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Abstract
The Chaco Salteño of Argentina is a global hotspot of land conflict and climatechange pressures. This study was motivated by an interest in understanding how
smallholding rural pastoralists in the area, many of whom live with land insecurity,
anticipate and adapt to shocks and stressors for more resilient livelihoods. Qualitative
methods (semi-structured interviews) were used to analyze the mechanisms controlling
access to resources with potential to build resiliency in the face of disturbances and
consider adaptive responses in terms of both the ecological and institutional operating
contexts. Land titles and communal organizations, the primary mechanisms for securing
resource access, were explored to better understand how, why, and to what extent they
are employed by pastoralists. I found that land titles provide more significant adaptive
benefits than communal organizations, but are substantially more difficult to achieve,
indicating that communal organizations may be more effective overall.