INTERNATIONAL LABOUR OFFICE
THE LANDLESS FARMER
IN LATIN AMERICA
Conditions of Tenants, Share-Farmers and Similar
Categories of Semi-Independent and Independent
Agricultural Workers in Latin America
GENEVA
1957
STUDIES AND REPORTS
New Series, No. 47
PRINTED BY " LA TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE ", GENEVA (SWITZERLAND)
PREFACE
The International Labour Office has from its inception concerned
itself with the living and working conditions of agricultural workers of all
kinds. As early as 1923 the I.L.O. published an article on the particular
problems of tenants, share-croppers and similar categories of agricultural workers in Japan \ while the first I.L.O. study on the subject
in Latin America appeared in 1937.2
In recent years impetus to the study and the dissemination of information on this subject has been given by the programme of international
action in the field of land reform recommended in 1951 by the Economic
and Social Council, which has resulted in the United Nations, the Food
and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations and the International Labour Office co-operating in the preparation of reports on
the subject for the Council.3 At the same time the various agencies
have given priority within their own programmes of work to the study
of those aspects of land reform within their special fields. As concerns
the I.L.O., the Permanent Agricultural Committee, its technical advisory
body on agricultural matters, at its Fourth Session in 1953 stressed the
desirability of studying the impact of the various systems of land tenure
on security of employment and on the living and working conditions
of the various categories of agricultural workers affected. Subsequently,
at its Fifth Session (Paris, 1955), the Committee adopted a resolution on
the living and working conditions of share-croppers, tenant-farmers and
similar categories of semi-independent or self-employed agricultural
workers, which, among other things, recommended that the I.L.O.
continue to undertake and publish studies in thisfieldon an international,
regional and national basis.
Among recent publications mention should be made of the chapter
devoted to agrarian systems in Indigenous Peoples *, and a report on
1
" Disputes between Landowners and Tenant Farmers in Japan ", in International
Labour Review (Geneva, I.L.O.), Vol. VIII, No. 3, Sep. 1923, pp. 459-463.
2
E. MUNGUÍA: "The Agrarian Problem in Mexico", ibid., Vol. XXXVI, Nos. 1
and 2, July and Aug. 1937, pp. 49-85 and 200-238.
3
See United Nations: Progress in Land Reform (document E/2526, New York,
1954), and Progress in Land Reform, Second Report (document E/2930, New York,
1956).
4
I.L.O.: Indigenous Peoples : Living and Working Conditions of Aboriginal Populations in Independent Countries, Studies and Reports, New Series, No. 35 (Geneva, 1953).
IV
PREFACE
similar questions in Asia which has been prepared for the Fourth
Asian Regional Conference of the I.L.O. to be held in New Delhi
in 1957.
The aim of the present report is to analyse the situation of agricultural
workers in Latin America who till land belonging to others on a cashrental or share-farming basis or under some similar system of land
tenure and to describe the legislative protection given to these classes of
workers, its scope and implementation. The problem is one of
particular importance in Latin America, first of all because of the
numerical importance of this type of worker, but also because in many
of the countries concerned their legal, social and economic position
has evolved very slowly and is still governed by practices and customs
of feudal origin.
No attempt has been made to make this report exhaustive or to
cover all the diverse regions of Latin America or the multitudinous
forms of tenure under which land is cultivated in the various countries.
In discussing certain subjects, such as internal land settlement and credit,
which are related but not necessarily integral parts of the main subject
of the report, it has been deemed sufficient to give a few examples of
what is being done in selected countries.
The International Labour Office hopes that this general outline will
draw attention to the plight of these millions of people and to the need
to improve their lot.
CONTENTS
Page
INTRODUCTION
I
CHAPTER I.
