Data on potential land redistribution beneficiaries in South Africa.

Land reform is one the controversial topics confronting the democratic South Africa, as such it remains top in the country's agenda. The South African land reform is implemented through three pillars - land restitution, land tenure reform and land redistribution. Land redistribution, which is the focus of our data, is more important since large tracks of land are envisaged to be redistributed through this pillar. Despite that land redistribution has been implemented for almost twenty-five years, progress to-date is disappointing. Numerous factors have been cited to explain the unsatisfactory results. Among these explanations and reasoning it appears that not much information that can enable formulation of sound and effective policies is known about the prime land reform beneficiaries, the commercial oriented smallholders. Because the household we surveyed are the prime target beneficiaries of land redistribution, we refer to them as "potential emerging farmers". This term is drawn from the generic definition of land reform beneficiaries known as emerging farmers. The little that is known about potential emerging farmers is from scattered case studies to which little meaningful analysis and generalisations could be made. Other smallholder datasets such as Statistics South Africa's General Household Surveys are too generic in nature, offering too little details for understanding the potential land reform beneficiaries. Here we present a modestly detailed dataset of 761 surveyed farm household heads of potential emerging farmers. These are smallholder farm household heads who at least have sold a minimum of 20 percent of their produce in previous season. The data spans across three most smallholder populous provinces in South Africa, namely the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu Natal and Limpopo. These areas, the former homelands or marginalised areas that were designated for blacks during apartheid, house smallholders with high potential of becoming the next black commercial farmers. The data consists of socio-demographic information, farmer assets, production and production orientation, risk attitudes, aspirations and willingness to partake in land redistribution.

Medicinal plants and their popular use in Boa Esperança Settlement, Piracanjuba, Goiás, Brazil / Plantas medicinales y su uso popular en el asentamiento de Boa Esperança, Piracanjuba, Goiás, Brasil

Abstract: The present study showed medicinal plants and their popular use in the rural settlement Boa Esp erança, in Piracanjuba, GO, Brazil. Data were collected from November 2017 to February 2018. A total of 176 species (mostly native) were sampled with the predominance of use to treat respiratory, gastrointestinal problems, kidney stones and various types o f infections. The species with the highest number of informations were Dilodendron bipinnatum Radlk.; Morus sp.; Pterodon emarginatus Vogel; Qualea grandiflora Mart. and Cochlospermum regium (Mart. ex Schrank) Pilg. With the exception of C. regium , the oth ers species had the maximum use agreement value. The study showed a high richness of species used by settlers. The dissemination of this knowledge of medicinal plants, with an emphasis on native plants, can assist in strengthening the cultural knowledge of the local community, encouraging the environmental conservation of various medicinal species used in the region.

Resumen: El presente estudio mostró pla ntas medicinales y su uso popular en el asentamiento rural Boa Esperança, en Piracanjuba, GO, Brasil. Los datos se recolectaron desde noviembre de 2017 hasta febrero de 2018. Se muestrearon un total de 176 especies (en su mayoría nativas) con predominio de uso para tratar problemas respiratorios, gastrointestinales, cálculos renales y diversos tipos de infecciones. Las especies con mayor número de información fueron Dilodendron bipinnatum Radlk.; Morus sp.; Pterodon emarginatus Vogel; Qualea grandiflora Mar t. y Cochlospermum regium (Mart. ex Schrank) Pilg. Con la excepción de C. regium , las otras especies tuvieron el valor de acuerdo de uso máximo. El estudio mostró una gran riqueza de especies utilizadas por los colonos. La difusión de este conocimiento de las plantas medicinales, con énfasis en las plantas nativas, puede ayudar a fortalecer el conocimiento cultural de la comunidad local, fomentando la conservación ambiental de diversas especies medicinales utilizadas en la región.

The Latin American and Caribbean Counter-Mobilization Against the UN Food Systems Summit: Magdalena Ackermann in Conversation with Saúl Vicente and Sofía Monsalve.

