Migration from the Isthmus Borders. Research and Collaboration in Central America

In 2021 and 2022, the project “Agricultural Extractivism, Production Chains, and Labor Markets in Central America. An Approach from the Costa Rica-Nicaragua Border” was conducted under UNAM’s Program to Support Research Projects and Technological Innovation (PAPIIT) in close collaboration with the University of Costa Rica. Research, dissemination of results, and inter-institutional alliance aimed to foster solid academic connections between Mexico, Costa Rica and Central America. 

The project explored border dynamics and inequities in the global food system and their effects in terms of asymmetry, expulsion and mobility in the Central American region. It also focused on the territorial, agricultural and migratory aspects of the Costa Rica-Nicaragua border case. 

The knowledge generated fed the discussion around the notion of “agricultural extractivism” or “agrarian extractivism”. Research was conducted on contemporary dynamics of enclave and export-oriented monoculture as a development model that relies on spatial border’s asymmetry, generating forms of dispossession and domination relationships that manifest both socially and territorially. It looked to demonstrate the relationship between the global agrifood development model, which profoundly marks the Central American isthmus, and the situation of poverty, exclusion, vulnerability, mobility and violence faced by subordinated groups in the context of exclusionary production systems (small-scale peasants, workers, migrants, etc.) The central question posed by the research was: What are the effects of agricultural extraction and border dynamics on the construction of unequal territorialities in Central America? The team of researchers and students answered through various tools and products, following the three main axes of the project.  


Axis 1. Border and Monocultures  
Central American borders are ideal spaces for the establishment of extractive activities; thus, these marginalized areas become extractive enclaves associated with global and central markets for the construction of value chains. 

The geography of borders in its different modalities—international, internal and agricultural—was studied to highlight the importance of territorial inequalities in the establishment and expansion of extractive activities. Formation mechanisms of the productive apparatus and of civil society were analyzed from the perspective of a peripheral region. A territorial and historical reading of the role of agricultural colonization in this peripheral region was proposed, focusing on the extractive agricultural model, and it was demonstrated that the advancement of the border leads to the emergence of new spatial forms and systems in the territorial gaps and in the reorganization of the geographical national space from the periphery. 


Axis 2. Organization of Production and Agricultural Dynamics  
In global agriculture, the value chain is generally pyramidal and exclusionary: while some small or medium-sized producers may have access to the stages of sowing, cultivation and harvesting, they do not have the necessary resources to participate in the stages of post-harvest and commercialization. These processes are monopolized by large companies that control infrastructure and can meet international standards and certifications for export. 

Special attention was given to mechanisms of integration through subordination or incorporation within complex frameworks of domination, negotiation or resistance between the local actors and transnational companies; the political and theoretical relevance of notions such as agro-extractivism, land-grabbing, dispossession, displacement, or hoarding were discussed; new forms of social organization of production were observed, particularly in their tendency towards intensification and specialization; the role of the monoculture in the production of space through resource extraction, socio-territorial disconnection, and negative effects on local development were questioned; the relationships of interdependence and the practices of violence, control and domination surrounding land were discussed; and the diversity of actors in the production chain (transnational production companies and distribution chains, national producers, small or medium-sized farmers, cooperatives, etc.) and the power relationships between them were observed. 


Axis 3. Exploitation of Labor Force and Migration  
The national, economic, cultural or social border stands as a limit, an obstacle, and a space of violence for migrant individuals seeking to cross it. This space produces subjectivities: it has a high potential for conflict and is part of the construction of a set of social and power relationships. Agricultural workers construct their territorialities even when their movements are restricted by seasonal patterns and specific exploitation conditions in the agroindustry sector. Their displacement and settlement logics, regardless of their temporary nature, organize spaces of life, production and reproduction. We have advanced in the construction of qualitative data to understand the methods used by production actors to provide temporary, specialized and flexible workforce; in describing the conditions of hiring, work, stay, and circulation of temporary workers and local workers; in identifying actors involved in this labor market: temporary workers, intermediaries, recruiters, coyotes, agencies, the State, etc.; in defining whether there is a form of control by migrant individuals over these fragmented territorialities; in discussing the effects of global agriculture on exclusion and marginalization in rural territories, and in reflecting on its articulation with factors driving migration towards the North.


PERSPECTIVES AND ELEMENTS OF UNDERSTANDING ON AGRICULTURE, BORDERS AND MIGRATION: HOW DO SOCIAL SCIENCES ADDRESS AN EMERGING SOCIO-TERRITORIAL PROBLEM?
In the socio-territorial dimension, the project provided many tools to better understand the expansion conditions and the effects of pineapple monoculture in Costa Rica’s Northern Coast. The research is clearly articulated with environmental, labor, economic and geopolitical concerns in the country and the entire region. The problem of extractivism and its consequences in society and territories is highly relevant, as it is inscribed in the debate about violence, (in)justice and the (un)sustainability of neoliberal development models. Problems like land grabbing, migrant labor, agrifood industry supply chains, exclusion of small-scale peasant farmers, for example, are highly relevant in Central America, but also in Mexico. Migration, transnational labor markets, and labor mobility in the agricultural sector also generate intense debates in other regions of the world (North America, Europe, the Maghreb, Southeast Asia, Occidental Africa, etc.)


