Hostname: page-component-745bb68f8f-b6zl4 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-01-22T13:09:58.623Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Agricultural Export Booms and the Rural Poor in Chile, Guatemala, and Paraguay

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 October 2022

Michael R. Carter ,
Bradford L. Barham  and
Dina Mesbah
Michael R. Carter
Affiliation:
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Bradford L. Barham
Affiliation:
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Dina Mesbah
Affiliation:
Oxford University
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

The economic crisis of the 1980s and the shift to outward-looking development strategies ignited interest in promoting agricultural exports throughout Latin America. In the 1990s, export strategies continue to dominate discussion on agricultural development in the region. Especially for smaller developing countries in Latin America, agricultural and natural-resource exports appear likely to lead efforts to stimulate export growth. Extraordinarily rapid agro-export growth has already been achieved in many countries. From the middle to late 1980s, nontraditional agricultural exports grew at rates of 222 percent in Chile, 78 percent in Guatemala, and 348 percent in Costa Rica. In Paraguay, the most agrarian country in Latin America, agricultural exports nearly tripled during the otherwise difficult decade of the 1980s.

Type
Research Article
Information
Latin American Research Review , Volume 31 , Issue 1 , 1996 , pp. 33 - 65
Copyright
Copyright © 1996 by the University of Texas Press

Footnotes

∗

The research reported here has benefited from the efforts and wisdom of more people than we can acknowledge individually in the available space. Financial support from the following institutions is gratefully acknowledged: the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Tinker Foundation, the Centro Paraguayo de Estudios Sociológicos, the Instituto de Nutrición para Centroamérica y Panama, USAID, the Land Tenure Center and the Latin American Studies Program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the Grupo de Investigaciones Agrarias, and the Corporación de Investigación Económica para Latin-américa.

