The recent Guatemalan oil palm boom has generated concerns over possible negative social and environmental impacts, yet it continues to be embraced as an opportunity to spur rural development and improve food security. This paper uses the socio-ecological food systems framework to demonstrate ways in which oil palm expansion has contributed to increasing food system vulnerability and decreasing adaptation capacity of a community dominated by oil palm contract farming in the Lachuá Ecoregion in northern Guatemala. The changing cross-scalar dynamics of self-provisioning and market provisioning of food, and the ecological effects of the spreading oil palm are considered, as they contribute to declining food and nutrition security—notably, the reduced consumption of fresh vegetables, fruits, and herbs. Uncontrolled oil palm expansion has also contributed to the disappearance of certain nutritious foods in the study communities, compromised ecological resources, and heightened the region’s exposure to external shocks, such as oil palm price drops. Lessons highlight the importance of supporting traditional agricultural systems, strengthening environmental protection, and building institutional capacity at community and beyond-community scales.

中文翻译：

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培育脆弱性：危地马拉拉楚阿生态区的油棕扩张和社会生态粮食系统

危地马拉最近的油棕繁荣引起了人们对可能的负面社会和环境影响的担忧，但它仍然被视为促进农村发展和改善粮食安全的机会。本文使用社会生态食品系统框架来说明油棕扩张如何增加粮食系统的脆弱性并降低危地马拉北部拉丘亚生态区以油棕合约农业为主的社区的适应能力。人们考虑到了食品自给自足和市场供应的不断变化的跨标量动态，以及油棕蔓延的生态影响，因为它们导致食品和营养安全性下降，尤其是减少了新鲜蔬菜，水果和水果的消费。草药。油棕的无节制扩张还导致研究社区中某些营养食品的消失，生态资源受到损害，并加剧了该地区遭受外部冲击（例如油棕价格下跌）的风险。经验教训强调了支持传统农业系统，加强环境保护以及在社区和社区外规模建设机构能力的重要性。