What is the diagnosis of the main problems of the Latin American and Caribbean region, including the corporate capture of food systems? How did the regional counter-mobilization against the UN Food Systems Summit arise? What were the positions of the Latin American governments and regional organizations on the Summit? What is the common vision for overcoming corporate food systems? These are some of the questions that are discussed in this thought-provoking conversation with Sofía Monsalve and Saúl Vicente, in which they share their insights and experiences on the challenges of the Latin American region and the outcomes of the regional counter-mobilization against the UN Food Systems Summit.

Economía política de la política agraria en Colombia: de la Ley 200 de 1936 al Acuerdo de Paz de 2016 / Political economy of agricultural policy in Colombia: from Law 200 of 1936 to the 2016 Peace Agreement / Economia política da política agrícola na Colômbia: da Lei 200 de 1936 ao Acordo de Paz de 2016

RESUMEN En esta investigación se estudia la política agraria en Colombia y su relación con el conflicto entre campesinos y terratenientes, entorno a los activos productivos rurales. Se aborda la discusión sobre el acceso a la tierra y se examina cada uno de los planes nacionales de desarrollo, para elaborar una trazabilidad histórica de la política agraria en Colombia durante el periodo 1936-2016. El problema de investigación se deriva de la persistencia de la pobreza y marginación social de la población rural, identificada en la Misión Rural y reconocida en el Acuerdo de Paz de 2016. Se concluye que la configuración histórica del Estado fue incorporando los intereses de las estructuras de poder económico y político de cada momento. Cuando el Estado quiso resolver el conflicto por la tierra, la capacidad ejecutiva de las instituciones era limitada y tergiversada por los grupos de interés dominantes que tenían la ventaja de redactar las leyes y aplicarlas de acuerdo con sus preferencias. Por esta razón las condiciones socioeconómicas de los campesinos siguen siendo parecidas a las que tenían hace un siglo. CLASIFICACIÓN JEL P16, P26, O12, O13, O43

ABSTRACT This research studies agrarian policy in Colombia and its relationship with the conflict between peasants and landowners, around rural productive assets. The discussion on access to land is approached and each one of the national development plans is examined, to elaborate a historical traceability of the agrarian policy in Colombia during the period 1936-2016. The research problem stems from the persistence of poverty and social marginalization of the rural population, identified in the rural mission and recognized in the 2016 peace agreement. It is concluded that the historical configuration of the State was incorporating the interests of the economic and political power structures of each moment. When the State wanted to resolve the conflict over land, the executive capacity of the institutions was limited and distorted by the dominant interest groups who had the advantage of writing the laws and applying them according to their preferences. For this reason, the socioeconomic conditions of the peasants continue to be similar to those they had a century ago. JEL CLASSIFICATION P16, P26, O12, O13, O43

RESUMO Esta pesquisa estuda a política agrária na Colômbia e sua relação com o conflito entre camponeses e proprietários de terras em torno dos ativos produtivos rurais. Aborda-se a discussão sobre o acesso à terra e examina-se cada um dos planos nacionais de desenvolvimento, para elaborar uma rastreabilidade histórica da política agrária na Colômbia durante o período 1936-2016. O problema de pesquisa decorre da persistência da pobreza e marginalização social da população rural, identificada na Missão Rural e reconhecida no Acordo de Paz 2016. Conclui-se que a configuração histórica do Estado foi incorporando os interesses das estruturas do poder econômico e político de cada momento. Quando o Estado queria resolver o conflito de terras, a capacidade executiva das instituições era limitada e distorcida pelos grupos de interesse dominantes que tinham a vantagem de redigir as leis e aplicá-las de acordo com suas preferências. Por isso, as condições socioeconômicas dos camponeses continuam semelhantes às de um século atrás. CLASSIFICAÇÃO JEL P16, P26, O12, O13, O43

Deforestation Trajectories on a Development Frontier in the Brazilian Amazon: 35 Years of Settlement Colonization, Policy and Economic Shifts, and Land Accumulation.

