Milk cows, migrants, and land markets: Unraveling the complexities of forest-to-pasture conversion in Northern Honduras

Economic Development and Cultural Change

Volumn 47, Issue 1, 1998, Pages 95-124

  Humphries, Sally ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF GUELPH   (Canada)

Author keywords

Dairy farming; Forest clearance; Honduras; Land market

Indexed keywords

DAIRY FARMING; FOREST CLEARANCE; LAND MARKET;

HONDURAS;

EID: 0032462855     PISSN: 00130079     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1086/452388     Document Type: Article

References (156)

1. D. Kaimowitz, Livestock and Deforestation: Central America in the 1980s and 1990s: A Policy Perspective (Jakarta: CIFOR, 1996). This figure, estimated by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), is the annual average deforestation rate for the period 1981-90.
2. Ibid., pp. 6-11. Kaimowitz's extensive study estimates from a number of sources arrive at an approximation of deforestation in the late 1970s and early 1980s, which he compares with recent information for the early 1990s.
3. See, e.g., S. Heckadon, "Centroamérica: Tierra tropical y volcanes" (Central America: Tropical land and volcanos), Hacia un Centroamérica verde: Seis casos de conservación integrado (Toward a green Central America: Six cases of integrated conservation) (San José, Costa Rica: Editorial Departamento Ecuménico de Investigaciones [DEI], 1990); Kaimowitz, "Livestock and Deforestation"; G. Ledec, "New Directions for Livestock Policy: An Environmental Perspective," in Development or Destruction: The Conversion of Tropical Forest to Pasture in Latin America, ed. T. Downing, S. Hecht, H. Pearson, and C. Garcia Downing (Boulder, Colo.: Westview, 1992), pp. 27-65; J. J. Parsons, "Forest to Pasture: Development or Destruction?" Revista de Biología Tropical 24, suppl., no. 1 (1976): 121-38; R. Williams, Export Agriculture and the Crisis in Central America (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1986).
4. See, e.g., S. Heckadon, "Centroamérica: Tierra tropical y volcanes" (Central America: Tropical land and volcanos), Hacia un Centroamérica verde: Seis casos de conservación integrado (Toward a green Central America: Six cases of integrated conservation) (San José, Costa Rica: Editorial Departamento Ecuménico de Investigaciones [DEI], 1990); Kaimowitz, "Livestock and Deforestation"; G. Ledec, "New Directions for Livestock Policy: An Environmental Perspective," in Development or Destruction: The Conversion of Tropical Forest to Pasture in Latin America, ed. T. Downing, S. Hecht, H. Pearson, and C. Garcia Downing (Boulder, Colo.: Westview, 1992), pp. 27-65; J. J. Parsons, "Forest to Pasture: Development or Destruction?" Revista de Biología Tropical 24, suppl., no. 1 (1976): 121-38; R. Williams, Export Agriculture and the Crisis in Central America (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1986).
5. See, e.g., S. Heckadon, "Centroamérica: Tierra tropical y volcanes" (Central America: Tropical land and volcanos), Hacia un Centroamérica verde: Seis casos de conservación integrado (Toward a green Central America: Six cases of integrated conservation) (San José, Costa Rica: Editorial Departamento Ecuménico de Investigaciones [DEI], 1990); Kaimowitz, "Livestock and Deforestation"; G. Ledec, "New Directions for Livestock Policy: An Environmental Perspective," in Development or Destruction: The Conversion of Tropical Forest to Pasture in Latin America, ed. T. Downing, S. Hecht, H. Pearson, and C. Garcia Downing (Boulder, Colo.: Westview, 1992), pp. 27-65; J. J. Parsons, "Forest to Pasture: Development or Destruction?" Revista de Biología Tropical 24, suppl., no. 1 (1976): 121-38; R. Williams, Export Agriculture and the Crisis in Central America (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1986).
6. See, e.g., S. Heckadon, "Centroamérica: Tierra tropical y volcanes" (Central America: Tropical land and volcanos), Hacia un Centroamérica verde: Seis casos de conservación integrado (Toward a green Central America: Six cases of integrated conservation) (San José, Costa Rica: Editorial Departamento Ecuménico de Investigaciones [DEI], 1990); Kaimowitz, "Livestock and Deforestation"; G. Ledec, "New Directions for Livestock Policy: An Environmental Perspective," in Development or Destruction: The Conversion of Tropical Forest to Pasture in Latin America, ed. T. Downing, S. Hecht, H. Pearson, and C. Garcia Downing (Boulder, Colo.: Westview, 1992), pp. 27-65; J. J. Parsons, "Forest to Pasture: Development or Destruction?" Revista de Biología Tropical 24, suppl., no. 1 (1976): 121-38; R. Williams, Export Agriculture and the Crisis in Central America (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1986).
7. See, e.g., S. Heckadon, "Centroamérica: Tierra tropical y volcanes" (Central America: Tropical land and volcanos), Hacia un Centroamérica verde: Seis casos de conservación integrado (Toward a green Central America: Six cases of integrated conservation) (San José, Costa Rica: Editorial Departamento Ecuménico de Investigaciones [DEI], 1990); Kaimowitz, "Livestock and Deforestation"; G. Ledec, "New Directions for Livestock Policy: An Environmental Perspective," in Development or Destruction: The Conversion of Tropical Forest to Pasture in Latin America, ed. T. Downing, S. Hecht, H. Pearson, and C. Garcia Downing (Boulder, Colo.: Westview, 1992), pp. 27-65; J. J. Parsons, "Forest to Pasture: Development or Destruction?" Revista de Biología Tropical 24, suppl., no. 1 (1976): 121-38; R. Williams, Export Agriculture and the Crisis in Central America (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1986).
8. The research for this study was initiated in 1993-94 as part of a program by personnel in the Central American Hillsides Project at the International Centre for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT). The goal of the long-term research, currently in progress, is "to improve the welfare of the hillside farming community by developing sustainable, commercially viable agricultural production systems" (CIAT Hillsides Program Annual Report, 1993-94 [Cali, Colombia: CIAT, 1994], p. 9). The first step in the research process was to conduct landuse studies and sondeos in selected research areas of Central America. The hillsides of northern Honduras were chosen as one of the research locales by a consortium of international and regional research centers because land use there exhibits many of the problems generated by migrant colonization, resulting in the now familiar scenario of forest-to-pasture conversion.
9. Ledec; J. H. Leonard, Natural Resources and Economic Development in Central America: A Regional Profile (New Brunswick, N.J., and Oxford: Transaction Books, 1987); J. D. Nations and D. Komer, "Rainforests and the Hamburger Society," Environment 25, no. 3 (April 1983): 12-20; J. D. Nations, "Terrestrial Impacts in Mexico and Central America," in Downing et al., eds., pp. 191-203; Parsons.
10. Ledec; J. H. Leonard, Natural Resources and Economic Development in Central America: A Regional Profile (New Brunswick, N.J., and Oxford: Transaction Books, 1987); J. D. Nations and D. Komer, "Rainforests and the Hamburger Society," Environment 25, no. 3 (April 1983): 12-20; J. D. Nations, "Terrestrial Impacts in Mexico and Central America," in Downing et al., eds., pp. 191-203; Parsons.
11. Ledec; J. H. Leonard, Natural Resources and Economic Development in Central America: A Regional Profile (New Brunswick, N.J., and Oxford: Transaction Books, 1987); J. D. Nations and D. Komer, "Rainforests and the Hamburger Society," Environment 25, no. 3 (April 1983): 12-20; J. D. Nations, "Terrestrial Impacts in Mexico and Central America," in Downing et al., eds., pp. 191-203; Parsons.
12. On speculation, see J. R. Jones, "Human Settlement of Tropical Coloniration in Central America," in The Human Ecology of Tropical Land Settlement, ed. D. A. Schumann and W. L. Partridge, Westview Special Studies on Latin America and the Caribbean (Boulder, Colo.: Westview, 1989), pp. 43-84; on migratory agriculture, see N. Myers and R. Tucker, "Deforestation in Central America: Spanish Legacy and North American Consumers," Environmental Review (Spring 1987), pp. 55-71; on the peasant pioneer cycle, see World Bank, "Brazil: An Analysis of Environmental Problems in the Amazon," Internal Discussion Paper, Latin American and Caribbean Region, Report 9104-BR (World Bank, Washington, D.C., 1992), cited in F. Pichon, "The Forest Conversion Process: A Discussion of the Sustainability of Predominant Land Uses Associated with Frontier Expansion in the Amazon," Agriculture and Human Values 13, no. 1 (1995): 32-51. The "peasant pioneer cycle," coined by the World Bank, refers to the slash-and-burn agricultural practices of small migrant farmers. These farmers are perceived to mine the natural resources for a period of time and to sell the land once declining fertility begins to negatively affect their grain yields. The land is generally sold to ranchers, given the lower fertility demands of pasture relative to grains.