Cartographic materials were produced to demonstrate the recent evolution of monoculture, their territorial and social impacts. The modalities of realization and dissemination of these maps are diverse: nation or regional maps made by students of the University of Costa Rica (UCR) and UNAM to accompany the presentation of results in academic settings (presentations, publications); maps made using remote sensing techniques in a collaboration with the Master’s program in Geomatics at the University of Montpellier (France) and the program “Monitoring Land Use Change Within Production Landscapes” under the United Nations Development Programme in Costa Rica (PNUD), which was published on the website https://mocupp.org/informes/ (monitoring of pineapple); collective, alternative, mental and critical maps made during the workshop “Alternative Cartographies of Extractivism: For What? For Whom?” held at the UCR within the framework of the “Central American Encounter on Monoculture, Borders and Migration.”



Additionally, the roundtable discussion “What do Critical Cartographies Propose for Reading Emerging Problems in the Rural Setting?” was held on June 2, 2022, as part of the seminary “Reconfigurations in the Latin American Countryside: societies and territories”, which was organized by UNAM’s Institute of Social Research and Center of Latin American Studies (https://www.iis.unam.mx/event/que-proponen-las-cartografias-criticas-para-leer-los-problemas-emergentes-del-campo/) 


CONTRIBUTIONS TO STUDENT TRAINING
As a part of the project, support was provided to five UNAM students and four UCR students. The collective fieldwork in the pineapple monoculture zone, north of Costa Rica, was a stimulating and enriching activity because it allowed for reflection from experience, dialogue and exchange with local producers, workers and activists. The contribution from PAPIIT to the training of Central American students is very important because it represents a substantial help for conduction fieldwork and allows for enriching exchange spaces on the ground between academics and students from both countries. 

Among the project’s activities the course “Territories and Inequalities in Central America: Geopolitical, Social and Environmental Approaches”, was held as a part of UNAM’s Continuing Education program. It provided a broad overview of the main dynamics of the organization of territories and Central American societies. Various specialists presented the problems at regional, national, and local scales. It focused particularly on the complexity and diversity of situations, as well as in the mechanisms of inequality and the power relations that shape the Central American isthmus. It allowed teaching about this region that deserves attention and a more nuanced understanding of migration, border, productive, political, and social processes that cross it. Aimed at UNAM students and other national and foreign institutions, as well as journalists, public service and civil society members, the course had 88 online participants. Most of the students were Central American or Latin American (taking advantage of the virtual modality in the pandemic context), which contributes to the projection of UNAM’s high quality educational offer abroad. 

Another significant aspect of student training was the collaboration with the Master’s program in Geomatics at the University of Montpellier, France. As the project coordinator for PAPIIT, I acted as a consultant, guiding students in generating cartographic analysis using remote sensing images to study the pineapple monoculture in Costa Rica. 


THE CHALLENGE OF INTERNATIONALIZING REFLECTION AND INSTITUTIONAL LINKS
The project was initially conceived based on my long-standing academic relationship—over a decade—with Tania Rodriguez, a colleague from UCR. Through PAPIIT we were able to strengthen this relationship and expand our collaborations with other researchers, colleagues, and students from UCR, fostering connections with their Geography School and their Center of Research and Political Studies.

The “Central American Encounter on Monoculture, Borders and Migration”, held from August 22 to 27, 2022, in San José, Costa Rica, marked the culmination of the regional network construction. The event brought together 33 participants from 11 countries (Chile, Costa Rica, El Salvador, France, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Netherlands, Dominican Republic, and United States) focusing on social and territorial conflicts.


TOWARDS AN ACTIVE AND PROACTIVE NETWORK TO STUDY THE CENTRAL AMERICAN REGION
Our project successfully achieved the objectives outlined in terms of research advancement, dissemination, teaching and formation of human resources, as well as society dialogue and collective reflection on a socio-environmental problem. Upon completing the project, the research network we established continues to operate and work on these problems through various platforms. There is significant potential to consolidate new research groups and international collaborations within and outside the Central American region. We are furthering our reflection and dialogue with different actors and institutions, particularly regarding global borders, mobility and control; (in)hospitality and precarity; work and agricultural extractivism; multifactorial violence and migration factors.
Our project successfully achieved the objectives outlined in terms of research advancement, dissemination, teaching and formation of human resources, as well as society dialogue and collective reflection on a socio-environmental problem. Upon completing the project, the research network we established continues to operate and work on these problems through various platforms. There is significant potential to consolidate new research groups and international collaborations within and outside the Central American region. We are furthering our reflection and dialogue with different actors and institutions, particularly regarding global borders, mobility and control; (in)hospitality and precarity; work and agricultural extractivism; multifactorial violence and migration factors.

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