In which regions of Paraguay are land grabs least prevalent?
Executive summary
Paraguay’s pattern of land grabbing is uneven: the highest pressure is concentrated in the Eastern agricultural frontier (notably Alto Paraná, Canindeyú and the southeast) and in rapid-conversion zones of the Western Chaco, while pockets where grabs appear least prevalent are the densely populated central/southern corridor around Asunción and some established, institutionally-backed colonies (including certain Mennonite settlements) that have formalized landholdings and continuity of tenure [1] [2] [3]. Reporting, however, emphasizes hotspots rather than offering a comprehensive map of “safe” areas, so conclusions must be read against that limitation [4] [5].
1. Eastern Paraguay: the obvious hotspot that defines the contrast
The Eastern region concentrates most economic activity, soy expansion and commercial ranching, and is where foreign and large national investors have bought and consolidated land—patterns that drive the country’s notorious land concentration and repeated land grabbing incidents [1] [6] [3]. Departments such as Alto Paraná and Canindeyú feature heavy colonization, Brazilian-owned holdings and long histories of spontaneous “eastward” land grabs since the 1960s and 1970s, making them the inverse mirror of the areas where grabs are least common [2] [3].
2. The Chaco: low population but very high conversion risk, not “safe” from grabs
Although the Gran Chaco to the west holds only around 2% of Paraguay’s population, it accounts for 60% of the territory and has seen some of the world’s fastest deforestation and large-scale land consolidation tied to cattle expansion and infrastructure projects—circumstances that invite powerful actors and illegal appropriation rather than protect landholders [7] [4] [5]. Investigations and satellite-driven prosecutions in the Chaco demonstrate that low population density does not equate to low incidence of land grabs [4].
3. Central and southern corridors near Asunción: where tenure is relatively more secure
Most reporting shows that Paraguay’s population and traditional crop production are concentrated in the central-eastern corridor around Asunción, and this denser settlement pattern has historically meant more documented property relations and state presence, which correspond to fewer high-profile land-grab episodes compared with frontier zones [7] [2]. While land inequality is nationwide, the relative institutional density of the central/southern corridor—municipal records, longer-settled farms and urban land markets—appears to make large-scale, opportunistic frontier grabs less prevalent there in the evidence available [7] [3].
4. Exception zones: Mennonite colonies and formally titled estates
A narrow set of territories—most notably some Mennonite colonies in the central Chaco and long-titled estates around older agricultural towns—show resilience to the grab pattern because of formal titles, cooperative governance structures, and long-standing occupation; these are repeatedly noted as exceptions to the broader frontier dynamic [2]. That exception is important: it shows tenure security and institutional recognition, rather than geography alone, reduce vulnerability to appropriation.
5. Caveats, motives and gaps in reporting
Available reporting emphasizes hotspots—Eastern soy and the Chaco’s mega-ranches—and produces powerful claims about national inequality (e.g., tiny numbers of owners controlling overwhelming shares of land) that underline where grabs concentrate, but those sources do not offer a comprehensive, geocoded denial of grabs in every municipality [4] [3]. Investigative outlets and NGOs tend to highlight deforestation and corporate actors, which can obscure sporadic, smaller-scale dispossessions in peri-urban or communal indigenous territories; conversely, government and agribusiness accounts sometimes frame expansion as development, an implicit agenda that downplays dispossession [4] [6].
6. Bottom line
The least prevalent land grabs, according to the cited evidence, are found in Paraguay’s settled central and southern corridor around Asunción and in pockets with well-established, legally recognized communities (including certain Mennonite colonies) where tenure is formalized; by contrast, the Eastern agricultural frontier and large tracts of the Chaco are the principal hotspots for land grabs and illegal conversion [7] [2] [4]. The picture is qualified by gaps in systematic mapping and by reporting biases toward dramatic frontier cases, so the claim should be taken as a relative assessment built from the available investigations and national land-use analyses [5] [3].