13. On speculation, see J. R. Jones, "Human Settlement of Tropical Coloniration in Central America," in The Human Ecology of Tropical Land Settlement, ed. D. A. Schumann and W. L. Partridge, Westview Special Studies on Latin America and the Caribbean (Boulder, Colo.: Westview, 1989), pp. 43-84; on migratory agriculture, see N. Myers and R. Tucker, "Deforestation in Central America: Spanish Legacy and North American Consumers," Environmental Review (Spring 1987), pp. 55-71; on the peasant pioneer cycle, see World Bank, "Brazil: An Analysis of Environmental Problems in the Amazon," Internal Discussion Paper, Latin American and Caribbean Region, Report 9104-BR (World Bank, Washington, D.C., 1992), cited in F. Pichon, "The Forest Conversion Process: A Discussion of the Sustainability of Predominant Land Uses Associated with Frontier Expansion in the Amazon," Agriculture and Human Values 13, no. 1 (1995): 32-51. The "peasant pioneer cycle," coined by the World Bank, refers to the slash-and-burn agricultural practices of small migrant farmers. These farmers are perceived to mine the natural resources for a period of time and to sell the land once declining fertility begins to negatively affect their grain yields. The land is generally sold to ranchers, given the lower fertility demands of pasture relative to grains.
14. On speculation, see J. R. Jones, "Human Settlement of Tropical Coloniration in Central America," in The Human Ecology of Tropical Land Settlement, ed. D. A. Schumann and W. L. Partridge, Westview Special Studies on Latin America and the Caribbean (Boulder, Colo.: Westview, 1989), pp. 43-84; on migratory agriculture, see N. Myers and R. Tucker, "Deforestation in Central America: Spanish Legacy and North American Consumers," Environmental Review (Spring 1987), pp. 55-71; on the peasant pioneer cycle, see World Bank, "Brazil: An Analysis of Environmental Problems in the Amazon," Internal Discussion Paper, Latin American and Caribbean Region, Report 9104-BR (World Bank, Washington, D.C., 1992), cited in F. Pichon, "The Forest Conversion Process: A Discussion of the Sustainability of Predominant Land Uses Associated with Frontier Expansion in the Amazon," Agriculture and Human Values 13, no. 1 (1995): 32-51. The "peasant pioneer cycle," coined by the World Bank, refers to the slash-and-burn agricultural practices of small migrant farmers. These farmers are perceived to mine the natural resources for a period of time and to sell the land once declining fertility begins to negatively affect their grain yields. The land is generally sold to ranchers, given the lower fertility demands of pasture relative to grains.
15. On speculation, see J. R. Jones, "Human Settlement of Tropical Coloniration in Central America," in The Human Ecology of Tropical Land Settlement, ed. D. A. Schumann and W. L. Partridge, Westview Special Studies on Latin America and the Caribbean (Boulder, Colo.: Westview, 1989), pp. 43-84; on migratory agriculture, see N. Myers and R. Tucker, "Deforestation in Central America: Spanish Legacy and North American Consumers," Environmental Review (Spring 1987), pp. 55-71; on the peasant pioneer cycle, see World Bank, "Brazil: An Analysis of Environmental Problems in the Amazon," Internal Discussion Paper, Latin American and Caribbean Region, Report 9104-BR (World Bank, Washington, D.C., 1992), cited in F. Pichon, "The Forest Conversion Process: A Discussion of the Sustainability of Predominant Land Uses Associated with Frontier Expansion in the Amazon," Agriculture and Human Values 13, no. 1 (1995): 32-51. The "peasant pioneer cycle," coined by the World Bank, refers to the slash-and-burn agricultural practices of small migrant farmers. These farmers are perceived to mine the natural resources for a period of time and to sell the land once declining fertility begins to negatively affect their grain yields. The land is generally sold to ranchers, given the lower fertility demands of pasture relative to grains.
16. S. Heckadon, "La colonización campesina de bosques tropicales en Panama," in Colonización y Destrucción de Bosques en Panamá: Ensayos sobre un grave problema ecológico (Peasant colonization of tropical forests in Panama, in Colonization and destruction of forests in Panama: Essays on a serious ecological problem), ed. S. Heckadon and A. McKay (Panama City: Asociación Panameña de Antropología, 1982); Parsons.
17. Parsons; B. DeWalt, S. Stonich, and S. Hamilton, "Honduras: Population, Inequality and Resource Destruction," in Population and Land Use in Developing Countries, ed. C. L. Jolly and B. Boyle Torrey (Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press, 1993), pp. 106-23.
18. Heckadon, "Centroamérica."
19. S. Hecht, "Logics of Livestock and Deforestation: The Case of Amazonia," in Downing et al., eds., pp. 7-25; P. Fearnside, "Deforestation and Decision-Making in the Development of Brazilian Amazonia," Interciencia 10, no. 5 (1985): 243-47; R. Goodland, "Brazil's Environmental Progress in Amazonian Development," in Change in the Amazon Basin, ed. J. Hemming (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1984), pp. 5-35.
20. S. Hecht, "Logics of Livestock and Deforestation: The Case of Amazonia," in Downing et al., eds., pp. 7-25; P. Fearnside, "Deforestation and Decision-Making in the Development of Brazilian Amazonia," Interciencia 10, no. 5 (1985): 243-47; R. Goodland, "Brazil's Environmental Progress in Amazonian Development," in Change in the Amazon Basin, ed. J. Hemming (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1984), pp. 5-35.
21. S. Hecht, "Logics of Livestock and Deforestation: The Case of Amazonia," in Downing et al., eds., pp. 7-25; P. Fearnside, "Deforestation and Decision-Making in the Development of Brazilian Amazonia," Interciencia 10, no. 5 (1985): 243-47; R. Goodland, "Brazil's Environmental Progress in Amazonian Development," in Change in the Amazon Basin, ed. J. Hemming (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1984), pp. 5-35.
22. F. Pichon, "The Forest Conversion Process," "Settler Agriculture and the Dynamics of Resource Allocation in Frontier Environments," Human Ecology 24, no. 3 (1996): 341-71,
23. and "Settler Households and Land-Use Patterns in the Amazon Frontier: Farm-Level Evidence from Ecuador," World Development 25, no. 1 (1997): 67-91.
24. P. Ewell, "Intensification of Peasant Agriculture in Yucatan," Cornell/ International Agricultural Economics Study, Agricultural Economics Research, Working Paper no. 4 (Cornell University, 1984); D. A. Posey and W. Balee, eds., "Resource Management in Amazonia: Indigenous and Folk Strategies," Advances in Economic Botany, vol. 7 (New York: New York Botanical Gardens, 1989).
25. P. Ewell, "Intensification of Peasant Agriculture in Yucatan," Cornell/ International Agricultural Economics Study, Agricultural Economics Research, Working Paper no. 4 (Cornell University, 1984); D. A. Posey and W. Balee, eds., "Resource Management in Amazonia: Indigenous and Folk Strategies," Advances in Economic Botany, vol. 7 (New York: New York Botanical Gardens, 1989).
26. S. Humphries, "The Intensification of Traditional Agriculture among Yucatec Maya Farmers: Facing up to the Dilemma of Livelihood Sustainability," Human Ecology 21, no. 1 (1993): 87-102; Pichon, "The Forest Conversion Process."
27. S. Humphries, "The Intensification of Traditional Agriculture among Yucatec Maya Farmers: Facing up to the Dilemma of Livelihood Sustainability," Human Ecology 21, no. 1 (1993): 87-102; Pichon, "The Forest Conversion Process."
28. Pichon, "Settler Agriculture," p. 363.
29. R. Schneider, "Government and the Economy on the Amazon Frontier," World Bank Environment Paper no. 11 (World Bank, Washington, D.C., 1994).
30. Schneider draws on the following studies to support his argument: Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)/UN Development Program (UNDP)/ MARA, "Principals Indicadores Sócio-Económicos dos Assentamentos de Reforma Agrária" (Principal socioeconomic indicators of agrarian reform settlements), Project BRA-87/022 (FAO/PNUD/Ministerio da Agriculture e Reforma Agrária, Brazil, 1992); D. Jones, V. Dale, J. Beauchamp, M. Pedlowski, and R. O'Neill, "Farming in Rondonia" (U.S. Department of Energy, Washington, D.C., 1992); M. Mattos, C. Uhl, and D. Goncalves, "Economic and Ecological Perspectives on Ranching in the Eastern Amazon in the 1990s" (Instituto do Homen e Meio Ambiente da Amazonia and EMBRAPA, Brazil, Penn State University, 1992); E. Moran, "Adaptation and Maladaptation in Newly Settled Areas," in Schumann and Partridge, eds. (n. 6 above); L. Ozorio de Almeida, "Deforestation and Turnover in Amazon Colonization" (World Bank, Washington, D.C., 1992).
