Agricultural intensification and resource conservation in the buffer zone of the Maya Biosphere Reserve, Peten, Guatemala PDF
Preview Agricultural intensification and resource conservation in the buffer zone of the Maya Biosphere Reserve, Peten, Guatemala
AGRICULTURALINTENSIFICATIONANDRESOURCECONSERVATION INTHEBUFFERZONEOFTHEMAYABIOSPHERERESERVE,PETEN,GUATEMALA By AVRUMJOSEPHSHRIAR ADISSERTATIONPRESENTEDTOTHEGRADUATESCHOOLOFTHEUNIVERSITY OFFLORIDAINPARTIALFULFILLMENTOFTHEREQUIREMENTSFORTHEDEGREE OFDOCTOROFPHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITYOFFLORIDA 1999 \ Tomyfather,SamuelHertzShriar... Stillthemostclever,interesting,andsoulfulmanIhaveeverknown. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS IamdeeplyindebtedtothemanyfarmersinGuatemalawhosharedtheirtime,knowledge, opinions,andpatiencewithme. Ilearnedagreatdealfromthemaswehiked,hiked,androde throughthePetenlandscapeinmyquesttounderstandthetrialsandtribulationsoffarmingina neglected,dangerous,andharshfrontierregion. Ihopetorepaythisdebtbyworkingtoward effectivepoliciesandprogramsthatwillallowforPeteneros'basicneedstobemetonasustained basis,inanenvironmentthatwillremainhealthyandbeautiful. ThefieldresearchforthisdissertationwasfundedthroughagrantfromtheU.S.National ScienceFoundation. Withoutthissupport,onlyamuchlessdetailedstudywouldhavebeen possible. Igratefullyacknowledgetheexcellentguidance,support,andencouragementIreceived frommydissertationcommitteemembersattheUniversityofFlorida(UF)throughoutmycourse workandresearch:NigelJ.H.Smith(Chair),AbrahamC.Goldman,PeterE.Hildebrand,P.K.R. Nair,MarianneSchmink.andMarilyn(Mickie)Swisher. Dr.KenPortieroftheUFDepartmentof Statisticsdeservesspecialmentionforhisassistanceinrelationtothestatisticalanalysisforthis work. IalsowouldliketothankNormanB.SchwartzoftheUniversityofDelaware,whoopenly sharedwithmehistremendousinsightsintothesocioculturalandenvironmentalrealityofPeten andwhoprovedtobeafinementor,bothduringandafterthefieldwork. ManypeoplecurrentlyorformerlyworkingwithorganizationsactiveinPetencontributed totheresearchbyprovidinglogisticalhelporusefulinformation. Theseinclude,inparticular: FranciscoBarquin.EsauGuerra,AntonioFion,SalvadorBolafios,TeresaRobles,Armando iii Ozaeta,CarlosCollado,CiprianoBeletzuy,MisaelVasquez,AntonioPineda,andmanyothersat CentroMaya;VenicioMonteroandByronMilianofCARE;JohnBeaversatTheNature Conservancy(TNC);VictorHugoRamosofCONAP;andChindoGarciawithThePeregerine Fund. ClearlythereareotherswhomadeusefulcontributionsandIapologizeforanyoversights andomissionstothislist. IalsowanttothankRoanMcNab,ErickBaur,andDavidRinckfortheirassistanceand friendship,andforactingasreliabledrinkingbuddieswhenIwasbackinFloresafterlengthy periodsinelcampo. Specialthanksareduetomygirlfriend,AngelaCaudle,whose accompanimentduringmuchofthefieldworkinPetenmadeitamoreenjoyableexperiencethanit otherwisewouldhavebeen. Ourfelinefriend.FrankLopezGuzman,fromPalestina,Libertad, alsodeservesspecialmentionforhisroleasafirstclassratcatcherinPeten,andforbeingan ongoingmajorsourceofpleasureandcomicreliefinGainesville. Iamgratefultomysiblings,Judy,David,andRuthfortheirencouragement,humorand