Effects of Large-Scale Land Acquisitions (LSLA) on Local Food Production: Evidence From Peru

Peru is currently experiencing an increasing privatization of land and its resources with unknown long-term effects for local communities. Along the northern Peruvian coast the cumulative effect of numerous LSLAs is creating shortages vis-à-vis the multiple water demands of local food producers. As food production is mainly concentrated in the Coast and Sierra, the increasing pressure on land and water resources has a serious impact on the food producing capacity of the country as a whole. Using case material from the Rio Chira watershed, this paper shows how policies, institutions and laws governing the access to land and natural resources favor large-scale investors over small-scale farmers, leading to a consolidation of export-oriented agribusiness at the expense of the local food production capacity. By tracing the LSLA-water-food-nexus in Peru, this paper contributes to ongoing discussions regarding the commodification of resources and its implications for local food systems.