31. Schneider draws on the following studies to support his argument: Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)/UN Development Program (UNDP)/ MARA, "Principals Indicadores Sócio-Económicos dos Assentamentos de Reforma Agrária" (Principal socioeconomic indicators of agrarian reform settlements), Project BRA-87/022 (FAO/PNUD/Ministerio da Agriculture e Reforma Agrária, Brazil, 1992); D. Jones, V. Dale, J. Beauchamp, M. Pedlowski, and R. O'Neill, "Farming in Rondonia" (U.S. Department of Energy, Washington, D.C., 1992); M. Mattos, C. Uhl, and D. Goncalves, "Economic and Ecological Perspectives on Ranching in the Eastern Amazon in the 1990s" (Instituto do Homen e Meio Ambiente da Amazonia and EMBRAPA, Brazil, Penn State University, 1992); E. Moran, "Adaptation and Maladaptation in Newly Settled Areas," in Schumann and Partridge, eds. (n. 6 above); L. Ozorio de Almeida, "Deforestation and Turnover in Amazon Colonization" (World Bank, Washington, D.C., 1992).
32. Schneider draws on the following studies to support his argument: Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)/UN Development Program (UNDP)/ MARA, "Principals Indicadores Sócio-Económicos dos Assentamentos de Reforma Agrária" (Principal socioeconomic indicators of agrarian reform settlements), Project BRA-87/022 (FAO/PNUD/Ministerio da Agriculture e Reforma Agrária, Brazil, 1992); D. Jones, V. Dale, J. Beauchamp, M. Pedlowski, and R. O'Neill, "Farming in Rondonia" (U.S. Department of Energy, Washington, D.C., 1992); M. Mattos, C. Uhl, and D. Goncalves, "Economic and Ecological Perspectives on Ranching in the Eastern Amazon in the 1990s" (Instituto do Homen e Meio Ambiente da Amazonia and EMBRAPA, Brazil, Penn State University, 1992); E. Moran, "Adaptation and Maladaptation in Newly Settled Areas," in Schumann and Partridge, eds. (n. 6 above); L. Ozorio de Almeida, "Deforestation and Turnover in Amazon Colonization" (World Bank, Washington, D.C., 1992).
33. Schneider draws on the following studies to support his argument: Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)/UN Development Program (UNDP)/ MARA, "Principals Indicadores Sócio-Económicos dos Assentamentos de Reforma Agrária" (Principal socioeconomic indicators of agrarian reform settlements), Project BRA-87/022 (FAO/PNUD/Ministerio da Agriculture e Reforma Agrária, Brazil, 1992); D. Jones, V. Dale, J. Beauchamp, M. Pedlowski, and R. O'Neill, "Farming in Rondonia" (U.S. Department of Energy, Washington, D.C., 1992); M. Mattos, C. Uhl, and D. Goncalves, "Economic and Ecological Perspectives on Ranching in the Eastern Amazon in the 1990s" (Instituto do Homen e Meio Ambiente da Amazonia and EMBRAPA, Brazil, Penn State University, 1992); E. Moran, "Adaptation and Maladaptation in Newly Settled Areas," in Schumann and Partridge, eds. (n. 6 above); L. Ozorio de Almeida, "Deforestation and Turnover in Amazon Colonization" (World Bank, Washington, D.C., 1992).
34. Schneider draws on the following studies to support his argument: Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)/UN Development Program (UNDP)/ MARA, "Principals Indicadores Sócio-Económicos dos Assentamentos de Reforma Agrária" (Principal socioeconomic indicators of agrarian reform settlements), Project BRA-87/022 (FAO/PNUD/Ministerio da Agriculture e Reforma Agrária, Brazil, 1992); D. Jones, V. Dale, J. Beauchamp, M. Pedlowski, and R. O'Neill, "Farming in Rondonia" (U.S. Department of Energy, Washington, D.C., 1992); M. Mattos, C. Uhl, and D. Goncalves, "Economic and Ecological Perspectives on Ranching in the Eastern Amazon in the 1990s" (Instituto do Homen e Meio Ambiente da Amazonia and EMBRAPA, Brazil, Penn State University, 1992); E. Moran, "Adaptation and Maladaptation in Newly Settled Areas," in Schumann and Partridge, eds. (n. 6 above); L. Ozorio de Almeida, "Deforestation and Turnover in Amazon Colonization" (World Bank, Washington, D.C., 1992).
35. Schneider, pp. 6-7.
36. See J. Collins, "Smallholder Settlement of Tropical South America: The Social Causes of Ecological Destruction," Human Organization 45, no. 1 (1986): 1-10; E. Moran, "Adaptation and Maladaptation in Newly Settled Areas," in Schumann and Partridge, eds., pp. 20-39.
37. See J. Collins, "Smallholder Settlement of Tropical South America: The Social Causes of Ecological Destruction," Human Organization 45, no. 1 (1986): 1-10; E. Moran, "Adaptation and Maladaptation in Newly Settled Areas," in Schumann and Partridge, eds., pp. 20-39.
38. Schneider, pp. 2-3.
39. A. L. Ozorio de Almeida and J. S. Campari, Sustainable Settlement in the Brazilian Amazon (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995).
40. Ibid., p. 41.
41. Ibid.
42. Ibid., pp. 77-78.
43. See Kaimowitz, "Livestock and Deforestation" (n. 1 above); Schneider; Pichon, "The Forest Conversion Process" (n. 6 above); Collins.
44. See Kaimowitz, "Livestock and Deforestation" (n. 1 above); Schneider; Pichon, "The Forest Conversion Process" (n. 6 above); Collins.
45. Schneider (n. 15 above), pp. vii, 23.
46. Ibid., pp. 33-44.
47. Kaimowitz, "Livestock and Deforestation," p. 19.
48. This division between the conservationist concept of pristine forests and the more anthropogenic conception of forests was first brought to my attention by D. Kaimowitz (personal communication). Included in the latter group are J. Fairhead, A. Gómez-Pompa, M. Leach, D. Rochleau. See, e.g., J. Fairhead and M. Leach, Misreading the African Landscape: Society and Ecology in the Forest-Savanna Mosaic (Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, 1996); A. Gómez-Pompa, "On Maya Silviculture," Mexican Studies 3, no. 1 (Winter 1987): 1-17; D. Rocheleau, "Gender and Biodiversity: A Feminist Political Ecology Perspective," IDS Bulletin 26, no. 1 (1995): 9-16.
49. This division between the conservationist concept of pristine forests and the more anthropogenic conception of forests was first brought to my attention by D. Kaimowitz (personal communication). Included in the latter group are J. Fairhead, A. Gómez-Pompa, M. Leach, D. Rochleau. See, e.g., J. Fairhead and M. Leach, Misreading the African Landscape: Society and Ecology in the Forest-Savanna Mosaic (Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, 1996); A. Gómez-Pompa, "On Maya Silviculture," Mexican Studies 3, no. 1 (Winter 1987): 1-17; D. Rocheleau, "Gender and Biodiversity: A Feminist Political Ecology Perspective," IDS Bulletin 26, no. 1 (1995): 9-16.
50. This division between the conservationist concept of pristine forests and the more anthropogenic conception of forests was first brought to my attention by D. Kaimowitz (personal communication). Included in the latter group are J. Fairhead, A. Gómez-Pompa, M. Leach, D. Rochleau. See, e.g., J. Fairhead and M. Leach, Misreading the African Landscape: Society and Ecology in the Forest-Savanna Mosaic (Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, 1996); A. Gómez-Pompa, "On Maya Silviculture," Mexican Studies 3, no. 1 (Winter 1987): 1-17; D. Rocheleau, "Gender and Biodiversity: A Feminist Political Ecology Perspective," IDS Bulletin 26, no. 1 (1995): 9-16.
