Environmental displacement effects on urban farmers in Luján de Cuyo, Mendoza, Argentina

Keywords: Urban planning, urban agriculture in interstitial spaces, relocation, environmental displacement, feminist political ecology
Abstract Type: Paper Abstract

Abstract

This study examined a population that had practiced urban agriculture in interstitial spaces of riverbanks in Mendoza, Argentina. Bajo Luján was established in the 1950s along the Mendoza River in the department of Luján de Cuyo (Mendoza). The municipality provided seeds, other inputs and training to low-income residents for their plots and a community garden supplying a community kitchen. With the population’s relocation by municipal staff (the largest relocation in the region’s history) in November-December 2019, ostensibly to make way for a new municipal park and to protect the population from recurring flood risk, it was unclear what happened to their agricultural activities. Environmental resettlement was imposed on this large population in Bajo Luján, Mendoza, whereas elsewhere it is practiced informally as smaller populations move to reduce environmental effects on livelihoods. The urban planning project in this study involved the relocation of Bajo Luján residents to urban and peri-urban locations throughout Mendoza. Environmental justice and feminist political ecology frameworks were utilized to better understand the multi-dimensionality of material issues pertaining to dislocation and gendered livelihoods. We conducted interviews in 2022 of female and male farmers and used government surveys undertaken of each household before relocation. We studied the effects of displacement and relocation on their agriculture-related livelihoods including impacts on social networks around agricultural production and exchange. This study revealed these urban farmers are resilient despite deficient institutional environments and resources post-relocation. The majority of relocated individuals used inter-generational knowledge exchange and online resources instead of in-person extension specialists' assistance.