We examine deforestation processes in Apuí, a deforestation hotspot in Brazil's state of Amazonas and present processes of land-use change on this Amazonian development frontier. Settlement projects attract agents whose clearing reflects land accumulation and the economic importance of deforestation. We used a mixed-method approach in the Rio Juma Settlement to examine colonization and deforestation trajectories for 35 years at three scales of analysis: the entire landscape, cohorts of settlement lots divided by occupation periods, and lots grouped by landholding size per household. All sizes of landholdings are deforesting much more than before, and current political and economic forces favoring the agribusiness sector foreshadow increasing rates of forest clearing for pasture establishment in Apuí. The area cleared per year over the 2013-2018 period in Apuí grew by a percentage more than twice the corresponding percentage for the Brazilian Amazon as a whole. With the national congress and presidential administration signaling impunity for illegal deforestation, wealthy actors, and groups are investing resources in land grabbing and land accumulation, with land speculation being a crucial deforestation factor. This paper is unique in providing causal explanations at the decision-maker's level on how deforestation trajectories are linked to economic and political events (period effects) at the larger scales, adding to the literature by showing that such effects were more important than aging and cohort effects as explanations for deforestation trajectories. Additional research is needed to deepen our understanding of relations between land speculation, illegal possession of public lands, and the expansion of agricultural frontiers in Amazonia.

Deforestation dynamics in Brazil's Amazonian settlements: Effects of land-tenure concentration.

Brazil's Amazon deforestation is a major global and national environmental concern, and the ability to model and project both its course and the effect of different policy options depends on understanding how this process occurs at present and how it might change in the future. The present paper addresses one key factor in Amazon deforestation: land-tenure concentration in settlements. Brazil's policies for establishing and regulating settlement projects represent critical government decisions shaping the landscape in the 5 × 106 km2 Legal Amazonia region. We used remote-sensing data and information provided by the National Institute for Colonization and Agrarian Reform (INCRA) to evaluate the effect of land-tenure concentration in a settlement project (Projeto de Assentamento) located in a frontier area where cattle-ranching is expanding. We identified the actors and their deforestation patterns in the Matupi settlement in the southern part of Brazil's state of Amazonas. We spatially identified actors who concentrated "lots" (the parcels of land distributed to individual settlers) in 2011 and assessed whether the concentration was done by individual landholders or by "families" (where members merged their lots and the clearing was done together). Deforestation rates (1995-2011) were estimated for each type of actor and the trajectory of deforestation in the settlement (cumulative deforestation to 1994 and annual deforestation 1995-2016) was also analyzed. Concentrators occupied 28% (9653 ha) of the settlement and 29% of the lots (152 lots) analyzed; the numbers of lots concentrated ranged from two to ten. Concentrators of two lots and non-concentrators were the predominant actor types in the settlement. The mean annual clearing per landholding for concentrators of two lots (families: 4.1 ± 2.8 ha (mean ± SD); individuals: 5.1 ± 4.6 ha) was greater than for non-concentrators (1.7 ± 1.2 ha), despite their having similar patterns of small clearings. Concentrators of three or more lots had mean annual clearing per landholding between 6.2 ± 12.2 ha and 23.9 ± 38.7 ha and, the pattern of patches cleared per year >34 ha in area was predominant. The deforestation rate per lot was higher among concentrators as compared to non-concentrators, showing that lot concentration speeds deforestation. Analysis of deforestation patterns helps to better understand the process of lot concentration by spatially identifying the predominant patterns of each type of actor. The approach used in our study could assist authorities in identifying and monitoring land-tenure concentration in settlements. Agrarian-reform policymakers need to monitor this process, since it speeds deforestation in Amazonian settlement projects, as well as undermining the social objectives of the agrarian-reform program.