References

Bardhan, Pranab 1989 The Economic Theory of Agrarian Institutions. Oxford: Clarendon.Google Scholar
Barham, Bradford, Boucher, Steve, AND Carter, Michael R. n.d. “Credit Constraints, Credit Unions, and Small-Scale Producers in Guatemala.” World Development, forthcoming.Google Scholar
Barham, Bradford, Carter, Michael R., AND Sigelko, Wayne 1995 'Agro-Export Production and Peasant Land Access: Examining the Dynamic between Adoption and Accumulation.“ Journal of Development Economics 46, no. 1:(85–107).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barham, Bradford, Clark, Mary, Katz, Elizabeth, AND Schurman, Rachael 1992 “Non-Traditional Agricultural Exports in Latin America.” LARR 27, no. 2:43–82.Google Scholar
Binswanger, Hans, Feder, Gershon, AND Deininger, Klaus 1995 “Power, Distortions, and Reform in Agricultural Land Relations.” In Handbook of Development Economics, Vol. 3, edited by J. Behrman and T. N. Srinivasan. Amsterdam: North Holland.Google Scholar
Brockett, Charles D. 1988 Land, Power, and Poverty: Agrarian Transformation and Political Conflict in Central America. Boston, Mass.: Allen and Unwin.Google Scholar
Carter, Michael R. 1989 “The Impact of Credit on Peasant Productivity and Differentiation in Nicaragua.” Journal of Development Economics 31, no. 1 (July):13–36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carter, Michael R. 1994 Sequencing Capital and Land-Market Reform for Broadly Based Growth. Agricultural Economics Staff Paper no. 279. Madison: Department of Agricultural Economics, University of Wisconsin.Google Scholar
Carter, Michael R., Barham, Bradford L., Mesbah, Dina, AND Stanley, Denise 1993 Agro-Exports and the Rural Resource-Poor in Latin America: Policy Options for Broadly Based Growth. Agricultural Economics Staff Paper no. 364. Madison: Department of Agricultural Economy, University of Wisconsin-Madison.Google Scholar
Carter, Michael, Luz, Karen, AND Galeano, Luis n.d. “Land Markets and Peasant Agriculture in Paraguay: Changing Patterns of Land-ownership and Access in a Period of Rapid Agricultural Growth.” Manuscript.Google Scholar
Carter, Michael R., AND Mesbah, Dina 1993 “Can Land-Market Reform Mitigate the Exclusionary Aspects of Rapid Agro-Export Growth?” World Development 21, no. 7 (July):1085–1100.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carter, Michael R., AND Zimmerman, Frederic n.d. “Structural Evolution under Imperfect Markets in Developing Country Agriculture.” Manuscript, University of Wisconsin-Madison.Google Scholar
CEPAL 1991 “Una estimación de la magnitud de la pobreza en Chile, 1987.” Colección Estudios CIEPLAN, no. 31:107–29.Google Scholar
CIREN (CENTRO DE INFORMACION DE RECURSOS NATURALES) 1990 Catastro Frutícola Nacional, VI Región: Actualización 1990. Santiago: CIREN-CORFO.Google Scholar
CIREN (CENTRO DE INFORMACION DE RECURSOS NATURALES) 1991 Catastro Frutícola Nacional, VIII Región: Actualización 1991. Santiago: CIREN-CORFO.Google Scholar
Clapp, Roger A. J. 1988 “Representing Reciprocity, Reproducing Domination: Ideology and the Labour Process in Latin American Contract Farming.” Journal of Peasant Studies 16, no. 1:5–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Conroy, Michael, Murray, D., AND Rossett, P. 1994 Fruits of the Crisis: Gambling on Nontraditional Agriculture. Austin: University of Texas Press.Google Scholar
Cox, Maximiliano, NiÑO DE ZEPEDA, A., AND Rojas, A. 1990 Política agraria en Chile: Del crecimiento excluyente al desarrollo equitativo. Santiago: Centro de Estudios para América Latina sobre Desarrollo Rural, Pobreza y Alimentación.Google Scholar
Cruz, Maria ELENA 1992 “From Inquilino to Temporary Work: From Hacienda to Rural Settlement.” In Development and Social Change in the Chilean Countryside, edited by Kay, Cristóbal and Silva, Patricio. Amsterdam: Centro de Estudios y Documentación Latinoamericanos.Google Scholar
Csete, Joanne, AND Woldt, Monica 1993 “Nutritional Consequences of Adoption of Non-Traditional Horticultural Exports by Guatemalan Farmers.” Manuscript.Google Scholar
De JANVRY, Alain 1981 The Agrarian Question and Reformism in Latin America. Baltimore, Md.: Johns Hopkins University Press.Google Scholar
De JANVRY, Alain, AND Sadoulet, Elisabeth 1993 “Relinking Agrarian Growth with Poverty Reduction.” In Including the Poor: Proceedings of a Symposium, edited by Lipton, Michael and Jacques van, Der Gaag. Washington, D.C.: World Bank.Google Scholar
Echenique, Jorge, AND Rolando, Nelson 1991 Tierras de parceleros: ¿Donde están? Santiago: Agraria.Google Scholar
Elster, Jon 1986 Making Sense of Marx. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Eswaran, Mukesh, AND Kotwal, Ashok 1985 “A Theory of Contractual Structure in Agriculture.” American Economic Review 75:352–67.Google Scholar
FIDA (FONDO INTERNACIONAL DE DESARROLLO AGRICOLA) 1990 Informe Principal de la Misión Especial de Programación a la República del Paraguay. Vol. 1. Asunción: FIDA.Google Scholar
Fogel, Ramon B. 1989 La cuestión agraria en el Paraguay: Apuntes para su estudio. Asunción: Centro de Estudios Rurales de Itapúa.Google Scholar
