Inequalities in the soy industry of South America
What is the story behind the soy industry in South America? Photographer Jordi Ruiz Cirera seeks to find answers in his project The United Soya Republic.
![A pesant at La Terza Cué community remains jobless as the fields the community once owned are now part of a large soy plantation. They are on an ongoing conflict over the ownership of the land with the plantation company, which they accuse of steadily grabbing their lands in connivence from corrupted authorities. They also face pressure from a Rural Police group they accuse of acting on behalf of the company, as well as threats and economic pressure to leave the area. Since 2003 there had been 11 unsolved murders in the community, all by hit mans. Land grabbing and concentration of land sometimes in foreign hands is reported by national and international organizations to be one of Paraguay's major problems.](https://humanityhouse.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/the-united-soya-republic-2-e1568284160759-790x526.jpg)
Jordi’s beautiful photos show how the industry in Argentina and Paraguay deals with social unrest, deforestation and internal migration and illustrates how this industry affects local communities.
Inequalities
Due to long-term global developments such as global warming, water scarcity and population growth, food insecurity has become a pressing issue. In an attempt tot tackle world hunger, large estate agriculture focuses on genetically modified seeds and the use of agrochemicals to improve and accelerate harvests. In order to understand the effects of this way of farming, Jordi spoke to landowners, activists, labourers and those affected by toxic pesticides put on their land, so he could understand and illustrate the issues in the local communities. He documented this and concluded that the heart of his project should be the inequalities existing in those rural areas.
![A peasant shots a firecracker to alert the population that a fumigation is happening near the community. In that situation peasants occupy the soy field in order to stop the fumigation, since they consider it to be against the community environment and its populations health. On a similar situation two weeks before the police protected the fumigation and heavily repressed the peasants leaving several injured. Inequalities in the soy industry of South America 3](https://humanityhouse.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/©Jordi-Ruiz-Cirera_The-United-Soya-Republic02.jpg)
The United Soya Republic
The United Soya Republic is a long-term photographic documentary with which Jordi seeks to speak about the challenges of the food production and its distribution in our globalized world.
![A silo full of corn at Puerto Gical, one of the main private ports on the river Paraguay near Asunción, which gives way to the growing exports in the country. Soya, cereals and meat exports placed Paraguay as one of the fastest growing economies of Latin America, reaching a historical 13% GDP growth in 2013, one of the biggest in the world. Inequalities in the soy industry of South America 1](https://humanityhouse.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/©Jordi-Ruiz-Cirera_The-United-Soya-Republic04.jpg)
Jordi Ruiz Cirera is an independent documentary photographer and filmmaker from Barcelona. With his long-term projects, Jordi focuses on the effects of globalisation and how residents in small communities are adapting to the effects. Since his relocation to Mexico City, he also focuses on migration issues across the Americas.
![Jordi Ruiz Cirera. Photo by Irene Baqué Inequalities in the soy industry of South America](https://humanityhouse.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/JRC15-OTB-7675_smallb.jpg)
If you want to know and see more about Jordi’s project, check out our event Scoop: The United Soya Republic