Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
The recent environmental, economical, cultural and political changes
and impacts have resulted in new challenges for rural families, but they
have also generated new 'windows of opportunities'. Both the new potential
problems and new challenges require shorter- and long-term adaptation
strategies. Both the fi eld cultivation and pastoral economies are generally
becoming more intensifi ed and market-oriented. In line with a modifi ed
'staple-economy theory', the destinations of the agricultural products
are no longer limited to nearby periodic markets (
ferias
) and regional
service centers, but they are increasingly oriented towards more distant
large national cities and world markets. These national and global scopes
of agriculture though are primarily restricted to the larger, modern and
capital-intensive farm operations with a high fi nancial and technological
input. Ownership and management of these 'agro-businesses' are often
external, but employing a predominant local labor force. These agricultural
enterprises are preferably established in environmentally favored sites,
and in areas with a good accessibility. The overwhelming majority of
farmers, however, remain poor, and marginalized
minifundistas
are eking
out a precarious existence 'in the shadow of globalization'. Thus the former
hacienda-minifundio
dichotomy has become substituted by an equally sharp
and unjust contrast between a new and dynamic 'agro-capitalism' and a
largely stagnant and self-suffi cient small-scale agriculture. The latter is
in many cases affected by an out-migration, generally of younger and
more dynamic people, 'eroding' the communities of their precious human
resources. A temporary migration to seek employment on large farms, in
mines, oilfi elds or in urban jobs may provide the families with much needed
additional income, but it could also lead to a social alienation of the migrants
from the families they left behind. A permanent emigration, in turn, has
generated cash fl ows of remittances (
remesas
)
to families and relatives and
to some investments in the home villages. Some of these investments have
been valuable 'seed funds' for local and regional development projects; some
others though have merely generated 'show pieces' without a sustainable
development spin-off. Table 19.2 summarizes major forms and strategies
of the adaptation of agriculture and rural communities to the changing
environmental and human conditions in the Andean realm.
Today, national governments, NGOs and large international
conservation agencies are attempting to protect the Andean ecosystems
and their land-, forest- and water resources, and by promoting different
types of parks and protected areas. As laudable as these efforts may be,
they can also be problematic for the local rural communities. In most cases,
these environments have been an integral part of the living- and economic
spaces of Andean people. An exclusionary natural ecology perspective,
ignoring the cultural traditions and needs of the local population, cannot
justify externally imposed natural conservation strategies. Successful, well
Search WWH ::
Custom Search