51. This division between the conservationist concept of pristine forests and the more anthropogenic conception of forests was first brought to my attention by D. Kaimowitz (personal communication). Included in the latter group are J. Fairhead, A. Gómez-Pompa, M. Leach, D. Rochleau. See, e.g., J. Fairhead and M. Leach, Misreading the African Landscape: Society and Ecology in the Forest-Savanna Mosaic (Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, 1996); A. Gómez-Pompa, "On Maya Silviculture," Mexican Studies 3, no. 1 (Winter 1987): 1-17; D. Rocheleau, "Gender and Biodiversity: A Feminist Political Ecology Perspective," IDS Bulletin 26, no. 1 (1995): 9-16.
52. Rocheleau.
53. The region includes the departments of Atlántida and Cortés and part of the department of Colon.
54. W. Sunderlin and J. Rodríguez, "Cattle, Broadleaf Forests and the Agricultural Modernization Law of Honduras: The Case of Olancho," Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) Occasional Paper no. 7 (CIFOR, Bogor, Indonesia, 1996). Sunderlin and Rodríguez's figures are adapted from S. de R. L. Silviagro, "Analisis del sub-sector forestal de Honduras" (Analysis of the Honduran forestry subsector) (Cooperación Hondureña-Alemana draft, 1994).
55. W. Sunderlin and J. Rodríguez, "Cattle, Broadleaf Forests and the Agricultural Modernization Law of Honduras: The Case of Olancho," Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) Occasional Paper no. 7 (CIFOR, Bogor, Indonesia, 1996). Sunderlin and Rodríguez's figures are adapted from S. de R. L. Silviagro, "Analisis del sub-sector forestal de Honduras" (Analysis of the Honduran forestry subsector) (Cooperación Hondureña-Alemana draft, 1994).
56. E. Zuñiga, Las modalidades de la lluvia en Honduras (Rainfall modalities in Honduras) (Tegucigalpa: Editorial Guaymuras, 1990), p. 111.
57. Ibid., p. 87.
58. Soils include Alfisols, Entisols, and Inceptisols (B. Triomphe, "Seasonal Nitrogen Dynamics and Long-Term Changes in Soil Properties under the Mucuna/Maize Cropping System on the Hillsides of Northern Honduras" [Ph.D. diss., Cornell University, 1996]). P. Sanchez, Management Alternatives for Acid Soils of the Tropics (Bangkok: IBSRAM, 1987) points out that there is a wide variety of soils present in tropical America, even though the more fertile Alfisols probably comprise no more than 7% of the total. Sanchez is cited in E. Moran, Through Amazonian Eyes: The Human Ecology of Amazonian Populations (Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 1993), p. 13.
59. Soils include Alfisols, Entisols, and Inceptisols (B. Triomphe, "Seasonal Nitrogen Dynamics and Long-Term Changes in Soil Properties under the Mucuna/Maize Cropping System on the Hillsides of Northern Honduras" [Ph.D. diss., Cornell University, 1996]). P. Sanchez, Management Alternatives for Acid Soils of the Tropics (Bangkok: IBSRAM, 1987) points out that there is a wide variety of soils present in tropical America, even though the more fertile Alfisols probably comprise no more than 7% of the total. Sanchez is cited in E. Moran, Through Amazonian Eyes: The Human Ecology of Amazonian Populations (Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 1993), p. 13.
60. Soils include Alfisols, Entisols, and Inceptisols (B. Triomphe, "Seasonal Nitrogen Dynamics and Long-Term Changes in Soil Properties under the Mucuna/Maize Cropping System on the Hillsides of Northern Honduras" [Ph.D. diss., Cornell University, 1996]). P. Sanchez, Management Alternatives for Acid Soils of the Tropics (Bangkok: IBSRAM, 1987) points out that there is a wide variety of soils present in tropical America, even though the more fertile Alfisols probably comprise no more than 7% of the total. Sanchez is cited in E. Moran, Through Amazonian Eyes: The Human Ecology of Amazonian Populations (Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 1993), p. 13.
61. Secretariat of Planning, Coordination and Budget (SECPLAN), IV Censo Nacional Agropecuario, 1993 (Fourth national agricultural census, 1993) (Tegucigalpa: Dirección General de Estadísticas y Censos, 1994).
62. Ibid.
63. D. Kaimowitz, "La ganadería hondureña: Entre la esperanza de un crecimiento incluyente y sostenible y las amenazas del latifundio y la deforestación" (Honduran cattle production: Between the hope of an inclusive and sustainable growth and the threats of large estates and deforestation), in El agro hondureño y su futuro (Honduran agriculture and its future), coordinated by E. Baumeister (Tegucigalpa: Editorial Guaymuras, 1996), pp. 169-208.
64. J. Rivera, Head of Cattle Division, Secretariat of Natural Resources (SRN), personal communication; Secretaría de Recursos Naturales, "Diagnóstico de las condiciones actuales de la ganadería en el departamento de Atlántida de Honduras" (Diagnostic of the present conditions of cattle production in the Department of Atlántida, Honduras) (Tegucigalpa: SRN, 1995), appendix. Recent estimations on labor intensity of operations at Dole Pineapple suggest that the industry employs 1.5 persons per hectare (mayor of El Porvenir, where Dole Pineapple operates, personal communication). In the past, the banana industry was certainly more labor intensive than this, because of technological innovation in the agroexport sector.
65. J. Rivera, Head of Cattle Division, Secretariat of Natural Resources (SRN), personal communication; Secretaría de Recursos Naturales, "Diagnóstico de las condiciones actuales de la ganadería en el departamento de Atlántida de Honduras" (Diagnostic of the present conditions of cattle production in the Department of Atlántida, Honduras) (Tegucigalpa: SRN, 1995), appendix. Recent estimations on labor intensity of operations at Dole Pineapple suggest that the industry employs 1.5 persons per hectare (mayor of El Porvenir, where Dole Pineapple operates, personal communication). In the past, the banana industry was certainly more labor intensive than this, because of technological innovation in the agroexport sector.
66. Dual-purpose production refers to the practice of raising calves of both sexes and leaving them with their lactating mothers until they are 8-12 months old, when the young steers are either sold or kept to fatten for later sale. True dual-purpose farmers adopt the latter and produce beef cattle alongside dairying. According to the 1995 SRN study, only 3.9% of cattle ranchers in Atlántida sold calves at birth or, in other words, may be characterized as more specialized dairy farmers. However, 55% sold their calves after weaning, while only 41% fattened steers before selling. Thus, for nearly 60% of farmers, the focus was on dairying rather than on beef cattle production.
67. SRN, "Diagnóstico de las condiciones actuales."
68. Sunderlin and Rogríguez (n. 31 above).
69. SRN, "Diagnóstico de las condiciones actuales," p. 12.
70. J. Rivera, Diagnóstico de las queserías de la zona del litoral Atlántico de Honduras: Circuito tradicional de producción y comercialización de la leche (Diagnostic of the cheesemakers of the Atlantic littoral zone of Honduras: Traditional production and commercialization circuit of milk) (La Ceiba, Honduras: CURLA, 1995), p. 4. This study was commissioned by me.
71. Ibid., p. 8.
72. In 1994, there were approximately 2,000 ranchers selling to Leyde (SRN, "Diagnóstico de las condiciones actuales," p. 12). Nevertheless, milk sales from just 35 producers comprise 38% of the total sales to Leyde (J. Rivera, SRN, personal communication). The larger producers are very often also shareholders in the company. See S. Humphries, "Migrants, Dairy Farmers, and Agricultural Land-Use in the Humid, Tropical Hillsides of Northern Honduras," internal report, Project for Improving Agricultural Sustainability and Livelihoods in the Central American Hillsides (CIAT, Tegicigalpa, Honduras, 1996, mimeographed).
73. In 1994, there were approximately 2,000 ranchers selling to Leyde (SRN, "Diagnóstico de las condiciones actuales," p. 12). Nevertheless, milk sales from just 35 producers comprise 38% of the total sales to Leyde (J. Rivera, SRN, personal communication). The larger producers are very often also shareholders in the company. See S. Humphries, "Migrants, Dairy Farmers, and Agricultural Land-Use in the Humid, Tropical Hillsides of Northern Honduras," internal report, Project for Improving Agricultural Sustainability and Livelihoods in the Central American Hillsides (CIAT, Tegicigalpa, Honduras, 1996, mimeographed).
74. In 1994, there were approximately 2,000 ranchers selling to Leyde (SRN, "Diagnóstico de las condiciones actuales," p. 12). Nevertheless, milk sales from just 35 producers comprise 38% of the total sales to Leyde (J. Rivera, SRN, personal communication). The larger producers are very often also shareholders in the company. See S. Humphries, "Migrants, Dairy Farmers, and Agricultural Land-Use in the Humid, Tropical Hillsides of Northern Honduras," internal report, Project for Improving Agricultural Sustainability and Livelihoods in the Central American Hillsides (CIAT, Tegicigalpa, Honduras, 1996, mimeographed).