Territórios e alianças políticas do pós-ambientalismo / Territories and political alliances of post-environmentalism

O objetivo deste artigo é contribuir com o debate acerca do desmatamento no contexto da evolução das políticas de gestão fundiária e territorial na Amazônia, destacando seu papel relevante para o reconhecimento de direitos políticos de categorias sociais minoritárias. A associação do desmatamento na Amazônia sempre esteve correlacionada a problemas sociais e envolve diferentes agentes e fatores causadores conforme a área de abrangência e o momento de sua realização. Procuram-se evidenciar alguns dos principais fatores institucionais que contribuem para pôr em xeque as conquistas do modelo socioambiental por meio de um estudo de caso no assentamento rural categoria Projeto Agroextrativista Praialta-Piranheira, Pará. Essa análise permite concluir que a falta de coerência institucional representa um aspecto estrutural cujo desconhecimento incapacita a compreensão das dinâmicas territoriais da Amazônia.

The objective of this paper is to analyze the driving forces of deforestation in the context of the evolution of land use and land management policies, emphasizing their role in the recognition of political rights of minority social groups. The underlying causes of deforestation in the Amazon have always been correlated with social problems and the use of labor in conditions similar to slavery. Such dynamics involves different agents and causative factors embedded in a complex web of historical factors, political forces and economic cycles. This paper emphasizes some of the leading institutional factors that contribute to understanding the achievements of the social-environmental model by means of a case study in the rural settlement "Projeto Agroextrativista Praialta-Piranheira", in Pará, Brazil. This analysis allowed us to conclude that the lack of institutional coherence is a structural aspect that hinders a better context-driven understanding of the territorial dynamics of Amazonia.

Deforestation and Carbon Stock Loss in Brazil's Amazonian Settlements.

We estimate deforestation and the carbon stock in 2740 (82 %) of the 3325 settlements in Brazil's Legal Amazonia region. Estimates are made both using available satellite data and a carbon map for the "pre-modern" period (prior to 1970). We used data from Brazil's Project for Monitoring Deforestation in Amazonia updated through 2013 and from the Brazilian Biomes Deforestation Monitoring Project (PMDBBS) updated through 2010. To obtain the pre-modern and recent carbon stocks we performed an intersection between a carbon map and a map derived from settlement boundaries and deforestation data. Although the settlements analyzed occupied only 8 % of Legal Amazonia, our results indicate that these settlements contributed 17 % (160,410 km2) of total clearing (forest + non-forest) in Legal Amazonia (967,003 km2). This represents a clear-cutting of 41 % of the original vegetation in the settlements. Out of this total, 72 % (115,634 km2) was in the "Federal Settlement Project" (PA) category. Deforestation in settlements represents 20 % (2.6 Pg C) of the total carbon loss in Legal Amazonia (13.1 Pg C). The carbon stock in remaining vegetation represents 3.8 Pg C, or 6 % of the total remaining carbon stock in Legal Amazonia (58.6 Pg C) in the periods analyzed. The carbon reductions in settlements are caused both by the settlers and by external actors. Our findings suggest that agrarian reform policies contributed directly to carbon loss. Thus, the implementation of new settlements should consider potential carbon stock losses, especially if settlements are created in areas with high carbon stocks.

De sem-terra a sem-terra: memórias e identidades / From landless to landless: memories and identities

O artigo analisa a contribuição da memória no processo de enraizamento e de reconstrução da identidade social de trabalhadores em assentamentos de reforma agrária. Estudamos as lembranças da trajetória de vida de um trabalhador rural assentado vinculado ao MST (Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem-Terra) escolhido, intencionalmente, em razão da faixa etária, da experiência com o trabalho rural e da participação em movimentos sociais de luta pela terra. As informações foram obtidas por meio de entrevistas, que combinaram relatos orais de histórias de vida com perguntas exploratórias, além de análise documental. As categorias família, trabalho e participação política permitiram compreender a relação entre os quadros de memória, o processo de construção das diferentes personagens componentes da identidade, assim como o diálogo estabelecido entre elas e os princípios organizativos do MST. A identidade Sem-Terra tanto é produto dessas relações quanto é por elas ressignificada no processo de lembrar.

