Why are Agro-Chemicals so Common in Rural Communities?

Mountains and Cornfields. The drive to Rancho Lum Ha'

I'm currently volunteering on an agroecological farm called Rancho Lum Ha that doesn't use chemical fertilizers or pesticides. They aim to share agroecological practices with local farmers in the region of Chiapas. When Rancho Lum Ha' began in 2018, the soil on their land was completely degraded from the previous owners' use of chemical fertilizers over many years. They had to restore the soil quality by building up organic matter, starting compost production, and planting a diversity of resilient plants that could start to add nutrients to the soil. It was a long process to build up the soil fertility again.

I share a lot about sustainable, agroecological practices in farming and the many organizations and initiatives that support them, but why is there such an abundance of chemical fertilizer use in the first place?

This has to do with global influences such as the Green Revolution which began after World War II in the 1940s-60s. Agronomists in the United States experimented with new varieties of wheat, rice and corn that could be highly productive to reduce hunger and malnutrition around the world. They were able to double or triple their production with these high yield varieties, such as the "dwarf wheat variety" in Mexico. However, these varieties rely on heavy inputs like fertilizers, pesticides, and abundant irrigation. With the support and involvement of The Ford and Rockefeller Foundations, the US began to implement these varieties and new agricultural practices in Latin American, Asian and African countries, fundamentally changing agricultural practices around the world.

The Green Revolution is a classic example of the United States trying to teach the rest of the world how to do things and causing more harm than good as a result... The Green Revolution has also been seen as a way that the US asserted global influence during the red scare of communism, creating dependencies and preventing social solutions to global hunger such as movements for land reform. There are also arguments that the Green Revolution led to the consolidation of farmland as small farmers who couldn't afford the green revolution packages (of chemicals, seeds and irrigation) lost their land. Prominent activists like Vandana Shiva from India have brought more public attention about the negative impacts these global policies have had for the people and the environment.

The Green Revolution and other foreign policies have uprooted indigenous practices, and today many national agricultural policies promote chemical fertilizers and provide them to farmers. Chemical fertilizer, pesticide, and seed industries are powerful and have influence over many governments and global bodies. At the same time, however, there is more public awareness of the damage this is causing and there is more recognition that we need to recover sustainable practices that have been lost.

So, these are some of the reasons why agro-chemical and hybrid varieties of seeds have been engrained in rural communities around the world over the past decades. Every context is different and has different influences and nuances so it is important to look at the historical, social, ecological context of the region and community.

However, many indigenous and campesino led movements are also leading the way in returning to the practices of their grandparents and protecting their people and natural resources from these harmful practices. These local-led movements will lead the way for us to understand what changes really need to take place.