75. Rivera. Notwithstanding the lack of refrigeration, many cheesemakers do store cheese over considerable periods, especially between July and January, when across the region the supply is high and prices are low. According to Rivera, the cheese produced is dry and flaky in texture and can be conserved by periodic airing and mold removal.
76. For example, in June 1995, when production peaked in the country, prices paid to producers by intermediaries and cheesemakers were only 1.7 Lempiras per liter compared to 2.6 Lempiras paid by the processing plants (Secretariat of Economy and Commerce [SEC], "Analisis para evaluar el impacto potencial de reducir los aranceles de importación de la leche en polvo" [Analysis to evaluate the potential impact of reducing import duties on powdered milk], internal document [1995, p. 3]). Nevertheless, during the peak season (June-September), Leyde does not pay the regular price on all milk purchases (Rivera). For example, surplus production was being bought by Leyde at 70% of the government-controlled price in June-July 1995.
77. In 1995, agricultural land close to the city of La Ceiba and to the only paved highway connecting lowland communities was selling for approximately US$2,000 per hectare; land in the foothills but close to the highway was half that amount, whereas the flatter upland valley properties, some distance from the paved road but suitable for grazing cattle, were selling at between US$600 per hectar and US$1,000 per hectare. Steep hillside properties without legal title, located far from the main road and close to the forest frontier, were priced upward of US$100 per hectare (Humphries, "Migrants, Dairy Farmers, and Agricultural Land-Use"; N. Hernandez-Mora, "Effects of Policy Reform on Land Use Decisions and Community Forest Management in Honduras: Four Case Studies" [master's thesis, Cornell University, 1995]).
78. In 1995, agricultural land close to the city of La Ceiba and to the only paved highway connecting lowland communities was selling for approximately US$2,000 per hectare; land in the foothills but close to the highway was half that amount, whereas the flatter upland valley properties, some distance from the paved road but suitable for grazing cattle, were selling at between US$600 per hectar and US$1,000 per hectare. Steep hillside properties without legal title, located far from the main road and close to the forest frontier, were priced upward of US$100 per hectare (Humphries, "Migrants, Dairy Farmers, and Agricultural Land-Use"; N. Hernandez-Mora, "Effects of Policy Reform on Land Use Decisions and Community Forest Management in Honduras: Four Case Studies" [master's thesis, Cornell University, 1995]).
79. Sunderlin and Rodríguez. These authors' figures are derived from the four agricultural censuses published between 1954 and 1994.
80. Rivera, p. 3.
81. Sunderlin and Rodríguez (n. 31 above) estimate the national stocking rate at 0.82 animal units per hectare by disaggregating the total number of cattle in the 1993 census into animals older than 1 year and younger than 1 year. The latter are counted as one half and the former as one whole unit (p. 13). Ledec (n. 3 above) reports the Latin American average as around one head of cattle per hectare.
82. Pastures employed for this purpose include King, Napier, Taiwan, and Texas Grass (Pennisetum purpureum). This practice is both land and labor intensive.
83. Rivera (n. 43 above), p. 3.
84. The SRN study ("Diagnóstico de las condiciones" [n. 38 above]) found that 47% of surveyed farmers used Alicia (Cynodon nlemfuensis), 41% employed guinea grass (Panicum maximum), 38%, Braquiarias and Bressanta (p. 16).
85. SRN, "Diagnóstico de las condiciones," app. 8.
86. For an explanation of the nature of dual-purpose production in the area that favors dairying over beef production, see n. 39.
87. SRN, "Diagnóstico de las condiciones," p. 8.
88. R. Martínez (SRN), personal communication.
89. SRN, "Diagnóstico de las condiciones," p. 19. For an explanation of why farmers may be reluctant to engage in more intensive production requiring additional inputs, see C. F. Nicholson, R. W. Blake, and D. R. Lee, "Livestock, Deforestation, and Policy Making: Intensification of Cattle Production Systems in Central America Revisited," Journal of Dairy Science 78 (1995): 719-34.
90. SRN, "Diagnóstico de las condiciones," p. 19. For an explanation of why farmers may be reluctant to engage in more intensive production requiring additional inputs, see C. F. Nicholson, R. W. Blake, and D. R. Lee, "Livestock, Deforestation, and Policy Making: Intensification of Cattle Production Systems in Central America Revisited," Journal of Dairy Science 78 (1995): 719-34.
91. SEC, "Analisis para evaluar el impacto" (n. 47 above), p. 8. For example, while prices in Honduras in January 1994 were 15 cents per liter, prices in neighboring Guatemala and in El Salvador were 31 and 38 cents per liter, respectively. Between 1984 and 1993, average yearly producers prices in Honduras were US23.5 cents per liter; however, there was considerable variation around this mean (appendix).
92. Kaimowitz, "La ganadería hondureña" (n. 37 above), "Livestock and Deforestation" (n. 1 above). Kaimowitz cites R. D. Nuñez and A. Galetto, Centroamérica: Opciones de liberalización del comercio de lacteos (Central America: Options for liberalization of the milk industry) (San José: Regional Unit for Technical Assistance, 1993). Nuñez and Galetto suggest that policies favoring cheap food have kept milk prices low. Low Honduran milk prices may simply be a reflection of lower production costs than those of other regional producers.
93. Kaimowitz, "La ganadería hondureña" (n. 37 above), "Livestock and Deforestation" (n. 1 above). Kaimowitz cites R. D. Nuñez and A. Galetto, Centroamérica: Opciones de liberalización del comercio de lacteos (Central America: Options for liberalization of the milk industry) (San José: Regional Unit for Technical Assistance, 1993). Nuñez and Galetto suggest that policies favoring cheap food have kept milk prices low. Low Honduran milk prices may simply be a reflection of lower production costs than those of other regional producers.
94. Kaimowitz, "La ganadería hondureña" (n. 37 above), "Livestock and Deforestation" (n. 1 above). Kaimowitz cites R. D. Nuñez and A. Galetto, Centroamérica: Opciones de liberalización del comercio de lacteos (Central America: Options for liberalization of the milk industry) (San José: Regional Unit for Technical Assistance, 1993). Nuñez and Galetto suggest that policies favoring cheap food have kept milk prices low. Low Honduran milk prices may simply be a reflection of lower production costs than those of other regional producers.
95. Rivera (n. 43 above). See also United Nations Commodity Trade Statistics, ser. D, vols. 41 and 42, nos. 1-29, (1991, 1994), and United Nations International Trade Statistics Year Book, vol. 1, Trade by Country (1993). Cheesemakers interviewed by Rivera reported average total daily exports of 14,000 pounds of cheese and 11,000 pound of cream to El Salvador. Rivera, however, urges caution with the data. Because he conducted the interviews in his role as head of the cattle division of the Atlantic littoral office of the Ministry of Natural Resources, cheesemakers may have underestimated production for fear of government-imposed taxes. In other words, exports may be considerably higher than stated.
96. Rivera (n. 43 above). See also United Nations Commodity Trade Statistics, ser. D, vols. 41 and 42, nos. 1-29, (1991, 1994), and United Nations International Trade Statistics Year Book, vol. 1, Trade by Country (1993). Cheesemakers interviewed by Rivera reported average total daily exports of 14,000 pounds of cheese and 11,000 pound of cream to El Salvador. Rivera, however, urges caution with the data. Because he conducted the interviews in his role as head of the cattle division of the Atlantic littoral office of the Ministry of Natural Resources, cheesemakers may have underestimated production for fear of government-imposed taxes. In other words, exports may be considerably higher than stated.
97. Some remote hillside areas on the north coast are reported as being used for fattening beef cattle (Steve Sherwood, Cornell International Institute for Food, Agriculture, and Development [CIIFAD], Cornell University, personal communication). This scenario fits with the general proposition that the lowlands are reserved for milk production, whereas beef cattle and dry cows are deployed to the lower value hillsides. As noted in n. 39 above, however, only 40% of farmers involved in dual purpose production actually fatten steers for sale.
98. The research for this section is drawn largely from Humphries, "Migrants, Dairy Farmers, and Agricultural Land-Use" (n. 45 above). On the question of land sales, see also R. Rubén and F. Funez, La Compra-Venta de Tierras de la Reforma Agraria (The buying and selling of agrarian reform lands) (Tegucigalpa: Editorial Guaymuras, 1993).
99. Researchers who helped me collect data for this study between 1993 and 1994 were Luis Torres, Jorge Garay, and Leo Smits.