The article analyzes the memory contribution in the process of re-rooting and reconstruction of workers' social identity in agrarian reform settlements. We studied the remembrances of the life path of a settled rural worker linked to the MST - Movement of Landless Rural Workers, chosen on purposely on account of age band, experience as a rural worker and participation in social movements struggling for land. Information was obtained through interviews, which combined verbal statements of life history with exploratory questions, besides documental analysis. The categories family, work and political participation allowed understanding the relationship between memory pictures, the process of construction of the different characters composing the identity, as well as the dialogue established amongst them and the organizational principles of the MST. The identity Landless is a product of those relationships as much as is re-signified by them in the remembering process.

Histórico e os limites da reforma agrária na contemporaneidade brasileira / History and limits of the agrarian reform in the Brazilian contemporary time

Objetiva-se reconstituir a trajetória da questão fundiária (e agrária) na experiência de maior concentração de riqueza e recursos vivenciada no âmbito do sistema capitalista, partindo-se da premissa de que a crescente desigualdade do modelo brasileiro passa necessariamente pela questão agrária. Num segundo momento, procede-se à análise dos limites atualmente colocados a qualquer possibilidade de uma Reforma Agrária ampla e estrutural, dados pelo avanço do agronegócio nos últimos dez anos, pela desmobilização política de parcela significativa da sociedade no que se refere a esta questão e pelos próprios limites estruturais da economia brasileira nos quadros da globalização financeira. O texto será dividido em seis sessões: a) colonização e origens do latifúndio; b) O modelo agroexportador e a ruptura incompleta; c) a questão agrária e a industrialização brasileira; d) a questão agrária e o agronegócio; e) os limites da reforma agrária na contemporaneidade; f) considerações finais.

This paper aims at reconstructing the history of the land (agrarian) issue considering the greatest concentration of wealth and resources in the capitalist system. The standpoint is that the growing inequality of the Brazilian model is related to the agrarian issue. Secondly, we analyze the limits ­currently placed on any possibility of a comprehensive and structural agrarian reform, due to the advancement of the agribusiness over the last ten years, the political demobilization of a significant portion of society that put this issue aside, and the limits of the Brazilian economy in the context of the financial globalization. The paper is divided into six parts: a) colonization and origins of the large landed estates; b) the agro-export model and the incomplete rupture; c) the agrarian issue and the Brazilian industrialization; d) the agrarian issue and the agribusiness; e) the limits of the agrarian reform in the contemporary time; f) final considerations.

O fenômeno da pluriatividade no meio rural: atividade agrícola de base familiar / The phenomenon of pluriactivity in rural areas: family-based farming

O artigo busca explorar as contradições presentes na categoria pluriatividade para explicar a permanência da agricultura familiar/camponesa no estado do Rio de Janeiro. Nesse sentido, resgata da teoria social marxista, em autores como o próprio Marx, Lenin e Kautsky, subsídios teórico-metodológicos para compreender o trabalho agrícola de base familiar na atualidade em suas dimensões econômico, social e política.

The article aims at exploring the contradictions of the category pluriactivity to explain the persistence of family-based/peasant farming in the state of Rio de Janeiro. To do so, we take theoretical-methodological ideas from the Marxist social theory developed by Marx himself, Lenin and Kautsky, to understand the current family-based farming in its economic, social and political dimensions.

