Paraguay: record soybean harvest and persistent agrarian inequality

Although the export of 10.5 million tons of soybeans is driving Paraguay's gross domestic product growth to 4.5% in 2026, it does not conceal the high concentration of land in the hands of mechanized agribusiness, which employs less than 5% of the national workforce.

Let us not forget that most of Paraguay's agricultural production for export is in the hands of large economic groups (many of them foreign) with highly mechanized production.

The expansion of the soybean frontier displaces peasant communities from their ancestral lands without generating productive linkages with local industry.

While the guaraní depreciates and makes the basic basket of goods more expensive for urban families, the agro-export sector continues to enjoy minimal tax rates.

What is required is a progressive tax reform that finances peasant rural development.