100. Secretariat of Planning, Coordination, and Budget (SECPLAN), Perfil Ambiental, 1989 (Environmental profile, 1989), ed. H. Daugherty (Tegucigalpa: SECPLAN, 1989), p. 200; G. A. Rodríguez, "Diagnóstico socioambiental y estratégia de manejo para la zona de amortiguamiento del Parque Nacional Pico Bonito, La Ceiba, Honduras" (Socioenvironmental diagnostic and management strategy for the buffer zone of Pico Bonito National Park, La Ceiba, Honduras) (master's thesis, Centro Agronómico Tropical de Investigación y Enseñanza [CATIE], Turrialba, Costa Rica, 1992), p. 31.
101. Secretariat of Planning, Coordination, and Budget (SECPLAN), Perfil Ambiental, 1989 (Environmental profile, 1989), ed. H. Daugherty (Tegucigalpa: SECPLAN, 1989), p. 200; G. A. Rodríguez, "Diagnóstico socioambiental y estratégia de manejo para la zona de amortiguamiento del Parque Nacional Pico Bonito, La Ceiba, Honduras" (Socioenvironmental diagnostic and management strategy for the buffer zone of Pico Bonito National Park, La Ceiba, Honduras) (master's thesis, Centro Agronómico Tropical de Investigación y Enseñanza [CATIE], Turrialba, Costa Rica, 1992), p. 31.
102. R. D. Rivas, Pueblos indígenas y garífuna de Honduras: Una caracterización (Indigenous and Garífuna communities of Honduras: A characterization) (Tegucigalpa: Editorial Guaymuras, 1993). Rivas cites A. Chapman ("Les enfants de la mort," in Etudes Mesoamericaines [Mexico City, 1978]), who states that there were Tolupan Indians in the area at the time of the conquest. Today the Tolupan are located mainly in Yoro to the south. According to the oldest settlers, who arrived as children in the Cuero watershed around the turn of the century, this area was virtually uninhabited at that time despite the fact that it provided a communications route through the mountains to the banana companies on the coast. The company payrolls were sent along the Cuero valley, as were the telegraph wires (see Humphries, "Migrants, Dairy Farmers, and Agricultural Land-Use").
103. R. D. Rivas, Pueblos indígenas y garífuna de Honduras: Una caracterización (Indigenous and Garífuna communities of Honduras: A characterization) (Tegucigalpa: Editorial Guaymuras, 1993). Rivas cites A. Chapman ("Les enfants de la mort," in Etudes Mesoamericaines [Mexico City, 1978]), who states that there were Tolupan Indians in the area at the time of the conquest. Today the Tolupan are located mainly in Yoro to the south. According to the oldest settlers, who arrived as children in the Cuero watershed around the turn of the century, this area was virtually uninhabited at that time despite the fact that it provided a communications route through the mountains to the banana companies on the coast. The company payrolls were sent along the Cuero valley, as were the telegraph wires (see Humphries, "Migrants, Dairy Farmers, and Agricultural Land-Use").
104. R. D. Rivas, Pueblos indígenas y garífuna de Honduras: Una caracterización (Indigenous and Garífuna communities of Honduras: A characterization) (Tegucigalpa: Editorial Guaymuras, 1993). Rivas cites A. Chapman ("Les enfants de la mort," in Etudes Mesoamericaines [Mexico City, 1978]), who states that there were Tolupan Indians in the area at the time of the conquest. Today the Tolupan are located mainly in Yoro to the south. According to the oldest settlers, who arrived as children in the Cuero watershed around the turn of the century, this area was virtually uninhabited at that time despite the fact that it provided a communications route through the mountains to the banana companies on the coast. The company payrolls were sent along the Cuero valley, as were the telegraph wires (see Humphries, "Migrants, Dairy Farmers, and Agricultural Land-Use").
105. Rodríguez.
106. This explanation is consonant with a study carried out by A. Ludeke, R. C. Maggio, and L. M. Reid in Pico Bonito National Park, using maps and aerial data from 1954-55 and 1977-78. Their findings show that deforestation is associated with proximity to road and railroads, among other factors ("An Analysis of Anthropogenic Deforestation Using Logistic Regression and GIS," Journal of Environmental Management 31, no. 3 [1990]: 247-59).
107. P. Jiménez, "Aldeas de Honduras: Población en 1988 a nivel de aldeas y proyección para 1993 y el año 2000" (Villages of Honduras: Population in 1988 at the village level and the project for improving agricultural sustainability and livelihoods in the Central American hillsides) (CIAT, Tegucigalpa, Honduras, July 1997, mimeographed).
108. Humphries, "Migrants, Dairy Farmers, and Agricultural Land-Use"; data adapted from table 6, p. 14.
109. Artesanal woodcutting in the region has been beset with organizational problems, despite considerable international support, which includes the earning of "Smart Wood" status in recognition of the sustainable nature of extraction.
110. Humphries, "Migrants, Dairy Farmers, and Agricultural Land-Use" (n. 45 above).
111. Ibid. The Western departments comprise Intibucá, Ocotepeque, Copán, Lempira, and Santa Barbara. See L. Rodríguez de Simons, "Diferencias geográficas de la mortalidad infantil en Honduras" (Geographic differences in infant mortality in Honduras), Working Paper no. 23 (Universidad Autónoma de Honduras, Facultad de Ciencias Económicas, Tegucigalpa, 1990). Also L. Rodríguez de Simons, "La Migración interna en Honduras (1961-1988)" (Internal migration in Honduras [1961-1988]), Working Paper no. 13 (Universidad Autónoma de Honduras, Facultad de Ciencias Económicas, Tegucigalpa, 1991).
112. Ibid. The Western departments comprise Intibucá, Ocotepeque, Copán, Lempira, and Santa Barbara. See L. Rodríguez de Simons, "Diferencias geográficas de la mortalidad infantil en Honduras" (Geographic differences in infant mortality in Honduras), Working Paper no. 23 (Universidad Autónoma de Honduras, Facultad de Ciencias Económicas, Tegucigalpa, 1990). Also L. Rodríguez de Simons, "La Migración interna en Honduras (1961-1988)" (Internal migration in Honduras [1961-1988]), Working Paper no. 13 (Universidad Autónoma de Honduras, Facultad de Ciencias Económicas, Tegucigalpa, 1991).
113. Ibid. The Western departments comprise Intibucá, Ocotepeque, Copán, Lempira, and Santa Barbara. See L. Rodríguez de Simons,
114. Humphries, "Migrants, Dairy Farmers, and Agricultural Land-Use."
115. Ibid. It is almost certain that some women did not reveal their earliest births to us, because it is not uncommon for very young women to leave the children of temporary unions with their mothers as they form other relationships. When interviews were conducted in the presence of later partners (as some of them were), these earlier births were likely to be omitted. Counteracting this tendency to probably underestimate the number of children that women had on average was a possible overestimation of the number of live births that had actually taken place. Until we adjusted our questions, some of our earlier interviews probably failed to exclude some stillbirths and miscarried pregnancies.
116. For example, a Centro Latinoaméricano de Demografía (CELADE) (Latin American Center for Demographics) study in 1983 found that the total fertility rate for women in agricultural salaried households was 8.6, which was more than double the rate for women belonging to the upper middle strata (G. Bidegain, "Perfil Sociodemográfico de Honduras" [Sociodemographic profile of Honduras], Working Paper no. 27 [Universidad Autónoma de Honduras, Facultad de Ciencias Económicas, Tegucigalpa, 1991], p. 11). Likewise, when the educational level was employed as the criterion for determining fertility, the total fertility rate for rural illiterate women was 8.4 compared with only 2.8 for women with more than 7 years of formal education living in Tegucigalpa (Bidegain, p. 11). Since poverty and educational levels in the western departments - the origin of nearly half the residents in the study - are among the worst in the country, very high fertility among the 40+ age group found in our study is not surprising (see I. Cano, "Diferencias geográficas sobre la escolaridad hondureña" [Geographic differences in Honduran education], Working Paper no. 16 [Universidad Autónoma de Honduras, Facultad de Ciencias Económicas, Tegucigalpa, 1990]).
117. For example, a Centro Latinoaméricano de Demografía (CELADE) (Latin American Center for Demographics) study in 1983 found that the total fertility rate for women in agricultural salaried households was 8.6, which was more than double the rate for women belonging to the upper middle strata (G. Bidegain, "Perfil Sociodemográfico de Honduras" [Sociodemographic profile of Honduras], Working Paper no. 27 [Universidad Autónoma de Honduras, Facultad de Ciencias Económicas, Tegucigalpa, 1991], p. 11). Likewise, when the educational level was employed as the criterion for determining fertility, the total fertility rate for rural illiterate women was 8.4 compared with only 2.8 for women with more than 7 years of formal education living in Tegucigalpa (Bidegain, p. 11). Since poverty and educational levels in the western departments - the origin of nearly half the residents in the study - are among the worst in the country, very high fertility among the 40+ age group found in our study is not surprising (see I. Cano, "Diferencias geográficas sobre la escolaridad hondureña" [Geographic differences in Honduran education], Working Paper no. 16 [Universidad Autónoma de Honduras, Facultad de Ciencias Económicas, Tegucigalpa, 1990]).
