Chaco Province

Chaco Province exemplifies the human cost of agricultural transformation—former cotton heartland where genetically modified soybean colonization since the 1990s generated export wealth while concentrating poverty in communities bypassed by mechanized monoculture. The northeastern region including Chaco recorded 48.4% poverty at end of 2023—highest in Argentina—while the province lost 14.5% of natural vegetation between 1985-2022.

The ecological and social costs are documented: Gran Chaco deforestation averages 40,000 hectares annually, peaking at 60,000. Forest area converted to soy and livestock increased 225% over 38 years. In Aviá Teraí (population ~6,000), large soya plantations surround a town with no running water, high unemployment, and government assistance dependence—the pattern replicated across agroindustrial frontiers.

"Practically all of Chaco Province used to be covered by forests" before the technological package enabling dry-climate cultivation arrived. Cotton remains significant but declining as production costs favor soybean transition. The province produces within a system where soy represents 30% of Argentina's main exports—contributing to national revenues while local communities see limited benefit.

The Nature Conservancy's reforestation and regenerative agriculture initiatives signal awareness that current practices are unsustainable. Yet economic pressure driving deforestation continues despite regulations.

By 2026, Chaco tests whether alternative development models can reverse poverty concentration and ecological damage, or whether the province remains sacrifice zone for export agriculture that enriches elsewhere.