Cultivating vulnerability: oil palm expansion and the socio-ecological food system in the Lachuá Ecoregion, Guatemala

The recent Guatemalan oil palm boom has generated concerns over possible negative social and environmental impacts, yet it continues to be embraced as an opportunity to spur rural development and improve food security. This paper uses the socio-ecological food systems framework to demonstrate ways in which oil palm expansion has contributed to increasing food system vulnerability and decreasing adaptation capacity of a community dominated by oil palm contract farming in the Lachuá Ecoregion in northern Guatemala. The changing cross-scalar dynamics of self-provisioning and market provisioning of food, and the ecological effects of the spreading oil palm are considered, as they contribute to declining food and nutrition security—notably, the reduced consumption of fresh vegetables, fruits, and herbs. Uncontrolled oil palm expansion has also contributed to the disappearance of certain nutritious foods in the study communities, compromised ecological resources, and heightened the region’s exposure to external shocks, such as oil palm price drops. Lessons highlight the importance of supporting traditional agricultural systems, strengthening environmental protection, and building institutional capacity at community and beyond-community scales.