advice,andforthefaithinmetheyhaveshownovertheyears. Finally,Iwouldliketothankmy parents,SamuelandElsieShriar,whoinitiallyinspiredmetoworktowardabetterworldandwho selflesslyhaveencouragedmetoperseverewithcompletingthisdissertation,despitemyfather's ongoing,tragicandsorrowfulstrugglewithLouGehrig'sdisease. IV TABLEOFCONTENTS page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS iii ABSTRACT ix CHAPTERS 1 INTRODUCTION 1 2 THETHEORETICALFRAMEWORK:LANDDEGRADATION, DEFORESTATION,ANDAGRICULTURAL INTENSIFICATION 8 Introduction 8 LandDegradation 9 DefiningtheProblemanditsRelevance 9 TraditionalCausalExplanationsandOfficialResponses 11 AnAlternativeApproachtoAddressingIssuesofLandDegradation andLandCoverChange 15 ColonizationandDeforestation 19 DirectCausesofDeforestationandtheImportanceofScalein AssessingImpact 22 IndirectCausesofDeforestation 24 UnderlyingFactors 29 PerspectivesonAgriculturalIntensificationandChange 32 RegionalScaleFactors 33 Farm/HouseholdScaleFactors 39 Summary 48 3 THEREGIONALGEOGRAPHICSETTING 51 Introduction 51 HistoricalandPoliticalBackground 51 PhysicalGeography 64 Overview 64 Geology,HydrologyandClimate 66 Soils,VegetationandWildlife 69 HumanGeography 72 Demographic,Sociocultural,andEconomicCharacteristics 72 AgriculturalSystems 78 LandTenureIssuesandCategories 90 Summary 95 RESEARCHDESIGNANDSTUDYAREAS 97 StudyObjectiveandApproach 97 Hypotheses 99 StudyPhasesandMethodology 102 StudyAreaDescriptions 108 StudyArea1:RutaBethel 110 StudyArea2:RutaNaranjo 112 StudyArea3:RutaTikal 115 FARMHOUSEHOLDCHARACTERISTICSANDSTRATEGIES 121 Introduction 121 GeneralHouseholdCharacteristics 122 PropertyandLandTenure 127 HouseholdCroppingStrategies 134 HouseholdAgriculturalTechnologies 138 OtherLandCoversandCharacteristics 149 OtherHouseholdResourcesandFeatures 157 Summary 170 PATHWAYSTOAGRICULTURALINTENSIFICATION 173 Introduction 173 RegressionAnalysis 175 RutaBethelStudyArea 179 RutaNaranjoStudyArea 184 RutaTikalStudyArea 189 AllStudyAreasCombined 194 AnalysesofVariance 200 CashCropping 205 Intercropping 210 Plowing 212 Mucuna 214 PesticideUse 221 FertilizerUse 225 PerennialCropping 228 Homegardens 231 InfluencesonAgriculturalStrategy:ASynthesis 234 ProductionofHighValueCrops 234 Intercropping 236 PerennialCrops 238 vi Homegardens 241 Plowing 241 Mucuna 242 FertilizerUse 245 PesticideUse 247 Summary 250 7 EVALUATINGOVERALLFARMINTENSITY 251 Introduction 251 TheAgriculturalIntensityIndex 252 AgriculturalIntensityIndexRegressionAnalyses 254 RutaBethel 255 RutaNaranjo 255 RutaTikal 257 AllStudyAreasCombined 258 AgriculturalIntensityIndexANOVA 259 RutaBethel 260 RutaNaranjo 262 RutaTikal 263 AllStudyAreasCombined 266 SynthesizingtheResultsBasedontheAgriculturalIntensityIndex 266 RutaBethel 268 RutaNaranjo 268 RutaTikal 269 AllStudyAreasCombined 271 Summary:ComparingtheDegreeofIntensityAmongtheThreeStudyAreas.272 THEDYNAMICSOFAGRICULTURALINTENSIFICATIONINTHE BUFFERZONEOFTHEMAYABIOSPHERERESERVE: CONCLUSIONSANDIMPLICATIONS 275 Introduction 275 IntensificationStrategiesandMotivations 278 IntensificationthroughPlowing 278 TheUseofMucunaasaGreenManure 