Galeano, Luis A. 1992 “Perfiles y tendencias recientes de la estructura agraria.” In-house document, Centro Paraguayo de Estudios Sociológicos, Asunción.Google Scholar
Galeano, Luis A. 1994 “El estado y la colonización.” In-house document, Centro Paraguayo de Estudios Sociológicos.Google Scholar
Glover, David, AND Kusterer, Kenneth 1990 Small Farms, Big Business: Contract Farming and Rural Development. London: Macmillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goldberg, Ray 1974 Agribusiness Management for Developing Countries: Latin America. Cambridge, Mass.: Ballinger.Google Scholar
Gomez, Sergio 1986 Tenencia de la tierra, 1965–1975. FLACSO Documento de Trabajo no. 286. Santiago: Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales.Google Scholar
Gomez, Sergio, AND Echenique, Jorge 1986 Nuevos empresarios y empresas agrícolas en Chile. Santiago: Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales and Agraria.Google Scholar
Gomez, Sergio, AND Echenique, Jorge 1988 La agricultura chilena: Las dos caras de la modernización. Santiago: Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales and Agraria.Google Scholar
Grindle, Merilee S. 1986 State and Countryside: Development Policy and Agrarian Politics in Latin America. Baltimore, Md.: Johns Hopkins University Press.Google Scholar
ICIRA (INSTITUTO DE CAPACITACION E INVESTIGACION EN REFORMA AGRARIA) 1979 Análisis de la situación actual de los asignatarios de tierras a junio de 1978: Tercer diagnóstico. ICIRA Documento de Trabajo. Santiago, Chile: Instituto de Capacitación e Investigación en Reforma Agraria.Google Scholar
Jarvis, Lovell 1981 “Small Farmers and Agricultural Workers in Chile, 1973–1979.” PREALC-OIT Documento de Trabajo. Santiago: Programa Regional del Empleo para América Latina y el Caribe and Organización Internacional del Trabajo.Google Scholar
Jarvis, Lovell 1989 “The Unraveling of Chile's Agrarian Reform, 1973–1986.” In Searching for Agrarian Reform in Latin America, edited by Thiesenhusen, William, 240–65. Boston, Mass.: Unwin Hyman.Google Scholar
Katz, Elizabeth n.d. “Gender and Trade within the Household: Observations from Rural Guatemala.” World Development, forthcoming.Google Scholar
Kautsky, Karl 1988 The Agrarian Question. London: Zwan.Google Scholar
Kusterer, Kenneth C., De BATRES, Maria REGINA ESTRADA, AND Cuxil, Josefina XUYA 1981 “The Social Impact of Agribusiness: A Case Study of ALCOSA in Guatemala.” USAID Evaluation Special Study no. 4. Washington, D.C.: USAID.Google Scholar
Lehmann, David 1986 “Two Paths of Agrarian Capitalism: A Critique of Chayanovian Marxism.” Comparative Studies in Society and History 28, no. 3:601–27.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Maxwell, Simon, AND Fernandez, Adrian 1989 “Cash Crops in Developing Countries: The Issues, the Facts, the Policies.” World Development 17, no. 11:1677–1708.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Menchu, Rigoberta 1984 I, Rigoberta Menchú, an Indian Woman in Guatemala, edited by Burgos-Debray, Elisabeth. London: Verso.Google Scholar
Mendizabal, Ana BEATRIZ, ED. n.d. Flores y frutas: El futuro del agro centroamericano. Panama City: Programa Regional del Empleo para América Latina y el Caribe and CADESCA, forthcoming.Google Scholar
Molina, Raul 1987 “Evolución de la estructura agraria en el sector reformado: El caso de la comuna de Buín.” Santiago: Universidad de Chile.Google Scholar
Murray, Douglas, AND Hopin, Polly 1992 “Recurring Contradictions in Agrarian Development: Pesticide Problems in Caribbean Basin Nontraditional Agriculture.” World Development 20, no. 4:597–608.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nagel, Beverly Y. 1991 “Socioeconomic Differentiation among Small Cultivators on Paraguay's Eastern Frontier.” LARR 26, no. 2:103–32.Google Scholar
Noe PINO, Hugo, AND Perdomo, Rodulio 1992 “Impacto de las exportaciones no tradicionales sobre pequeños y medianos productores: Casos del melón y del camarón.” POSCAE-UNAH Documento de Trabajo no. 4. Tegucigalpa: Postgrado Centroamericano en Economía, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Honduras.Google Scholar
Ortega, Emiliano 1988 Transformaciones agrarias y campesinado: De la participación a la exclusión. Santiago: Corporación de Investigación para Latinoamérica.Google Scholar
PANORAMA ECONOMICO DE LA AGRICULTURA 1979 “El precio de la tierra en Chile.” Panorama Económico de la Agricultura, no. 6:61–65 (published in Santiago by the Departamento de Economía Agrícola, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile).Google Scholar
Redclift, Michael 1989 “The Environmental Consequences of Latin America's Agricultural Development: Some Reflections on the Brundtland Commission Report.” World Development 17, no. 3:365–77.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roemer, John 1982 A General Theory of Exploitation and Class. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schmitt, Gunther 1992 “The Organization of Farm Production and Its Implications for Agricultural Economics and Policy.” Paper presented at the Policy Article Prize Seminar, University of Minnesota, 20 Apr., Minneapolis-St. Paul.Google Scholar
