Abstract

Socio-environmental impacts of the territorialization of African oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) are analyzed in Mexico and Brazil. This crop is strongly promoted by agro-industrial companies and the public policies created by the respective Nation States. The expansion of African oil palm plantations is not solely a Mexican or Brazilian phenomenon, since it is present in different parts of the world, mainly being produced in Asia, Africa and Latin America. In Mexico and Brazil, agrofuel and oil derivative plantations are related to an assumed generation of economic income for producers. In Brazil, they have been linked to the "social and economic inclusion" agenda in family farming, which presupposes certain public policies, such as the National Program for the Production and Use of Biodiesel (PNPB) and the Sustainable Palm Oil Production Program (PPSOP). In Mexico, it has been promoted through FIRCO’s South-Southeastern Productive Development Program and FomenPalma. Effects show an accumulation model based on the devaluation of the farmer’s life, exploitation and agrarian dispossession, which causes the restructuring of agricultural production processes in Mexico and Brazil. References included an extensive number of texts on the subject and fieldwork in the two countries between 2014 and 2017.

Keywords: socioenviromental impacts; african oil palm; farmer; Mexico; Brazil