AbstractArmed conflict is widely believed to disrupt agricultural production and 'reverse' development, but it may also involve the violent transformation of rural economies from subsistence to commercial agriculture. The case of Las Pavas, an estate in northern Colombia, provides further evidence that armed conflict created opportunities for violent land grabs and the expansion of commercial agriculture in Colombia. However, aggregate data suggest that primitive accumulation may be only part of the story behind the massive scale of forced displacement and dispossession. A research strategy that accounts for the diversity of subnational contexts, processes and outcomes is needed.Keywords: Colombiaconflictagricultureland grabprimitive accumulation AcknowledgementsThe authors are grateful to the community of Buenos Aires, in El Peñón, Colombia, for their time and openness to share their story. This research project was fully funded by the Universidad of los Andes, a private, non-profit, higher education institution based in Bogota, Colombia. To our knowledge, there are no personal or institutional conflicts of interest that may have impaired the objective analysis presented in this paper.ORCIDGonzalo A. Vargas http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2377-8563Additional informationNotes on contributorsCarlos J. L. Gómez is a forest engineer and obtained his Master's in geography from the Universidad de los Andes, Colombia, in 2014. His research focuses on the agricultural transformation of zones hit by forced displacement and its impact on food security and sovereignty; in his work, Carlos uses methods such as archives, remote sensors and fieldwork. Email: carlosgomez@redgeografica.comNotes on contributorsLuis Sánchez-Ayala obtained his PhD in geography from Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, USA. Currently, he is a professor of geography at the Department of History at the Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia. His research interests are related to the spatiality of political and cultural issues, specifically questions related to migration, diasporas and transnationalism; identity and territory; boundaries and borders; globalization and development; third-world urbanization; electoral issues; geographical education; and cartography. Email: ld.sanchez20@uniandes.edu.coNotes on contributorsGonzalo A. Vargas is professor of Development Studies at Cider, Universidad de los Andes, in Bogotá, Colombia. He obtained his PhD in development studies from the London School of Economics in 2010. His research focuses on the relations between political violence, criminal violence and development; the use of violence against civilians in armed conflicts; the dilemmas and effects of counterinsurgency; business and human rights; and the relations between development and violence in general.