UTT Agroecological Colonies: Challenging Argentina's Hegemonic Food SystemThe Unión de Trabajadores de la Tierra (UTT) is a pivotal social movement in Argentina that has emerged to challenge the country's dominant, extractivist agro-food model. This model is characterized by highly concentrated horticultural production—centered in the Cordón Hortícola Platense (supplying over 14 million people in Buenos Aires)—intensive biocide use, and structural exploitation of Bolivian migrant families. These families, forming the backbone of the horticultural labor force through the "Bolivianisation of horticulture," are subjected to precarious, informal land leases and deep asymmetries in the value chain, where intermediaries profit from price markups of  1000–1200.

Founded in 2010, the UTT's political project aims for food sovereignty by promoting agroecology as both a technical and a socio-political alternative. The vision is rooted in collective self-determination, advocating for: Public soft credit schemes for land access. Cooperative use of infrastructure. Development of direct, fair trade circuits. Improved working and living conditions for producers. The organization initially focused on three critical demands: exorbitant land rental costs, insecure land access, and unfair farmgate prices imposed by the culata de camión (direct farm collection by intermediaries). UTT's emphasis on collective action, shaped by its founders' experience in the 2001 social crisis, led to milestones like the 2014 highway encampment, which brought the issue of land access and exploitation into national focus. Following stalled negotiations, UTT executed a decisive action in April 2015 by occupying a disused 90-hectare state-owned lot in Jáuregui-Luján.

While agroecology was not an initial demand, the UTT leadership adopted it as the guiding principle, recognizing that autonomy from exploitative rental arrangements was prerequisite for adopting sustainable practices. The Luján colony, now the most consolidated and emblematic, is home to 50 families, each cultivating one hectare without agrochemicals. It is a self-managed ecosystem comprising: An adult primary and secondary school. A health clinic and permanent housing. A local shop, apiary, and plant nursery. A community biofactory for producing inputs. This successful model has inspired replication, and UTT now manages colonies in several other locations across Buenos Aires Province and Misiones, granted through agreements with various actors. The UTT faces significant structural obstacles:

• Land Concentration: Argentina's agro-food model is defined by deep land inequality. The 2018 census shows that 2.44% of producers control over 50% of agricultural land, actively displacing smallholders. In the Cordón Hortícola, this fuels high rental prices and drives the expansion of high-income suburban development.
• Migrant Discrimination: Bolivian migrant workers, who constitute the sector's labor base, face deep structural marginalization and xenophobic narratives, which serve to normalize their precarious working and living conditions.
• Hegemonic Agro-Export Model: The dominance of Argentina's globally dependent agro-export framework, focused on monoculture and GMOs, creates a monolithic discourse that actively delegitimizes agroecology. Despite these challenges, UTT's approach has generated tangible results:National Growth: The Luján colony served as a model, fueling UTT's expansion into a nationwide organization active in 18 provinces, uniting approximately 20,000 producers.
• Agroecology Promotion: UTT successfully inserted agroecology into national public debate, supported by the Consultorio Técnico Popular (COTEPO), a "farmer-to-farmer" training network for agroecological transition.Self-Managed Marketing: The development of direct, self-managed distribution circuits, including consumer nodes and a growing network of Almacenes Soberanos (sovereign stores) across Greater Buenos Aires, allows producers to capture a fairer share of the value.
• Land Debate: The colony model reignited the national debate on land access, leading to the draft bill for a Public Credit Trust Fund (PROCREAR Rural), proposing 30-year public loans to enable landless farmers to purchase land and establish new colonies

The UTT's initiative demonstrates how collective organization and a commitment to socio-political agroecology can effectively challenge systemic exploitation and contribute to a more just and sustainable territorial food system.