Cattle ranching in Colombia: A monolithic industry?

The Colombian cattle sector on the one hand contributes to the rural economy and producer welfare but on the other hand is one of the main contributors to climate change and environmental degradation. Given this panorama, the sector is currently under transformation towards more sustainability, incl...

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Main Authors: Triana Ángel, Natalia, Campuzano, Lorena, Burkart, Stefan
Format: Poster
Language:Inglés
Published: Bioversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture 2022
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/121969
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author Triana Ángel, Natalia
Campuzano, Lorena
Burkart, Stefan
author_browse Burkart, Stefan
Campuzano, Lorena
Triana Ángel, Natalia
author_facet Triana Ángel, Natalia
Campuzano, Lorena
Burkart, Stefan
author_sort Triana Ángel, Natalia
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description The Colombian cattle sector on the one hand contributes to the rural economy and producer welfare but on the other hand is one of the main contributors to climate change and environmental degradation. Given this panorama, the sector is currently under transformation towards more sustainability, including both climate change mitigation and adaptation. One solution for achieving sustainable intensification is the implementation of sustainable, forage-based cattle production systems. Despite the availability of sustainable technologies and practices, adoption levels are low, however. This study analyses literature on the history of cattle ranching and agricultural innovation adoption in Colombia to understand how cattle production systems have evolved from the 1950s until today. Departing from new scholarship that has questioned the idea that cattle ranching has been only a land-grabbing strategy dominated by few elites, this article focuses on the adoption of improved pastures and the role of key institutions in the transformation of practices and the shortcomings of technification. It shows that Colombia has had big transformations with the introduction of improved pastures, particularly Brachiaria spp., but these transformations did not translate into a radical change in the dominant extensive livestock production systems. Instead of promoting intensification, the adoption of Brachiaria has allowed producers to expand more, often resulting in high levels of deforestation. One of the main contributions of this article is the analysis of economic, developmentalist, and institutional reports that are not often used to construct historical analysis. It can also serve to scholars interested in the adoption of agricultural techniques.
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spelling CGSpace1219692025-12-08T10:29:22Z Cattle ranching in Colombia: A monolithic industry? Triana Ángel, Natalia Campuzano, Lorena Burkart, Stefan extensive husbandry innovation adoption climate change forage resilience sustainable intensification ganadería extensiva adopción de innovaciones cambio climático The Colombian cattle sector on the one hand contributes to the rural economy and producer welfare but on the other hand is one of the main contributors to climate change and environmental degradation. Given this panorama, the sector is currently under transformation towards more sustainability, including both climate change mitigation and adaptation. One solution for achieving sustainable intensification is the implementation of sustainable, forage-based cattle production systems. Despite the availability of sustainable technologies and practices, adoption levels are low, however. This study analyses literature on the history of cattle ranching and agricultural innovation adoption in Colombia to understand how cattle production systems have evolved from the 1950s until today. Departing from new scholarship that has questioned the idea that cattle ranching has been only a land-grabbing strategy dominated by few elites, this article focuses on the adoption of improved pastures and the role of key institutions in the transformation of practices and the shortcomings of technification. It shows that Colombia has had big transformations with the introduction of improved pastures, particularly Brachiaria spp., but these transformations did not translate into a radical change in the dominant extensive livestock production systems. Instead of promoting intensification, the adoption of Brachiaria has allowed producers to expand more, often resulting in high levels of deforestation. One of the main contributions of this article is the analysis of economic, developmentalist, and institutional reports that are not often used to construct historical analysis. It can also serve to scholars interested in the adoption of agricultural techniques. 2022-09-15 2022-09-30T10:42:50Z 2022-09-30T10:42:50Z Poster https://hdl.handle.net/10568/121969 en Open Access application/pdf Bioversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture Triana-Ángel, N.; Campuzano, L.; Burkart, S. (2022) Cattle ranching in Colombia: A monolithic industry? Poster prepared for Tropentag 2022 - Can Agroecological Farming Feed the World? Farmers' and Academia's Views. Prague, Czech Republic, 14-16 September 2022. Cali (Colombia): Alliance of Bioversity and CIAT. 1 p.
spellingShingle extensive husbandry
innovation adoption
climate change
forage
resilience
sustainable intensification
ganadería extensiva
adopción de innovaciones
cambio climático
Triana Ángel, Natalia
Campuzano, Lorena
Burkart, Stefan
Cattle ranching in Colombia: A monolithic industry?
title Cattle ranching in Colombia: A monolithic industry?
title_full Cattle ranching in Colombia: A monolithic industry?
title_fullStr Cattle ranching in Colombia: A monolithic industry?
title_full_unstemmed Cattle ranching in Colombia: A monolithic industry?
title_short Cattle ranching in Colombia: A monolithic industry?
title_sort cattle ranching in colombia a monolithic industry
topic extensive husbandry
innovation adoption
climate change
forage
resilience
sustainable intensification
ganadería extensiva
adopción de innovaciones
cambio climático
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/121969
work_keys_str_mv AT trianaangelnatalia cattleranchingincolombiaamonolithicindustry
AT campuzanolorena cattleranchingincolombiaamonolithicindustry
AT burkartstefan cattleranchingincolombiaamonolithicindustry