118. See also Rodríguez de Simons, "Diferencias geográficas de la mortalidad infantil en Honduras."
119. Child mortility refers to deaths that occur from birth on up to the age of 5, whereas infant mortality refers to deaths that occur within the first year of life. Our study used the former, because it was not always clear from the interviews whether death had occurred within the first year or somewhat later on. The sample was based on interviews with 129 women. In this group there were 108 child deaths reported to 831 live births. According to the 1974 census, the western departments generally had infant mortality rates well over 100 per 1,000. Although these rates fell below this level in the 1988 census, they remained the highest in the country (Rodríguez de Simons, "Diferencias geográficas de la mortalidad infantil en Honduras," p. 22).
120. Humphries, "Migrants, Dairy Farmers, and Agricultural Land-Use," p. 15. Some families specified that the search for land was, in fact, the search for "land for children/sons" (Humphries, unpublished field notes, 1993-94).
121. Land tenure in the Cuero watershed has been based on usufruct right to national lands. Use of land is permitted within the buffer zone of Pico Bonito National Park but not within the nuclear zone. The logic behind the demarcation of the two zones is that the nuclear area should be protected by the kind of activities that are carried out in the surrounding area. Thus, the bottom line is that there should be no need to take wood and other products from the protected zone, because of the availability of these materials within the buffer area; this means, at a minimum, that trees for fuel and construction must be managed sustainably within the buffer zone (Rodríguez [n. 66 above]). It is clear that widespread deforestation of lands within the buffer zone threatens the entire protected area concept.
122. Land left in forest, however, is commonly recognized as belonging to individuals. People mark the trees on the borders of their properties to show where their land ends. Prior to the introduction of the Agricultural Modernization Law, forested land in reality had no resale value, because under usufruct it is the "improvements" to the land that are being sold, not the land itself. Therefore, technically, it made no sense to keep land in forest. However, because most of the local population generally regards usufruct that is recognized by the municipality in much the same vein as full legal title, this technicality really made little difference. Forested land is held as a reserve by many people with the idea of turning it into crop or pasture land in the future. N. Hernández-Mora, "Effects of Policy Reform on Land Use Decisions and Community Forest Management in Honduras: Four Case Studies" (master's thesis, Cornell University, 1995).
123. Ibid. Hernández-Mora states that, although the municipality claimed to charge land users different tax rates according to usage (forested land was supposedly untaxed, while annual cropland was taxed below land planted in perennial crops), the villagers' perception of the system of taxation was that they were charged a flat rate on all lands held by them. Thus, the workings of the taxation system acted as a disincentive toward conserving forestry resources, given prevailing sentiment that forestland provided owners with little productive benefit (p. 67).
124. Those holding usufruct rights may have private documents prepared that declare them to be the rightful owners and land sales are often cemented between parties through the use of these documents. However, without legal title (dominio pleno), landholders are excluded from using land as collateral and thereby from gaining access to credit. The land-titling program occurred when I was revisiting the region in 1995. A survey of respondents' views on the program was not carried out, although I discussed the program with key informants in the watershed.
125. A study conducted in two other departments of the country, Santa Barbara and Comayagua, showed that 6 years after a land-titling program was put into effect, investment and production decisions had altered very little (R. Salgado, coordinator, El Mercado de Tierras en Honduras [The land market in Honduras] [Tegucigalpa: Centro de Documentación de Honduras, 1994], p. 46). Nevertheless, short-term perspectives are encouraged by fundamentalist religions common among migrants. The belief in the apocalypse is widespread, especially in certain communities (H. Gregoire, "Rural Honduran Women Experiencing Change, Adapting to Change and Creating Change in Their Lives" [master's thesis, University of Guelph, 1996]; also Humphries, field notes, 1993-94).
126. A study conducted in two other departments of the country, Santa Barbara and Comayagua, showed that 6 years after a land-titling program was put into effect, investment and production decisions had altered very little (R. Salgado, coordinator, El Mercado de Tierras en Honduras [The land market in Honduras] [Tegucigalpa: Centro de Documentación de Honduras, 1994], p. 46). Nevertheless, short-term perspectives are encouraged by fundamentalist religions common among migrants. The belief in the apocalypse is widespread, especially in certain communities (H. Gregoire, "Rural Honduran Women Experiencing Change, Adapting to Change and Creating Change in Their Lives" [master's thesis, University of Guelph, 1996]; also Humphries, field notes, 1993-94).
127. DeWalt et al. (n. 8 above), p. 113.
128. Gregoire's study in two communities showed that women preferred their former communities. This is generally the case because the losses that women experience on migration, such as loss of domestic and family support and access to income-earning activities, are less likely to affect men. In my study, which is focused on land use, for the most part male heads of households were interviewed because women in Honduras infrequently play an active role in cropping activities.
129. Humphries, "Migrants, Dairy Farmers, and Agricultural Land-Use" (n. 45 above).
130. Rivas (n. 67 above) cites Chapman (n. 67 above) in suggesting that the Tolupanes, who occupied the area at the time of the Spanish Conquest, were cultivators of root crops, especially of cassava.
131. The cycle commences during a period of heavy rainfall when burning is difficult and extends through a period of dryness when mulching is necessary to avoid moisture loss. All farmers interviewed who planted maize used a mulch in the postrera, as did 48% of farmers who planted beans (Phaseolus vulgaris). Farmers who practiced burning prior to the planting of beans did so because of the belief that mulching would increase the risk of bean disease.
132. In a study of velvet bean usage on the north coast, D. Buckles, I. Ponce, G. Sain, and G. Medina estimate that 83% of the farmers in the Atlántida area studied (5,250 farmers) had direct experience using this legume mulch ("Tierra cobarde se vuelve valiente: Uso y difusión del frijol de abono [Mucuna deeringianum] en las laderas del Litoral Atlántico de Honduras" [Cowardly land becomes brave: Use and diffusion of fertilizer bean (Mucuna deeringianum) in the Atlantic littoral hillsides] [Mexico City: International Center for Maize and Wheat Improvement (CIMMYT), 1992], p. 8). In Cuero, where in-migration is quite recent, 60% of maize farmers interviewed in the watershed study employed the velvet bean mulch rather than a slash-mulch (Humphries, "Migrants, Dairy Farmers, and Agricultural Land-Use").
133. D. Buckles, "Velvetbean: A 'New' Plant with a History," Economic Botany 49, no. 1 (1995): 13-25.
134. See, e.g., Buckles; Buckles, Ponce, and Sain; M. Flores, "El uso del frijol terciopelo (Mucuna pruriens) por agricultores de la costa norte de Honduras para la producción de maíz" (The use of velvet bean [Mucuna pruriens] in maize production by farmers of the north coast of Honduras) (Tegucigalpa: International Center for Information on Cover Crops [CIDICCO], 1987); G. Sain, I. Ponce, and E. Borbon, "Profitability of the Abonera System Practised by Farmers on the Atlantic Coast of Honduras," in Tapado, Slash/Mulch: How Farmers Use It, and What Researchers Know About It, ed. H. D. Thurston, M. Smith, G. Abawi, and S. Kearl (Ithaca, N.Y.: CATIE, Costa Rica and CIIFAD, Cornell University, 1994), pp. 273-82; Triomphe (n. 34 above).
135. See, e.g., Buckles; Buckles, Ponce, and Sain; M. Flores, "El uso del frijol terciopelo (Mucuna pruriens) por agricultores de la costa norte de Honduras para la producción de maíz" (The use of velvet bean [Mucuna pruriens] in maize production by farmers of the north coast of Honduras) (Tegucigalpa: International Center for Information on Cover Crops [CIDICCO], 1987); G. Sain, I. Ponce, and E. Borbon, "Profitability of the Abonera System Practised by Farmers on the Atlantic Coast of Honduras," in Tapado, Slash/Mulch: How Farmers Use It, and What Researchers Know About It, ed. H. D. Thurston, M. Smith, G. Abawi, and S. Kearl (Ithaca, N.Y.: CATIE, Costa Rica and CIIFAD, Cornell University, 1994), pp. 273-82; Triomphe (n. 34 above).
