Pineapple farms and monocultural agriculture in Costa Rica
Agriculture is one of the most widespread industries in the world and is a critical component of global trade and operation. Encompassing nearly half of the world’s habitable surface area, approximately 51 million square miles (Lecture 5), humans rely upon the industry of growing, harvesting and shipping of food. In our contemporary globalized world, many of the foodstuffs we consume come from great distances due to particular parts of the world having either more optimal environmental conditions or a more historically established industry around the product. Latin America has long held market dominance for several tropical fruits, coffee, and sugar while yielding significant amounts of soybean, dairy and various oilseeds. Many nations in the region are exceedingly reliant on agriculture to the point where some have food and agricultural products accounting for over 80% of their exports (Caballos et al., 2024). The proliferation of these specialized and high-value crops has caused environmental devastation across Latin America as tropical fruits in particular require large swaths of land due to efficiency of harvest and the straightforward nature of land clearing which has destroyed many local ecosystems and has contributed heavily to air and water pollution.
Costa Rica is a particularly productive country in the region that exports a majority of the world’s bananas and pineapples in 2024, along with a variety of other cash crops (FAOSTAT, 2024). However, unlike many of its neighbors, Costa Rica has diversified its economy away from the agriculture sector, allowing it to both be a competitive player in the global food market and have the resources to combat many of the environmental and social issues associated with domestic food production. While the country has made efforts to improve regional environmental quality and has made commitments to reduce usage of gas and oil, its agricultural industry has remained a relatively devastating force making heavy use of agrochemicals and being the primary cause of biodiversity loss due to overgrazing and forest clearing to make way for new plantations (Martin, 2016). Pineapples in particular have been a pinch point for Costa Rica as they shipped 65% of the world’s pineapples in 2018, a fruit that accounts for 44% of all tropical fruit exports globally (Alvarado, 2021). Pineapple farming is associated with a wide range of problems both social and environmental for the country. Due to the typically monocultural nature of pineapple plantations, vast amounts of pesticides are needed to help the genetically similar crops safe from fatal pathogens. Over 50 different varieties of chemical treatments may be deployed over a growing season in order to maintain the demanded high yield and safe plants (Orenstein, 2018). Erosion of soils due to deforestation and the elimination of native flora has also been a growing issue causing water contamination, loss of soil nutrients and creating hazards for residents (Namubak, 2025). Besides the impact of groundwater contamination and smoke produced from forest clearings, local communities are also impacted by these mass-scale farming operations. Approximately 70% of plantation-employed workers are migrants, many of which are from neighboring Nicaragua and are paid sub-standard wages with extensive 80 hour workweeks (Namubak, 2025). Despite these struggles, the industry remains in this form due to its relevance in the greater national economy. Pineapple production increased by about 300% between 2000 and 2016 and in the 6 year stretch from 2001 to 2007 alone, the value of pineapple exports grew from $142 million to $485 million (Martin, 2016).
As with many environmental issues stemming from industry, economic pressures tend to be the primary drivers of sustained ecological abuses. Many of the plantation practices are long-established and have been developed for optimization: high yields, larger fruits and growth to keep pace with worldwide demand, especially from the Global North. Europe receives nearly 75% of its pineapples from Costa Rica (Orenstein, 2018) and a majority of Costa Rica’s pineapple plantations are owned by the US-based Dole, and a subsidiary of Del Monte, the Pineapple Development Corporation (PINDECO) who vie with the local government to ensure optimal output and steady profits (Brown et al., 2020). Rapid growth induced by the industry under growing demand has generated many jobs in the southern portion of the country, but fluctuating market conditions and dismal labor conditions combined with new environmental risks have caused employment volatility, harming many communities while simultaneously entrenching the pineapple industry further (Sasa and Andraka, 2016). The ecological issues created by the mass adoption of industrial agriculture are primarily encompassed by a few major practices. Land clearing has severely cut down on regional biodiversity and adds to air pollution as much plantation land is burned forestland. Wetland destruction has also contributed to erosion which affects local communities and their surrounding environments (Martin, 2016). Chemical utilization for pesticides and fertilizers have drained soil nutrients, killed local fauna and leaks into groundwater and nearby bodies of water. Both riparian vegetation and freshwater fish are adversely impacted by pesticide runoff, without the former, erosion has worsened and water quality has degraded, the latter is also a vital economic and food source for residents (Echeverría-Sáenz et al., 2012). Costa Rica is also one of the largest utilizers of pesticides globally due to the fragility of both bananas and pineapples in terms of disease resistance due to the reproduction by clonal propagation which has led to many cases of health issues with wildlife as well as farmworkers and local residents ranging from respiratory issues, headaches and nausea to more systemic issues such as higher rates of endocrine disruption and cancer development (Brown et al., 2016).
