cruz-Garcia & Elise F. Talsma & Wendy Francesconi & Ricardo Labarta & Jose Sanchez-Choy & Lisset Perez-Marulanda & Paula Paz-Garcia & Marcela Quintero, 2020. "Changes in food access by mestizo communities associated with deforestation and agrobiodiversity loss in Ucayali, Peruvian Amazon," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 12(3), pages 637-658, June.
    6. La Rosa Salazar, Miguel Angel, 2021. "Preocupaciones y cambios de política: ¿hacia la sostenibilidad de la palma aceitera en la Amazonía?," Economia Agraria y Recursos Naturales, Spanish Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 21(01), June.
    7. Albertus, Michael, 2019. "The effect of commodity price shocks on public lands distribution: Evidence from Colombia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 294-308.
    8. Castellanos-Navarrete, Antonio, 2021. "Oil palm dispersal into protected wetlands: Human–environment dichotomies and the limits to governance in southern Mexico," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).
    9. Wang, Jing & Lin, Yifan & Glendinning, Anthony & Xu, Yueqing, 2018. "Land-use changes and land policies evolution in China’s urbanization processes," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 375-387.
    10. Azadi, Hossein, 2020. "Monitoring land governance: Understanding roots and shoots," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).

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