136. Buckles; Triomphe. Some farmers did report problems of landslides when using the maize-velvet bean system on very steep slopes (Humphries, "Migrants, Dairy Farmers, and Agricultural Land-Use"). Weed invasion by Rottboellia cochinchinensis, due to high soil fertility associated with the mulch, was also a problem in some areas. According to Triomphe, however, overall the maize-velvet bean system provides for a generally sustainable system of upland farming.
137. Triomphe, p. 40.
138. SECPLAN (n. 35 above).
139. Humphries, "Migrants, Dairy Farmers, and Agricultural Land-Use." The yield increase in the watershed is lower than in other areas largely because of the pattern of recent migration and, hence, the relatively recent adoption of velvet bean. The difference in size of plot with or without velvet bean derives from a number of factors including ease of weed control with velvet bean and the expectation of higher yields. As Pichon, "The Forest Conversion Process" (n. 6 above), points out, the expectation that sustainable production associated with higher outputs will necessarily lead to less pressure on the forest resources is not substantiated by research. Rather, as my study shows, high productivity associated with maize-velvet bean leads farmers to put larger areas under production. In this case, however, velvet bean adoption is associated with reduced fallowing, and this certainly reduces the pressure to deforest.
140. Humphries, "Migrants, Dairy Farmers, and Agricultural Land-Use." The yield increase in the watershed is lower than in other areas largely because of the pattern of recent migration and, hence, the relatively recent adoption of velvet bean. The difference in size of plot with or without velvet bean derives from a number of factors including ease of weed control with velvet bean and the expectation of higher yields. As Pichon, "The Forest Conversion Process" (n. 6 above), points out, the expectation that sustainable production associated with higher outputs will necessarily lead to less pressure on the forest resources is not substantiated by research. Rather, as my study shows, high productivity associated with maize-velvet bean leads farmers to put larger areas under production. In this case, however, velvet bean adoption is associated with reduced fallowing, and this certainly reduces the pressure to deforest.
141. Humphries, "Migrants, Dairy Farmers, and Agricultural Land-Use" (n. 45 above); CIAT, Hillsides Program Annual Report 1993-94 (Cali, Colombia: CIAT, 1993), p. 67.
142. R. Matute Ortiz, "Mercado del frijol común en la ciudad de La Ceiba" (The market for common beans in the city of La Ceiba), (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Honduras, Centro Universitario Regional del Litoral Atlántico, Licenciado en Economía Agrícola, La Ceiba, Honduras, 1992).
143. Humphries, "Migrants, Dairy Farmers, and Agricultural Land-Use." This figure is based on estimated costs and revenues from the two maize and two bean cycles derived from the average sized plot employed in each case. The range results from differences between farmers who employ the maize-velvet bean system and who plant more maize in the postrera cycle versus those who do not. Labor costs were imputed and deducted from revenues, as were rents on mules, and so on. In fact, most farmers include neither their labor costs nor discounted capital costs in their accounting. Thus, in local terms, incomes would be higher than I have estimated.
144. The minimum wage at the time was around US$2.00 per day. Residents involved in constructing the road into the watershed earned US$686.00 a year. However, since the crew was never paid on time, most members were forced to sell their pay vouchers to intermediaries who acted as money lenders, advancing the workers a proportion of their salaries. When the government eventually paid up, sometimes 2 months later, the money lenders effectively earned the discounted difference. In this way, road construction workers netted less than US$500 per year. Members of road crews generally produced their own food either on their days off or by paying someone else to do the work.
145. Land sales commonly occurred when the landowner became old and sick. Land is generally not passed to children until the death of the owner. Indeed, control over land is one way that elderly parents ensure care and attention from their children. However, if the head of the household becomes infirm, land might be sold off to buy medicines. Some of the oldest pioneer families who previously had held large chunks of land lost land in this manner. However, for those who own livestock, the sale of animals during family crises functions to prevent the loss of land.
146. Many farmers also grow some tree crops, such as cacao and fruit trees. However, agroforestry is small in scale and only occupies a small portion of farmers' land. Likewise, horticulture is not extensively practiced, although the production of chile tabasco was a big cash earner for a number of producers until the Gemini virus invaded the area. This disease, vectored by a new biotype of white fly, is currently endemic in southern Mexico and Central America.
147. See D. Buckles and G. Sain, "Land and Livelihoods: Patterns of Rural Development in Atlantic Honduras," Natural Resources group paper 95-01 (CIMMYT, Mexico, Federal District, 1995); Sunderlin and Rodri"guez (n. 31 above); Steve Sherwood, CIIFAD, Cornell University, personal communication. The decision to include this section in this article came at the suggestion of an anonymous reviewer; some of the data were not reported in the 1996 CIAT study (Humphries, field notes, 1993-94).
148. See D. Buckles and G. Sain, "Land and Livelihoods: Patterns of Rural Development in Atlantic Honduras," Natural Resources group paper 95-01 (CIMMYT, Mexico, Federal District, 1995); Sunderlin and Rodri"guez (n. 31 above); Steve Sherwood, CIIFAD, Cornell University, personal communication. The decision to include this section in this article came at the suggestion of an anonymous reviewer; some of the data were not reported in the 1996 CIAT study (Humphries, field notes, 1993-94).
149. Recent migrants who came from or through the department of Santa Barbara and succeeded in acquiring pastureland and cattle in the Cuero watershed have sold either small coffee plots or land in an old frontier region close to the Guatemalan border that has become both a coffee-growing and cattle-raising zone. The high value of property in Santa Barbara, relative to that on the new frontier, enabled some to expand their holdings or to acquire flatter land in the Cuero watershed. Those who arrived from elsewhere in Atlántida (points west of the study area, particularly the hills around the town of Tela, which is an older frontier area) have benefited from property value differences between the two areas. Thus expansion of holdings, or improvement of land quality, is an important benefit stemming from the migratory process (Humphries, "Migrants, Dairy Farmers, and Agricultural Land-Use"). This parallels what Almeida de Ozorio and Campari aptly refer to as "itinerant accumulation" (n. 20 above).
150. At the time of the study (1993-94), difficulty of access excluded lowland cheesemakers from incorporating the watershed into their circuits (Humphries, "Migrants, Dairy Farmers, and Agricultural Land-Use").
151. Cheesemaking produces a weekly income (rather than a biannual one, as in the case of local crops) that is frequently controlled by women. As numerous studies have shown, income earned and controlled by women is more likely to be used for the benefit of the household than is income earned by men (see, e.g., D. Dwyer and J. Bruce, eds., A Home Divided: Women and Income in the Third World [Palo Alto, Calif.: Stanford University Press, 1988]).
152. The rule of thumb used by upland dairy farmers is one head of cattle per two manzanas (a local manzana = .835 hectare), or approximately one head per 1.5 hectare. This is half the stocking rate of the lowlands. In view of the fact that only one animal in four is in production, on average, at a given time, farmers would need at least 12 animals to obtain simultaneous output from three. This would require 18 hectares of land compared to 8.35, which was calculated as the average among local farmers for grain production, including fallow (Humphries, "Migrants, Dairy Farmers, and Agricultural Land-Use" [n. 45 above], p. 55).
153. At the time of the study, King grass, Merkeron, and Napier (Pennisetum purpureum) were commonly planted. These pastures grow in clumps and tend to promote erosion as water filters down between the clumps and weeds easily gain a foothold. The Brachiarias are more suitable for hillsides because of the ground coverage provided, but as yet are not widely used. Other pastures used locally include Alicia (Cynodon nlemfuensis) and Guinea grass (Panicum maximum). However, natural grass and fallows are still widely employed for grazing purposes.
154. It is also possible that the Agricultural Modernization Law, originally formulated in 1990, played a role in promoting these upland investments because of the security of ownership that the new legislation provided. However, conversion of the Atlantic hillsides to pasture has been occurring over recent decades and therefore is unrelated to the passing of this piece of legislation.
155. The loaning out of fallow land to small and landless farmers, frequently with the proviso that they sow pasture along with the grain crop, is one strategy commonly used for increasing cattle pasturage. In 1993-94, pasture was insufficiently established to have cut off the land rental market. Even when pasture has been planted, poor maintenance frequently means that it is periodically turned over to renters for grains and pasture resowing. In other words, nonsustainable pastures provide a supply of fallow to grain producers. Better pasture maintenance will increase pressure on the land. Whether the larger landowners will be better able to sustain pastures than smaller producers remains to be seen.
156. Hernández-Mora (n. 82 above); Humphries, "Migrants, Dairy Farmers, and Agricultural Land-Use."