O problema administrativo na política de assentamentos do Brasil: o caso da fazenda Cascata na Bahia / The administrative issue in Brazil's settlement policy: the case of Cascata farm in Bahia

O presente artigo é resultado de um estudo que toma como objeto de observação o estado da Bahia e tendo como objetivo contribuir para o aprimoramento da política de reforma agrária no Brasil. Para essa análise foi selecionado o assentamento de Cascata, localizado no município de Aurelino Leal, na região do extremo sul da Bahia. Esse recorte regional revelou-se interessante por dois motivos principais: por representar as primeiras experiências dos programas de assentamentos no estado da Bahia; e por refletir experiências de desenvolvimento socioeconômico sustentável, em forma de cooperativas, envolvendo a maioria dos assentamentos da região estudada.

Ocupações de terra, acampamentos e demandas ao Estado: uma análise em perspectiva comparada / Occupations de terres, campements et demandes adressées à l'État: analyse de perspective comparée / Land occupations, landless camps, and demands on the State: an evaluation from a comparative perspective

Based on the observation that land occupations with camps currently place an unavoidable demand on the Brazilian state for land expropriation and redistribution, the article analyzes the sociogenesis of this discourse. The authors seek to: examine how the first landless camps emerged; understand how men and women mobilized to occupy land; and identify relations between the original landless camps in Brazil and the current ones. The article takes a comparative approach, focusing on the individuals involved in the first land occupations in the South, Southeast, and Northeast of the country. In the conclusion, the authors show how such discourse draws on individual initiatives and the intersection between historical processes, the constitution of movements, and the response by the Brazilian state.

À partir du constat que les occupations de terres suivies de campements constituent actuellement au Brésil un langage incontournable employé pour demander à l'État l'expropriation et la redistribution des terres, dans cet article on analyse la sociogenèse de ce langage. On cherche à examiner comment ont été mis en place les premiers campements, comment hommes et femmes se sont disposés à occuper des terres, et identifier les relations entre ces campements et ceux de nos jours. On se sert d'une approche comparative dont le fil conducteur est le groupe d’individus engagé dans les premières occupations au sud, sud-est et nord-est du Brésil. On voit que le langage est tributaire d'initiatives individuelles, du croisement de processus historiques, de la constitution de mouvements et de la façon d'écouter de l'État brésilien.

Liberalisation, gender, and the land question in sub-Saharan Africa.

PIP: This article focuses on land reform initiatives undertaken in sub-Saharan African countries since the late 1980s. Section 1 sheds light on the changes in land tenure during the economic liberalization of the region. Section 2 briefly examines the gender-blind "mainstream" theoretical debates on land, and gender-sensitive studies on land issues. Section 3 offers insights on land issues in Africa from a gender perspective. Sections 4 and 5 reviewed the cases of Tanzania and Zimbabwe who have undergone a radical transition in terms of institutional land reforms since the 1980s, and the impact of economic and political liberalization on women's access and rights to land. Drawing on the two case studies, this paper is a call for policy makers, researchers, and activists to refocus their attention to these neglected issues.^ieng

Twenty years of CIRDAP development service, 1979-1999.

PIP: This article presents a review of the 20-year development service of the Center on Integrated Rural Development for Asia and the Pacific (CIRDAP). The CIRDAP is composed of 13 southeastern Asian countries, which focused on people and institution participation, and rural development planning in 1980s. From 1990 to 1995, the program activities were centered on agrarian and infrastructural development, resource development, and employment. Activities in the year 1996 to 2001 are geared towards macroeconomic policy, environmental concerns and gender issues. The CIRDAP has successfully instituted 215 projects including research, action research, training projects and information projects. Research topic emphasized on increasing incomes and employment for the poor, human resource interventions, and preservation of the resources. The CIRDAP trained about 3730 people through seminars, short-term courses, and in-country training and collaborated with the Swedish International Development Authority and other major agencies. It has also successfully implemented computerized databases, established a women's information network in Bangladesh, established Internet connectivity, and developed its own Web site. Moreover, this organization also produced the quarterly CIRDAP Development Digest and a regular journal called Asia-Pacific Journal of Rural Development.^ieng

[Agrarian change and regional settling in Chile]. / Cambio agrario y poblamiento regional en Chile.

