A geography of illicit crops (coca leaf) and armed conflict in Colombia

Colombia is currently the world’s largest producer of coca leaf and the principal producer of opium poppies in the Americas; the plants are the basic raw materials used to produce cocaine and heroin. This document analyses the current relationship between these crops and illegal armed groups in Colombia, using the hypothesis that the geographical intensification of the conflict is the principal cause of expanding illicit crop production. This relationship was analysed using a theoretical model, in which an interaction between illegal armed activity and strategic territorial control lead to cocaine production. Spatial analysis techniques were then applied, especially spatial association indicators; and a clear spatial dynamic was observed, related to the two aspects mentioned above. Non-parametric exercises were also carried out using matching estimators, to determine the effect illegal armed groups have on coca crops, and also to analyse the efficiency of aerial eradication policies. The results suggest that a large percentage of coca production in Colombia is due to the effects of illegal armed activity. We therefore conclude that the expansion of illegal crop growing is a consequence of the expanding conflict. In contrast, coca crops can only be used to explain a small part of the armed conflict in Colombia. In addition, we found that crop eradication via aerial spraying has not been an efficient tool in the fight against coca production in the country

A GEOGRAPHY OF ILLICIT CROPS (COCA LEAF) AND ARMED CONFLICT IN COLOMBIA

Colombia is currently the world´s largest producer of coca leaf and the principal producer of opium poppies in the Americas; the plants are the basic raw materials used to produce cocaine and heroin. This document will analyse the current relationship between these crops and illegal armed groups in Colombia, using the hypothesis that the geographical intensification of the conflict is the principal cause of expanding illicit crop production. This relationship was analysed using a theoretic model, in which an interaction between illegal armed activity and strategic territorial control lead to cocaine production. Spatial analysis techniques were then applied, especially spatial association indicators; and a clear spatial dynamic was observed, related to the two aspects mentioned above. Non parametric exercises were also carried out using matching estimators, to determine the effect illegal armed groups have on coca crops, and also to analyse the efficiency of aerial eradication policies. The results suggest that a large percentage of coca production in Colombia is due to the effects of illegal armed activity. We therefore conclude that the expansion of illegal crop growing is a consequence of the expanding conflict. In contrast, coca crops can only be used to explain a small part of the armed conflict in Colombia. In addition, we found that crop eradication via aerial spraying has not been an efficient tool in the fight against coca production in the country.Illicit crops

Contested Natures, Insecurities and Territorialities: The Aerial Eradication of Coca in Colombia

Until very recently, Colombia was the only country in the world that still permitted the eradication of illicit crops –primarily coca and to a lesser extent, opium poppies— through aerial fumigation. It was a controversial practice for a number of reasons, chiefly the damage caused to plants, animals, and people living in or near fumigated areas. A favored tactic in the U.S.-supported War on Drugs, aerial eradication actually contributed to the spread of illicit crops to increasingly remote areas of Colombia, such as the collectively titled lands of both indigenous and black communities. Concerns about the practice of aerial eradication, however, appeared completely disconnected from the positive framing of the policy and guidelines governing its implementation. Employing mixed methods, both ethnographic and cartographic, this dissertation examines how these contradictory discourses —aerial eradication explained by officials involved in its operation versus described locally by people living in or near fumigated areas— materialized in 2015, the last year the aerial eradication program was in operation. This study engages critical social science theory to deconstruct dominant conceptualizations of territoriality, geopolitics and environmental conservation, while at the same time proposing alternative understandings of those concepts grounded in local experiences. This research finds that aerial eradication authorities overstated the accuracy of aerial eradication operations by: 1) downplaying the incidence of pilots spraying legal crops, 2) invalidating local reports on the effects of aerial eradication, and 3) requiring technical evidence far beyond the means of poor rural Colombian farmers. Furthermore, in the specific context of the collectively titled black communities of the Pacific region, aerial eradication authorities did not respect the right to previous consultation per Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention 169. This dissertation concludes that that aerial eradication —justified by notions of security and environmental conservation that had little to do with black communities of the Pacific region— operated as a means of displacement. This displacement was literal in the sense that aerial eradication made life difficult for people to live in affected communities and figurative because local knowledge was pushed aside in favor of the external interpretations of the effects of this counternarcotics policy

a spatial analysis

The cultivation of coca (Erythroxylon coca) in Colombia represents the first step of the largest illegal agribusiness that exists in the world, namely Cocaine. In this production chain, the small local cultivators consists of the first step, followed by the step, where most of the money profit is made. This sphase correspond to the elaboration of cocaine and its commercialization at a global scale which is in the hands of illegal armed groups and drug dealers. Most of the literature related to illicit crops considers the national and global factors that influence the expansion of these products. However, only little is written in the scientific literature concerning the local conditions where the social-environmental impacts due to these activities are concentrated. This study analyses for the first time the local factors (social, economic, environmental and institutional) associated to the expansion of cocaine during the last decade and how these activities have provided the favourable settings for the increase of deforestation in zones of high environmental importance. For the proposed analysis a social-ecological conceptual framework was made, based on literature reviews which were confirmed by statistical analysis of data at a municipal level and the use of bivariate Local Indicators of Spatial Association (LISA) during the two year period of this study. This has allowed an improved comprehension of the complexity between the coca cultivations and its association with the emergence of social-environmental conflicts. It is shown that an relationship exists between deforestation of primary forest in low-laying areas and the increase of cultivated areas of coca with an intensification of land-use conflicts. This study demonstrates the environmental, institutional and social-economical resemblances that determine the establishment of coca cultivations at a local level and its relationship with increase of coca cultivations towards the north and southwest of Colombia and as such the expansion of the social-environmental conflicts

Cocaine crackdowns and criminal violence

In the last decade, Colombia has seen improvement in the levels of violence and the stability of the state as a result of targeting illicit narcotics traffickers. In the same period, Mexico has seen an increase in violence and the destabilisation of the state as a result of targeting illicit narcotics traffickers. This thesis will fill an important gap in the literature and answer the question of why Mexico’s policies failed while Colombia’s have succeeded. The answer will be presented in three parts. The first will explore physical geography, establishing its importance in illicit narcotics trafficking. The second part is state stability, which has an effect on how successfully policy is implemented. The independent and final variable is policy orientation. This thesis argues that the policy orientations pursued in Colombia and Mexico played on the geography and state stability of each state to produce radically different effects on violence

Cocaine production and trafficking : what do we know ?

