In which regiond of Paraguay are land grabs by foreigners or agribusiness least common?
Executive summary
Available reporting makes clear that foreign and large-scale agribusiness land grabbing in Paraguay has been concentrated in the Eastern Region — especially the eastern border/Alto Paraná area and northeastern frontiers — while the vast Western Chaco and other areas less suited to intensive cropping have historically seen comparatively fewer purchases for soybean monoculture by transnational agribusinesses [1] [2] [3] [4].
1. Eastern Region: the obvious hotspot, not the answer sought
Decades of reporting and scholarly work identify the Eastern Region — the eastern border zone and departments like Alto Paraná — as where soybean booms, colonization drives and foreign agribusiness purchases have been most intense, creating the country’s primary land‑grab frontiers [1] [2] [5] [6].
2. Northeast and Alto Paraná: agribusiness frontier and indigenous pressure
Academic studies single out Alto Paraná and the northeastern expansion as emblematic of agribusiness penetration, with soy and cattle frontiers pushing into indigenous Paĩ Tavyterã lands and producing land speculation, displacement and ecosystem degradation — precisely the opposite of “least common” [2] [7] [4].
3. The Western Chaco: large, contested, but relatively less targeted by soybean investors
The Chaco (Western Region) is enormous and has seen rapid livestock expansion and resource exploitation, yet it has not been the principal locus of the soybean monoculture and foreign agribusiness purchases that characterize the eastern soybean boom; government and trade sources note agricultural opportunities in the Chaco (e.g., irrigation potential), but most intensive cultivation remains concentrated in the East [3] [8] [1]. Land Portal and other analyses record cattle growth across both regions, however, so the Chaco is not free of large‑scale land use change — it is comparatively less the target of foreign soybean investors than the eastern agricultural belt [4].
4. Which regions are therefore least commonly grabbed? — cautious conclusion
On balance, the best-supported conclusion from the sources is that land grabs by foreign agribusinesses are least common in parts of the country that are not highly suitable for intensive cash‑crop cultivation — namely much of the Western Chaco and other non‑Eastern areas — because intensive cultivation and foreign purchases have focused on the Eastern Region and eastern border zones [1] [3] [5]. This is a comparative claim grounded in where soy and export agribusinesses historically concentrated investment, not an assertion that the Chaco or other inland zones are untouched: cattle ranching and other large‑scale uses (sometimes by powerful domestic owners or transnationals) have expanded there as well [4] [3].
5. Limits of the reporting and alternative interpretations
Sources emphasize the eastward “march” of agribusiness and cite eastern concentration of suitable cropland, but they also document rapid cattle increases and expansion across regions [5] [4]. That creates two legitimate caveats: first, “least common” does not mean “absent” — large properties and resource grabs occur in the Chaco and elsewhere [4] [3]; second, the pattern can shift as infrastructure, irrigation, and markets change, so up‑to‑date cadastral and land‑ownership data would be required to map current foreign acquisitions precisely, which the provided sources do not supply [8] [3].
6. Bottom line for readers seeking locations least affected today
Using the available reporting, the safest, evidence‑based answer is that the Eastern Region and the northeastern Alto Paraná were and remain primary targets of foreign and agribusiness land grabs, while the Western Chaco and other areas with poor suitability for intensive row crops have been comparatively less targeted by foreign soybean and similar investors — though they face other forms of large‑scale land use change and the situation is dynamic [1] [2] [4] [3].