Systems of Land Tenure in Latin America
General
National Laws and Customs
Argentina
Bolivia
Brazil
Chile
Colombia
Costa Rica
Cuba
Ecuador
Guatemala
Honduras
Mexico
Panama
Peru
El Salvador
Uruguay
Venezuela
1
1
3
3
5
6
8
9
10
10
11
12
13
13
13
14
15
16
16
CHAPTER II.
importance of the Various Forms of Land Tenure
Argentina
Bolivia
Brazil
Chile
Costa Rica
Cuba
Ecuador
Guatemala
Mexico
Panama
Paraguay
El Salvador
Uruguay
Venezuela
18
20
22
22
26
27
29
31
33
35
36
39
39
39
41
CHAPTER III.
Legislation and Practice on Agricultural Leases : I
Contracts
Argentina
Bolivia
Brazil
Chile
Cuba
Ecuador
Mexico
Panama
Peru
Uruguay
43
43
44
45
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
Compensation for Improvements
Argentina
Bolivia
53
53
54
VI
THE LANDLESS FARMER IN LATIN AMERICA
Page
Chile
Cuba
Haiti
Panama
Peru
Uruguay
54
54
55
55
55
56
CHAPTER IV.
Legislation and Practice on Agricultural Leases : II
Remuneration for Use of Land
Argentina
Bolivia
Brazil
Chile
Cuba
Ecuador
Guatemala
Haiti
Mexico
Peru
Uruguay
Conciliation and Arbitration
Argentina
Bolivia
Brazil
Chile
Cuba
Ecuador
Peru
Uruguay
59
59
60
62
63
64
65
67
69
69
69
70
71
72
72
74
74
74
75
75
75
76
CHAPTER V.
Access to Land Ownership
Legislation of a General Nature
Argentina
Bolivia
Brazil
Colombia
Guatemala
Mexico
The " Family Patrimony " System
Internal Land Settlement
Chile
Ecuador
Uruguay
Venezuela
Agricultural Credit
Argentina
Brazil
Cuba
Paraguay
78
79
79
81
82
82
83
85
87
89
89
90
91
91
92
92
93
93
95
CHAPTER VI.
Living Conditions
Housing
Argentina
Bolivia and Peru
Brazil
Chile
Cuba
97
97
97
98
99
99
100
CONTENTS
VII
Page
Ecuador
Panama
Paraguay
Uruguay
• Venezuela
Health and Nutrition
Bolivia
Colombia
Cuba
Ecuador
Peru
Conclusions
GLOSSARY
100
101
102
102
102
103
103
104
104
105
106
107
110
CHAPTER I
SYSTEMS OF LAND TENURE IN LATIN AMERICA
GENERAL
The relationship between man and the soil in Latin America finds
its expression in a great variety of social and legal forms which have
developed from the interaction of two great cultural movements,
namely the pre-colonial indigenous cultures which held sway over
large areas of Latin America on the one hand and the Spanish and
Portuguese conquest, with the standards and the institutions they
brought with them, on the other. The results of the meeting of these
two forces were often widely dissimilar in character, and three main
groups can be distinguished.
First of all, we find forms in which can be detected survivals of the
old pre-colonial indigenous institutions, such as the Aztec calpulli and
the Inca ayllu.1 Today this group consists mainly of communal landtenure systems and of the grouping of individual land holdings into
larger units ; in these practices we can see the influence of long-standing
bonds of a social character which still find practical expression in the
performance of tasks of benefit to all (but not necessarily all agricultural
work) by all the members of the community working together.
The second group contains the institutions which the conquerors,
taking advantage of existing circumstances, built up in order to exploit
the land and the large and efficient indigenous labour force which they
found in certain regions. Institutions such as the encomienda, the
repartimiento and the merced were established on political or religious
pretexts; the result was that the indigenous labourers were reduced to
serfdom, bound to the land and forced to work for the new owner,
receiving in exchange the right to cultivate plots of land for themselves
and their families in their spare time and certain other minor perquisites
such as grazing rights. In this way a system of land tenure of the latifundia type was gradually built up; some of its main characteristics
can still be met with in certain regions and have even formed the subject
of statutory instruments in certain countries.
1
At the end of this study a glossary will be found giving brief definitions of the
words used in the text which are peculiar to particular regions of Latin America.
