ABSTRACT
This chapter analyzes the new extractive dynamics of sugarcane production in the coastal Guayas province of Ecuador. The research focuses on the associations in the Hacienda La Indiana that became part of the agrarian program Agroenergía to complement the higher demand of sugarcane to produce ethanol for the ECO-País program. In this chapter, I contend that the Ecuadorian governments of PAIS Alliance have been developing an extractive agro-fuel project with a social component used to legitimize the oligopolistic power of sugarcane mills and their distilleries. Through public resources, the three largest sugarcane mills and their distilleries control today not only the production but the processing whereby sugarcane becomes ethanol and realises added value. This chapter aims to contribute to recent efforts to characterize the extractive nature of flex-crop monocultures by offering new insights into the social, economic and environmental implications on small-scale farmers, especially women, and the disproportionate effects they face in an extractive and patriarchal system.