"This study analyzes the effect of agrarian change on regional settling dynamics in Chile during the last 35 years. The transformations of agrarian structure have produced important changes in the spatial configuration of country-city relations, particularly regarding the new features of rural-urban migration in regional contexts. Whereas until the sixties rural-urban migration was associated with an occupational shift from agriculture to urban employment, after the seventies this relation practically disappeared, leaving a virtual disassociation between the territorial mobility of the population and the occupational mobility of the labor force. This disassociation is a central trait of the current regional pattern of country-city relations." (SUMMARY IN ENG)

Rural migration and agrarian reform in Russia: a research note.

This study focuses primarily on trends in rural-urban migration in Russia and the former Soviet Union. "New data suggest that a historic shift in migration patterns is underway in Russia, a change that may have profound long-term effects on agrarian reform and the nature of the Russian countryside. We begin with a short review of past rural migration trends and the rural demographic situation, in part using archival data for an oblast in central Russia. We will then present new data on rural migration. Finally, we assess the implications of rural migratory trends for agrarian reform in Russia."

Agriculture and rural out-migration in Central Asia, 1960-91.

"This article seeks to analyse agrarian structure and policy in the Soviet period and discuss their effect on migration from rural to urban areas. In the case of [Soviet] Central Asia, neither the various steps to bring down labour intensity in the farm sector, nor the falling standard of living in rural areas, could bring about migration from rural to urban areas. This was because in traditional societies economic mechanisms are not effective unless they are complemented by appropriate social and cultural policies. All policies were oriented towards the state's goal of vertical integration of regions with the central economy. In Central Asia in particular this policy resulted in serious distortions in the social and economic spheres."

China's rural reform: the state and peasantry in constructing a macro-rationality.

As a critique of the popular perspective on China's rural reform centered on microinstitutional problems of collective farming such as work incentive and monitoring, this paper places an alternative emphasis on the distinct organizational characteristics of the peasant family in production, distribution, and welfare. What the Chinese state saw in family-based peasantry was not a typical market-oriented private economy operating mainly in pursuit of short term profits, but a multipurpose, morally governed unit in which the rural population maintains stable work relations, pursues diverse entrepreneurial activities, and satisfies basic subsistence needs; i.e., a organizational unit which could take over most of the social and economic functions of the pre-reform collective. In a sense, China's rural decollectivization has been a process of deceptively transferring the burden of absorbing and supporting the huge rural surplus labor to individual peasant families for whose economic activities the state is not directly responsible.

Diversifying crops: the Nicaraguan experiment.

PIP: Over 1/2 of Nicaragua's population lives in the Pacific Plains where cotton has been grown intensively for 40 years. This single-crop economy has led to massive deforestation, wind and water erosion has affected the soil, and extensive use of pesticides has deposited excessive amounts of DDT in the breast milk of nursing mothers. After the downfall of the Somoza dictatorship the subsequent agrarian reform has been hampered by lack of information and training on sustainable methods of farming. The Pikin Guerrero project is a sustainable development experiment involving 2200 peasant families jointly run by the Nicaraguan Institute for Natural Resources and the Environment (IRENA) and the World Conservation Union (IUCN). The farmers grow corn and beans while exhausting the area's natural resources through forest clearing with the result of spreading erosion of fragile soils. 400 farmers have reshaped their production systems with the help of experts. Annual crops have become more diverse: yucca, 10 varieties of bean, 3 of pineapple, and 4 of corn, plus coffee, mango, bananas, and avocado. Soil conservation practices have been introduced, and farmers have built terraces. The initial pilot project comprised 5000 hectares, it is being expanded to cover another 10,000 hectares. The introduction of family planning to the local people is the next undertaking.^ieng