2
THE LANDLESS FARMER IN LATIN AMERICA
Lastly, in certain other regions land tenure developed more in
accordance with law and practice in the countries (mainly European)
from which the main migratory movements came.
Having indicated the broad outlines of the historical development
of forms of land tenure in Latin America we must now, for the purposes
of this study, give a rough classification of the methods by which agricultural workers can obtain the use of land which does not belong
to them.
One difficulty arises immediately, namely the fact that the terminology
used varies from country to country—and often from one part of a
country to another—owing to the survival of words of indigenous
origin in particular areas. In addition, an apparent similarity between
two systems does not necessarily mean that the two are identical; the
indigenous customs and traditions dating from before the colonial era,
which even then were extremely varied, have inevitably developed along
different lines since coming into contact with the laws and customs
which were introduced during or after the colonial period.
The systems encountered are, then, divided into two main groups.
In the first group are included cases in which the relationship between
the owner of the land and the man who tills it has a de jure basis of a
statutory, contractual or customary nature, while the second contains
systems of de facto occupation and usufruct without any relationship
being established between the man who tills the land and the man who
holds the title of it.
The forms of tenure based on de jure relationships include a great
variety of systems under which a farmer can obtain from a landowner
the right to cultivate an area of land. A number of major categories
can be distinguished.
Where the tenancy is on a fixed-rental basis (arrendamiento) the
tenant is granted the full usufruct of a specified area of land and agrees
in exchange to pay a predetermined amount in cash or in kind. For the
purposes of this study the main feature of this system is that in general
the tenant is completely free to choose what he wants to grow or rear
on the land and carries on farming operations on his own initiative and
without taking orders from anybody; he bears all the risks of production.
Share-farming (aparcería) is taken as covering all arrangements
under which the farmer has to hand over a portion (previously agreed
on) of what he produces on the land which the owner places at his
disposal. Under the simplest form of share-farming the farmer provides
all or most of the means of production; he is not free to choose what
he wishes to cultivate but has a completely free hand in the actual
running of the farm. Medieria is a special form of share-farming in
SYSTEMS OF LAND TENURE
3
which the crop is shared equally between the two parties. Under this
system the landowner receives a greater share than under most types
of share-farming; in theory this is because he also provides equipment,
seed, etc., but in fact medieria systems are frequently met with under
which he does not do so.
By assimilation it has become customary to consider as sharefarming other share arrangements in which the farmer provides only his
labour-power and that of his family while the landowner provides all
the other means of production. Admittedly, the share paid to the
landowner may be considered as a form of rent, but the position of these
cultivators differs from that of share-farmers in that they have no
independence or freedom of action and their position is more akin to
that of wage labourers.
There are other institutions (such as the colonato and the huasipungó)
which can be considered as " tenant-labour " systems, i.e. forms of
tenancy with the qualification that the rent is paid in the form of labour.
Here the farmer undertakes to perform a certain number of days of
work on the land which the owner uses for himself; in exchange he is
granted the usufruct of an area of land and certain other perquisites.
One of these may be that he receives a wage, although it will be less than
that of a wage labourer. This classification of these institutions has been
challenged by a number of writers who base their arguments on their
respective historical origins, which have already been outlined. With
this reservation one can admit that there is some similarity between the
situation of the tenant-farmer and the indigenous colono or huasipunguero, but only with regard to the relative freedom that both enjoy to
cultivate the land placed at their personal disposal as they wish. Even
so, the colono and huasipunguero are relatively less independent, mainly
because the work they perform for the landowner must take precedence
over everything else. This fact creates additional risks for them (such as
the loss of crops because they are unable to bring the harvest in in time).
When speaking of de facto forms of tenure the word " squatter "
(ocupante precario) will be used to describe farmers who are settled on
land which does not belong to them but have no legal relationship with
the owner of the land. The vast uncultivated areas which still exist in
Latin America provide ideal conditions for arrangements of this kind.
