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Citation

Vasco, Cristian; Bilsborrow, Richard E.; Torres, Bolier; & Griess, Verena (2018). Agricultural Land Use among Mestizo Colonist and Indigenous Populations: Contrasting Patterns in the Amazon. PLOS ONE, 13(7), e0199518. PMCID: PMC6033409

Abstract

This paper compares land use patterns of mestizo colonists and indigenous populations in the central Ecuadorian Amazon, based on data from a household survey covering mestizo colonist, Kichwa and Shuar households. As expected, colonists mostly engage in commercial agriculture and cattle ranching, but there are substantial differences in land use patterns between the Shuar and the Kichwa. The Shuar engage in cash cropping and cattle ranching, and on average, devote even more land to agricultural uses than mestizo colonists in this sample. In contrast, the Kichwa engage more in subsistence crop production and less in commercial agriculture. Such different patterns appear related to local conditions, earlier migratory and settlement patterns, and the level of exposure to markets. The implications of this for policy are explored in the conclusions.

URL

http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0199518

Reference Type

Journal Article

Year Published

2018

Journal Title

PLOS ONE

Author(s)

Vasco, Cristian
Bilsborrow, Richard E.
Torres, Bolier
Griess, Verena

PMCID

PMC6033409

ORCiD

Bilsborrow - 0000-0002-0053-7356