FONTIERRAS: Structural Adjustment and access to land in Guatemala
September 20, 2005
Agriculture is central to the Guatemalan economy and society, representing 23% of the Gross National Product in 1997, and with 61.4 % of the population living in rural areas in 2000. Agriculture in Guatemala is characterized by extremely unequal land distribution In 1998, according to the Ministry for Agriculture, Grains and Food (MAGA in Spanish ), 96% of producers cultivated 20% of the land mass and lived in subsistence conditions. At the same time 0.2% of producers possessed 70% of the land, with large areas of land used for production of agricultural exports. After more than thirty years of different government policies, the genocide of indigenous people and the peace accords of the 1990s, land access and distribution in Guatemala remains highly exclusionary.
| Byron Garoz, Susana Gauster |
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INTRODUCTION
Agriculture is central to the Guatemalan economy and society, representing 23% of the Gross National Product in 1997, and with 61.4 % of the population living in rural areas in 2000. Agriculture in Guatemala is characterized by extremely unequal land distribution In 1998, according to the Ministry for Agriculture, Grains and Food (MAGA in Spanish ), 96% of producers cultivated 20% of the land mass and lived in subsistence conditions. At the same time 0.2% of producers possessed 70% of the land, with large areas of land used for production of agricultural exports. After more than thirty years of different government policies, the genocide of indigenous people and the peace accords of the 1990s, land access and distribution in Guatemala remains highly exclusionary.
After colonialism, land was occupied and re-apportioned without any significant impact on the existing land distribution and access structure. The post colonial settlement institutionalised patterns of corruption, plundering, and land use for exports, militating against any possibility of genuine reform. The issue of land use is an important one. In Guatemala, there had developed a dual agricultural system; the agro export industry and the internal consumption of agricultural products. The agro export industry is modernized, with high productivity levels, whilst the traditional small-scale campesino farmers are characterised low productivity and poverty. This model generated tension and secular conflict, high levels of instability, violence, social and political regression. By the 1980’s there was a radical move towards adjustment and market mechanisms as a solution to the agrarian problem.
This new model totally dismantled the Sector Público Agrícola (SPA in Spanish), promoting a business approach, employing Social Funds and purchasing land through the market. The Peace Accords presented a renewed approach in market assisted land reform. Nevertheless, five years after the signing of the Peace Accords and more than 20 years of adjustment, access to land, land use and holding remains largely unchanged. This chapter evaluates the role of the Fondo de Tierras (FONTIERRAS) - the government’s only option for Guatemalan campesinos to access land. Conclusions are based on an in-depth literature review, semi-structured interviews, and consultative workshops in different regions of the country, together with case studies and visits to eight communities who are beneficiaries of FONTIERRAS in different regions of the country.
Full Report:
FONTIERRAS: Structural Adjustment and access to land in Guatemala
16 Word pages
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