The main purpose of this paper is to summarize the information currently available on cocaine production and trafficking. The paper starts by describing the available data on cocaine production and trade, the collection methodologies (if available) used by different sources, the main biases in the data, and the accuracy of different data sources. Next, it states some of the key empirical questions and hypotheses regarding cocaine production and trade and takes a first look at how well the data match these hypotheses. The paper states some of the main puzzles in the cocaine market and studies some of the possible explanations. These puzzles and empirical questions should guide future research on the key determinants of illicit drug production and trafficking. Finally, the paper studies the different policies that producer countries have adopted to fight against cocaine production and the role consumer countries play in the implementation of anti-drug policies.Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Environmental Economics&Policies,Crime and Society,Crops&Crop Management Systems,Economic Theory&Research

Cultivos de Coca: Economía y Violencia en Municipios de Colombia 2012 – 2019.

Coca cultivation in Colombia is related to multiple problems that primarily affect the rural areas of the country. This article aims to expose the determining factors that explain the presence of coca plantations in the municipalities of Colombia for the period 2012 - 2019. To do so, a panel data model is developed to obtain results that, although not homogeneous across the territory, indicate that overall, increases in the municipal violence index are positively associated with the growth of coca cultivation hectares in Colombia's municipalities in the short term. The findings suggest that only a quarter of coca cultivation is reduced for every hectare sprayed and increases by 0.22 for every hectare eradicated manually, highlighting the ineffectiveness of anti-drug policy. It is necessary to look for alternatives to try to reduce the supply of the crop, differentiating the needs of each region of the country. In terms of the economy, the only sector that influences the reduction of cultivation is the secondary sector and the fiscal performance index.Los cultivos de coca en Colombia se relacionan con múltiples problemas que afectan primeramente al área rural del país. Este artículo tiene como objetivo exponer factores determinantes que explican la presencia de los cultivos de coca en los municipios de Colombia para el periodo 2012 – 2019. Para ello, se desarrolla un modelo de panel de datos que permite obtener unos resultados que, aunque no son homogéneos en todo el territorio, indican que globalmente los incrementos en el índice de violencia municipal están asociados de manera positiva con el crecimiento de las hectáreas de cultivos de coca en los municipios de Colombia en el corto plazo. Los hallazgos sugieren que se reduce únicamente una cuarta parte del cultivo por cada hectárea asperjada y se incrementa en 0,22 por cada hectárea erradicada manualmente, poniendo en evidencia la ineficacia de la política antidrogas. Es necesario buscar alternativas para tratar de reducir la oferta del cultivo, diferenciando las necesidades por cada región del país. En cuanto a la economía, el único sector que influye en la reducción del cultivo es el sector secundario y el índice de desempeño fiscal

Essays on Socioeconomic Shocks and Policies in Agriculture

The three chapters of this doctoral dissertation estimate the responses of agricultural productivity, production value of agriculture, and crop supply to some external shocks and policies. Using unique panel datasets for Colombia and the United States, this research provides new insights regarding the responsiveness of agriculture to some socioeconomic effects and related market policies. Chapter 1 studies the impact of armed conflicts in rural areas on legal agricultural productivity in Colombia by using a production function that includes violence shocks such as the forced intra-national displacement of the rural population from 1995 to 2017. Chapter 2 investigates the effect of anti-drug strategies implemented under a joint US-Colombia policy on the value of agricultural production of Colombian regions with coca crops. Chapter 3 examines the impact of a policy in the ethanol market on the supply of biomass from corn production at the extensive and intensive margins. Advisors: Lilyan E. Fulginiti and Richard K. Perri

Cocaine

The contributors to Cocaine analyze the contemporary production, transit, and consumption of cocaine throughout the Americas and the illicit economy's entanglement with local communities. Based on in-depth interviews and archival research, these essays examine how government agents, acting both within and outside the law, and criminal actors seek to manage the flow of illicit drugs to both maintain order and earn profits. Whether discussing the moral economy of coca cultivation in Bolivia, criminal organizations and drug traffickers in Mexico, or the routes cocaine takes as it travels into and through Guatemala, the contributors demonstrate how entire ways of life are built around cocaine commodification. They consider how the authority of state actors is coupled with the self-regulating practices of drug producers, traffickers, and dealers, complicating notions of governance and of the relationships between economic and moral economies. The collection also outlines a more progressive drug policy that acknowledges the important role drugs play in the lives of those at the urban and rural margins. Contributors. Enrique Desmond Arias, Lilian Bobea, Philippe Bourgois, Anthony W. Fontes, Robert Gay, Paul Gootenberg, Romain Le Cour Grandmaison, Thomas Grisaffi, Laurie Kain Hart, Annette Idler, George Karandinos, Fernando Montero, Dennis Rodgers, Taniele Rui, Cyrus Veeser, Autumn Zellers-Leó