Agropastoralism and re-peasantisation: the importance of mobility and social networks in the páramos of Boyacá, Colombia

Summary

This qualitative study argues that small-scale agropastoralism in Colombia's páramos supports re-peasantisation through socio-economic networks, the solidarity economy and self-managed natural resources, contrary to conservation narratives that target livestock farming as environmentally destructive. Agropastoral mobility across large disconnected spaces facilitates dynamic pasture management, prevents over-grazing and binds distributed social networks, suggesting that mobile production strategies could better support agrobiodiversity than land-sparing 'green' economy approaches. The paper contributes conceptually to understanding autonomy in re-peasantisation by empirically demonstrating the importance of flexible, mobile systems and applies a novel spatial lens to analyse how movement enables both social resilience and ecological management.

UK applicability

The findings on mobile pastoral systems and commons-based resource management may have limited direct application to intensively managed UK upland systems, though the critique of conservation-through-land-sparing and the emphasis on socio-economic resilience and farmer autonomy could inform UK hill-farming policy debates and agro-ecological transition approaches.

Key measures

Semi-structured interview data (n=53), field observations, spatial analysis of mobility patterns and social networks

Outcomes reported

The study examined how small-scale agropastoral systems and mobility patterns contribute to re-peasantisation and agrobiodiversity conservation in the páramos of Boyacá. Data were gathered through 53 semi-structured interviews with stakeholders and agropastoralists, plus field observation, to explore socio-economic networks and land access dynamics.

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