Several policy analysts, economists and local leaders have observed, tracked and proposed solutions to the multifaceted issues associated with pineapple farming in Costa Rica. One approach is to change the way farming pineapples is done in the nation. Agroforestry is a popular idea for many tropical climates, it involves the integration of trees with crops as a means to provide shade, regulate water loss, provide shade to farmers, support soil structure and provide additional sources of income (Namubak, 2025). Focusing on soil health in particular is also popular as a means to boost output and assist the environment. Many means of improving soil health exist, such as reducing pesticide application, using mulch and rotating crops. Some studies have found potential uses for the waste produced by pineapple farms as a means to provide renewable energy and lessen waste. Liao et al. proposes a bioenergy strategy that purposes that the over ten million tons of leave and pulp waste produced by pineapple farms be anaerobically digested into a form of renewable natural gas that could generate a “net energy surplus of 10.66 billion MJ/year” (Liao et al., 2026). As for the economic solutions to large pineapple companies such as Dole and Del Monte’s skirting of environmental regulations, some have proposed an export tax be applied to pineapples sent out of Costa Rica as a means of recuperating the labor and environmental costs of their operations (Brown et al., 2020). To apply any of these solutions however, requires a robust public understanding of both the ecological consequences of pineapple agriculture and how these issues apply to citizens and their communities. Along with the tax argument, tax incentives or subsidies can be offered to local farmers who learn about and operate more sustainable systems (Namubak, 2025). Public awareness campaigns and widely available training programs could also significantly contribute to local awareness and help support a general transition away from the industrial model.
Costa Rica has made great strides towards practicing sustainability in several economic sectors and is working tirelessly to cut down on emissions, limit pollution and revitalize their country’s once-flourishing biodiversity. While the current efforts are admirable, more must be done in the country’s agriculture sector in order to prevent ecological destruction, clamp down on pollution and limit greenhouse gas emissions. Agriculture in many ways is benefited by its general leeway in regulation, but consequences of environmental degradation have slowly been collecting greater losses from the industry that perpetuates it. Estimates have suggested that around 5 to 13.3 per cent of annual value generated in Costa Rican agriculture is lost due to land degradation (UNEP, 2016). It is imperative that Costa Rica limits the environmental destruction currently caused not just by pineapple production companies, but from widespread monocultural agriculture generally.
References:
Caballos, F. Escalante, L. Hernandez, M. Paz, C. Piñeiro, V. (2024). Latin America and the Caribbean. IFPRI. https://www.ifpri.org/unit/latin-america-and-caribbean-lac/
FAOSTAT. (2024). Production / Crops and livestock products - Metadata (Costa Rica). Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). FAO 2024 stats on Costa Rican Agricultural output
Echeverría-Sáenz, F. Mena, M. Pinnock, C. Ruepert, K. Solano, E. de la Cruz, B. Campos, J. Sánchez-Avila, S. Lacorte, C. Barata. (2012). Environmental hazards of pesticides from pineapple crop production in the Río Jiménez watershed (Caribbean Coast, Costa Rica). Science of the Total Environment. 440, 106-114. https://www.sciencedirect.com
Martin, A. (2016). The Sour Side of Pineapple Production. Nicholas School of the Environment | Duke University. https://blogs.nicholas.duke.edu
Orenstein, G. (2018). Costa Rica’s Pineapple Industry. The Borgen Project. https://borgenproject.org
Alvarado, A. (2021). Sustainable Pineapple Production in Costa Rica. University of California Merced Environmental Systems Graduate Studies. https://storymaps.arcgis.com
Namubak (2025). Pineapple Plantations in Costa Rica: Environmental, Social, and Economic Impacts. Namubak. https://namubak.com
Brown, J. Flint, T. LeMay, J. (2020). The Politics of Pineapple: Examining the Inequitable Impacts of Southern Costa Rica's Pineapple Industry. Journal of Public and International Affairs | Princeton University. https://jpia.princeton.edu
Sasa, K. Andraka, S. (2016). Costa Rica: Sustainable Pineapple. United Nations Development Programme. https://www.undp.org/foodsystems/costa-rica-sustainable-pineapple
Liao, A. Y. Spizzirri, E. Rodriguez-Vasquez, M. J. Bustamante-Roman, M. Rojas-Sossa, J. Toscano, A. Valenti, F. (2026). Powering pineapple industry with pineapple residues - A circular bioenergy strategy for Costa Rica. Renewable Energy. 266. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960148126005343
United Nations Environment Programme. (2016). GEO-6: Global Environment Outlook: Regional Assessment for Latin America and the Caribbean. UNEP. https://wedocs.unep.org/items/a5d9f770-935a-47ee-9718-d0b871b037c3