The shadow of tropical agriculture: Energy transition of Colombian trade-driven agriculture in the 20th century
研究了1915至2015年哥伦比亚农业从传统有机向集约化转型的能源效率变化，发现贸易驱动下能源回报率在1980年代后急剧下降，与温带农业路径不同。
Agrarian transformations in tropical regions, driven by fossil-fuel inputs and export-oriented specialization, have caused significant ecological and climatic challenges. Assessing the historical and current patterns of these systems is essential for understanding global biomass production dynamics and addressing their impacts. This study employs long-term agroecological energy analysis (AEA) to examine the efficiency and sustainability of biomass production during the transition from traditional-organic to intensive-conventional systems. While AEA has primarily focused on temperate agriculture in developed regions, this study presents a case of tropical export-oriented farming, analyzing the socio-ecological transition of Colombian agriculture from 1915 to 2015 at an annual resolution, covering crops, livestock, and forestry. We quantify bioeconomic and agroecological energy flows and returns, providing a chronological examination through structural break analysis and comparisons with temperate agriculture. Findings reveal early energy gains linked to crop share increases and initial intensification under extensive livestock and coffee expansion. However, as tropical agriculture intensified and re-entered global markets, energy returns declined sharply. This shift began in the 1980s and accelerated after the early 2000s, marking a distinct transition from patterns observed in temperate regions. This transition from land-intensive to energy-intensive agriculture provides a valuable long-term perspective on the challenges and dynamics of tropical farming systems. • Energy returns in tropical agriculture are analyzed through Colombia’s 20th-century case. • Early energy return gains in Colombia were followed by increasing environmental strain. • Trade drove the shift from land-extensive to energy-intensive farming in Colombia. • Accelerated intensification after the 1980s led to declining energy returns. • Unlike temperate regions, tropical agriculture followed a distinct socioecological path.