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Cited by 17Conflict, Peace, and Violence in ColombiaPeacebuilding and International SecurityEnvironmental and Biological Research in Conflict Zones

A new war on nature and people: Taking stock of the Colombian Peace agreement

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Krause, Torsten, Clerici, Nicola, López, Jesica Murcia, Sánchez, Paula Andrea, Valencia, Sandra, Esguerra-Rezk, Juanita, Van Dexter, Kristina·2022·Global Sustainability
DOI 10.1017/sus.2022.15
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Abstract

Non-technical summary: Almost 6 years have passed since the Colombian peace agreement was signed. However, the promise of a ‘Stable and lasting peace’ is slipping away as the transition towards peace is increasingly tainted and overshadowed with violence. The future of Colombia is at a crossroad and without international support and action taken to monitor global supply chains, these particular drivers of conflict, violence and environmental degradation will persist. We summarize the current situation and shed light on the complexities of building peace in Colombia, with a particular focus on the environmental changes that took place since the peace agreement was signed. Technical summary: The Colombian peace agreement officially ended one of the world's longest internal armed conflicts. But the transformation of land use that takes place in the wake of the peace agreement has made the historic inequalities of access to land more visible and revealed inherent and violent struggles over resources that persist across the country. In this briefing we analyse the current status of peacebuilding in Colombia and highlight the major barriers and challenges in the current peacebuilding efforts. We show how the last few years brought severe and negative repercussions for people, communities and the natural environment in Colombia as cattle ranching, ‘productive agriculture’ and extractive industries are increasingly encroaching into indigenous territories, protected areas and forest ecosystems, replacing diverse natural forests that support biodiversity and contribute to human well-being locally and globally. The resurging presence of numerous armed groups seeking to control the profitable drug trade and mineral deposits are a major problem and obstacle for building lasting and sustainable peace among people and with the natural environment in Colombia. We conclude this briefing with points that we see as crucial to support the implementation of the peace agreement. Social media summary: Colombia's peacebuilding effort must foster environmental stewardship and respect its biological and cultural diversity.

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  • The expansion of cattle ranching in Brazil and Colombia has disenfranchised traditional communities and smallholder farmers to the benefit of agro-industrial complexes as well as local mafias or organized crime that draw power in part from land grabbing and illegal resource extraction.

    “It has disenfranchised traditional communities and smallholder farmers to the benefit of agro-industrial complexes as well as of local mafias or organized crime that draw their power in part from land grabbing and illegal resource extraction (Krause et al., 2022;Kröger, 2024).”

    From Beyond the “supply chain” framing: Cattle ranching as a vanishing mediator of deforestation and dispossession in the Brazilian and Colombian Amazon (2026) · cites this paper as Krause et al., 2022

    The Socio-political section (page unavailable) describes cattle ranching as a way for landowners, agribusiness and narco-traffickers to secure land in Colombia. The Ecological section (page unavailable) says small farmers were displaced through conflicts with large landowners and cattle ranchers, and links land consolidation to narco-trafficking groups. These passages support the Colombian part of the claim, but do not establish the same pattern in Brazil. (LLM, conf=0.86)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Since the 1960s the Colombian government has sought to support a cattle-oriented rural economy in the Amazon-Andes region.

    “Since the 1960s the Colombian government has sought to support a cattle-oriented rural economy in the Amazon-Andes region.”

    From Beyond the “supply chain” framing: Cattle ranching as a vanishing mediator of deforestation and dispossession in the Brazilian and Colombian Amazon (2026) · cites this paper as Krause et al., 2022

    The paper’s Abstract describes a livestock-development project financed since 1966 to increase Colombian beef and dairy production, and it links cattle expansion to deforestation in the Amazon. It does not establish that the Colombian government sought to support a cattle-oriented rural economy specifically in the Amazon–Andes region since the 1960s; the 1966 project is described at the national level and as World Bank-financed. (LLM, conf=0.83)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Cattle ranching works as a rudimentary solace to smallholders who are left without means to perform anything else as a viable economic activity in places such as the Amazon.

    “Finally, cattle ranching also works as a rudimentary solace to smallholders who are left without the means to perform anything else as a viable economic activity in places such as the Amazon (Krause et al., 2022;Russo Lopes and Bastos Lima, 2022).”

    From Beyond the “supply chain” framing: Cattle ranching as a vanishing mediator of deforestation and dispossession in the Brazilian and Colombian Amazon (2026) · cites this paper as Krause et al., 2022

  • That has included World Bank-sponsored initiatives such as the Livestock Development Project to increase meat and dairy productivity and diversify the country's agricultural economy from coffee.

    “That has included World Bank-sponsored initiatives such as the Livestock Development Project to increase meat and dairy productivity and diversify the country's agricultural economy from coffee (Krause et al., 2022).”

    From Beyond the “supply chain” framing: Cattle ranching as a vanishing mediator of deforestation and dispossession in the Brazilian and Colombian Amazon (2026) · cites this paper as Krause et al., 2022

  • The 2016 peace agreement with the FARC rebel group was a game changer in Colombia, partly because it has created favorable conditions for increased livestock-driven deforestation in the country.

    “The 2016 peace agreement with the FARC rebel group was a game changer in Colombia, partly because it has created favorable conditions for increased livestock-driven deforestation in the country (Krause et al, 2022).”

    From Beyond the “supply chain” framing: Cattle ranching as a vanishing mediator of deforestation and dispossession in the Brazilian and Colombian Amazon (2026) · cites this paper as Krause et al., 2022

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Authors
Krause, T., Clerici, N., López, J. M., Sánchez, P. A., Valencia, S., Esguerra-Rezk, J., & Van Dexter, K.
Affiliations
  • Lund University (SE)
  • Universidad del Rosario (CO)
  • Stockholm Resilience Centre (SE)
  • University of Gothenburg (SE)
Corresponding author
Krause, Torsten
ORCID
Venue
Global Sustainability
Publisher
Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Published
2022
Volume
5
ISSN
2059-4798 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1017/sus.2022.15
OpenAlex
W4295093105
Cited by
17
References
0
Citations by year
2026: 7 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 1
FWCI
3.17
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Global Sustainability (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
  • Lund University Publications (Lund University) (submittedVersion)
Funders
Svenska Forskningsrådet Formas (2018-00453, 2020-02347)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Conflict, Peace, and Violence in Colombia
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Peacebuilding and International Security
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law › Environmental and Biological Research in Conflict Zones
Keywords
Colombian peace agreement, peacebuilding, post-conflict transition, armed conflict, land use change, land access inequality, cattle ranching, extractive industries, indigenous territories, protected areas, deforestation, biodiversity loss, armed groups, drug trafficking, mineral mining, environmental degradation, supply chain monitoring, Colombia

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