Examining land rental market's linkages to land and water control in Colombia's irrigation megaprojects: integrating the political economy of agrarian change and the political ecology of vulnerability

Land rental markets often accompany irrigation infrastructure development as water availability revalorizes land. Agrarian change scholars critique land rental markets for contributing to capital accumulation. To date, however, this approach has not incorporated the roles of environmental changes induced by irrigation, corresponding social-ecological interactions, and political ecologies of vulnerability. Based on 12 months of research in Colombia's most expensive land rental market spanning two irrigation megaprojects, this paper demonstrates how land rental markets compound environmental stresses to exclude producers from land- and water-based agricultural livelihoods. The research additionally advances debates of land control, capital's mobility, and Andean water infrastructure development.

Automated summary

This paper demonstrates how land rental markets exacerbate environmental pressures and exclude producers from agricultural livelihoods. It also advances debates on land control, capital mobility, and water infrastructure development in the Andean region.