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Abstract
The policies implemented in Colombia for the past 40 years addressing domestic production have focused on the promotion of industrialization and increasing economic growth. These policies boosted production in different areas including livestock and monoculture cultivation. However, alongside this increasing productivity is the transformation of the landscape and disappearance of local knowledge that continues to be ignored by the global market. This paper analyzes the changing landscape brought about by the expansion of livestock production and industrialization of agriculture in rural areas of Chocontá, Cundinamarca emphasizing on local people's perspectives. Using semi-structured interviews, life history elicitation, farm visits and activity recall during their waking hours, the paper presents how agricultural knowledge is "lost" and how new species and varieties of plants are introduced as well as how traditional crops "disappeared" because of these economic changes. In addition, the paper also examines how small-scale farmers negotiate their socio-economic conditions in order to survive, given the limited options they have. The impact on gender roles is also examined. It shows that because of the transformation, small-scale farmers are confronted with economic dilemmas that change the traditional activities related to gender roles. Women for example, are no longer contained in private spheres, but are also working outside the households, sometimes even being preferred to men to work as laborers in large farms. The paper concludes with the discussion of the future visions of local people about the transformation of their area as well as its implications on the future of rural Chocontá.
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References
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