Schurman, Rachael A. 1993 “Economic Development and Class Formation in an Extractive Economy: The Fragile Nature of the Chilean Fishing Industry, 1973–1990.” Ph.D. diss., University of Wisconsin-Madison.Google Scholar
Schweigert, Thomas 1990 “Land Distribution and Land Use in Guatemala.” Ph.D. diss., University of Wisconsin-Madison .Google Scholar
Scott, Christopher D. 1985 “El ascenso de la mediana producción en la agricultura latinoamericana.” Summary of the papers presented at the Taller sobre el Ascenso de la Mediana Producción en la Agricultura Latinoamericana, 19–21 Dec., Rome. In-house document, UN Food and Agriculture Organization.Google Scholar
Sen, Abijhat 1981 “Market Failure and Control of Labour Power: Towards an Explanation of ‘Structure’ and Change in Indian Agriculture, Part 1.” Cambridge Journal of Economics 5:201–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shearer, Eric B., Lastarria-CORNHIEL, Susana, AND Mesbah, Dina 1991 “The Reform of Rural Land Markets in Latin America and the Caribbean: Research, Theory, and Policy Implications.” Land Tenure Center paper no. 141. Madison: Land Tenure Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison.Google Scholar
Stanley, Denise L. 1994 “The Welfare Effects of an Export Boom: Land Enclosure and Labor-Market Segmentation in Honduras.” Paper presented to the Latin American Studies Association, 10–12 Mar., Atlanta.Google Scholar
Stonich, Susan 1991 “The Promotion of Nontraditional Agriculture Exports in Honduras: Issues of Equity, Environment, and Natural Resource Management.” Development and Change 22, no. 4:725–55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Strasma, John, Alm, James, Shearer, Eric, AND Waldstein, Alfred 1987 “The Impact of Agricultural Land Revenue Systems on Agricultural Land Usage in Developing Countries.” In-house document, Associates in Rural Development, Burlington, Vermont.Google Scholar
Thiesenhusen, William, AND Melmed-SANJAK, Jolyne 1990 “Brazil's Agrarian Structure: Changes from 1970–1980.” World Development 18, no. 3:394–415.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thrupp, Lori ANN 1994 Challenges in Latin America's Recent Agro-Export Boom: Sustainability and Equity of Nontraditional Export Policies in Ecuador. Issues in Development. Washington, D.C.: World Resources Institute.Google Scholar
Timmer, C. PETER 1987 “The Agricultural Transformation.” In Handbook of Development Economics, edited by Hollis Chenery and T. N. Srinivasan, 1:275–331. Amsterdam: North Holland.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
USAID 1992 Strategic Guidelines for Programming Assistance for Agricultural Development and Natural Resources Management: Latin America and the Caribbean. Washington, D.C.: Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean, USAID.Google Scholar
Von BRAUN, Joaquim, Hotchkiss, David, AND Immink, Marten 1989 “Nontraditional Export Crops in Guatemala: Effects on Production, Income, and Nutrition.” Research Report no. 73. Washington, D.C.: International Food Policy Research Institute.Google Scholar
Wade, Robert 1990 Governing the Market: Economic Theory and the Role of Government in East Asian Industrialization. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Watts, Michael 1990 “Peasants under Contract: Agro-Food Complexes in the Third World.” In The Food Question: Profits versus People?, edited by Bernstein, Henry, Crow, Ben, Mackintosh, Maureen, and Martin, Charlotte, 149–62. London: Earthscan.Google Scholar
Weisskoff, Richard 1992 “The Paraguayan Agro-Export Model of Development.” World Development 20, no. 10:1531–40.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weller, JÜRGEN 1992a “Las exportaciones agrícolas no tradicionales y sus efectos en el empleo y los ingresos.” In MENDIZABAL n.d.Google Scholar
Weller, JÜRGEN 1992b “Los cultivos no tradicionales y las opciones de los pequeños productores.” In MENDIZABAL n.d.Google Scholar
Weller, JÜRGEN 1992c “Exportaciones no tradicionales agrícolas en Centroamérica: La generación de empleo e ingreso.” Paper presented at the Technical Meeting on Political Economy, Employment, and Poverty, sponsored by the Programa Regional del Empleo para América Latina y el Caribe and Organización Internacional del Trabajo, 20 June, Panama City.Google Scholar
Williams, Robert 1986 Export Agriculture and the Crisis in Central America. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilson, John F., Hay, James D., AND Margolis, Maxine L. 1989 “The Bi-National Frontier of Eastern Paraguay.” In The Human Ecology of Tropical Land Settlement in Latin America, edited by Schumann, Debra A. and Partridge, William L., 199–237. Boulder, Colo.: Westview.Google Scholar
Young, Linda W. 1987 “Internalization of the Labor Process in Agriculture: A Case Study of Agro-industrial Development in Mexico's El Bajío.” Ph.D. diss., University of California, Berkeley.Google Scholar