280 CultivationofCashCrops 283 Intercropping 284 PerennialCropsandHomegardens 285 FertilizerUse 286 PesticideUse 286 RegionalLevelInfluencesonIntensification:DemandThemesand TechnologyThemes 287 IntraregionalVariationintheDynamicsofIntensification 290 RutaBethel 290 RutaNaranjo 293 vii RutaTikal 296 Implications 299 FarmLevelInfluencesonIntensification 300 LandQuantityandQuality 301 LaborSupply 302 Off-FarmIncome 302 LandTenureCredit 303 WealthandPoverty 306 FarmerExperienceandKnowledge 306 OtherConsiderationsandImplications 308 APPENDIX:COMMONPETENCROPS 321 REFERENCES 323 BIOGRAPHICALSKETCH 344 vm AbstractofDissertationPresentedtotheGraduateSchooloftheUniversityofFloridain PartialFulfillmentoftheRequirementsfortheDegreeofDoctorofPhilosophy AGRICULTURALINTENSIFICATIONANDRESOURCECONSERVATION INTHEBUFFERZONEOFTHEMAYABIOSPHERERESERVE,PETEN,GUATEMALA By AvrumJosephShriar December1999 Chairman:NigelJ.H.Smith Department:Geography ThePetenregionofnorthernGuatemalahasbeenthefocusofmassivein-migrationin recentdecades. Thishasledtosubstantialdeforestationbecauselanduse,asinmostfrontier regions,isextensive. Toreducepressureonremainingareasofforestandensurethatregional foodsecurityrequirementsaremetinupcomingdecades,effortsareneededtoimproveeconomic conditionsinPetenandintensifyagricultureinareasalreadyclearedofforest. ThisstudyexaminesthefactorsinfluencingwhetherPetenfarmersadoptmoreintensive agriculturalpracticesandstrategies. Researchmethodsincludeddiscussionswithfarmers, communityleaders,andinstitutionalrepresentatives;participantobservation;andadetailedsurvey of118farmersinthreestudyareaswithinthebufferzoneoftheMayaBiosphereReserve. Analysisofthedatareliedonmultipleregression,analysisofvariance(ANOVA),andthe developmentofanagriculturalintensityindextohelpmeasuretheoverallintensityofeach household'sfarmingsystemandfacilitateinter-householdcomparison. Thestudypointstovariousfactorsthatinfluencetheneedfor,thebenefitsfrom,andthe IX possibilityofadoptingmoreintensivepractices. Atthefarmhouseholdscaletheseinclude,butare notlimitedto:propertysize,theamountofremainingforestandfallowlandontheproperty,tenure type,plotdistance,soilquality,householdwealthandlaborsupply,andoff-farmincome. Atthe communityorareascale,thefollowingfactorsprovedtobeinfluential:landqualityandmicro- climate,marketconditions,physiologicdensity,landdistribution,off-farmemployment opportunities,settlerorigins,andthelengthoftimesincetheareawascolonized. ExtensionagenciesinPetenshouldpaycloserattentiontothesefactorsinplanningand executingtheirprograms. Inaddition,conservationanddevelopmentinstitutionsintheregion shouldaddressseveralfundamentalneedsthatifmet,wouldassistorinducefarmerstomanage theirlandmoreintensivelyandsustainably,andtherebyexertlesspressureonremainingforest. Theseneedsincludethedevelopmentofmarkets,farmerorganizations,andlowcostcredit programs. However,forestconservationinPetenultimatelywillsucceedonlyasanintegralpart ofafunctioningandmoreequitableregionaleconomicsystem,onewhichprovidesincome opportunitiesthatallowbasichumanneedstobemet.
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