Squatters have no protection whatsoever and usually occupy a marginal
position in the agricultural economy of the country concerned. In the
great majority of cases their methods of cultivation are of the " slashand-burn " type 1 ; the farmer chooses a piece of land (usually in virgin
1
T. Lynn SMITH: Brazil: People and Institutions (Baton Rouge, Louisiana
State University Press, 1947), pp. 36-60.
4
THE LANDLESS FARMER IN LATIN AMERICA
forest), cuts down the vegetation with implements such as the axe and
matchet and burns it off and then plants maize, beans or (where the
rainfall is adequate) rice. It is a well-known fact that this system of
cultivation yields barely enough to keep body and soul together and at
the same time does incalculable damage to the natural resources of the
country by leaving the land defenceless against erosion.
There are often special reasons for the settlement of squatters in
this way. It even happens that landless farmers are sometimes deliberately encouraged to settle on land which does not belong to them.
Two kinds of cases are encountered. Firstly, in countries which have
legislation on land settlement which is beneficial to landless farmers,
the landowner may be able to induce the State to buy his land and
distribute it among the farmers who have already settled on it. Alternatively, the landlord may simply not want to spend more money on
making his forest land fit for cultivation, and once the squatters have
made the desired improvements he turns them out—a practice in which
he enjoys the support of the authorities.1
EXISTING SYSTEMS
Argentina
In Argentina the European immigrants who settled on the land
from the middle of the nineteenth century onwards usually acquired farms
by purchase, paying in instalments, or by rental or share-farming arrangements, from the landowners, the bulk of the cultivable land being already
in the hands of ranchers, colonisation companies and other landlords.
An Act concerning rural tenancies (No. 11170) was promulgated on
28 September 1921. Previously tenancies in the countryside, as in the
towns, had been governed by the appropriate sections of the Civil
Code. The 1921 Act was later amended on a number of occasions, the
most important amendment being Act No. 13246 of 10 September 1948
concerning farm tenancies and share-farming, which is still in force.
This Act, which was amended by Act No. 13897 of 1950, regulates the
operation of farm tenancies and in its section 2 clearly defines a tenancy
(arrendamiento) as the granting by one party of the usufruct of a land
holding for any agricultural purpose whatever and the payment by the
other party of cash for the said usufruct.
Section 21 of the same Act defines share-farming (aparcería) as the
1
T. Lynn SMITH: " Some Observations on Land Tenure in Colombia ", in
Foreign Agriculture (Washington, D.C.), Vol. XIV, No. 6, June 1952, p. 122.
SYSTEMS OF LAND TENURE
5
granting to another person, for any agricultural purpose whatsoever,
of animals or a land holding with or without plants, seed, livestock,
chattels or implements with the object of sharing the produce. Medieria
is defined in Section 12 of Act No. 12842 of 1946 as " any arrangement
whereby the two contracting parties bear an equal share of the cost of
farming a holding ". For purposes of supervision the Act makes it
compulsory for simple accounts to be kept. In stock farms, the position
of the tambero mediero should be mentioned. Decree No. 3750/46
(Act No. 12921), issued on 5 February 1946, prescribes the duties and
rights of the tambero mediero, i.e. of any individual, whether known by
this or some other name, who has a share in the running and the produce
of a tambo. The systems of tenancy of such establishments include
arrangements whereby the milkers are given a share of the milk; alternatively, the owners of dairies may lease cattle to milk-distributing
companies on a share basis, either aparcería or medieria. There is also
a type of farmer who owns a dairy herd and rents pasture, paying the
milkers with a share of the output.
Section 9 of Decree No. 7786 of 31 March 1949, which regulates
the application of Act No. 13246, stipulates that contracts presupposing
a dependent relationship in which the contracting party is granted a share
in the produce with or without a fixed cash return, as in the case of
peones a la rendita, tanteros, interesados, habilitados, al quinto, tamberos
medieros, etc., are deemed to be contracts of employment and not sharefarming agreements.
In Argentina the squatter is known as an agregado. This form of
tenure appears to be fairly widespread throughout the country.
Bolivia
In Bolivia the lease of land for a cash rental does not appear ro be
a particularly common form of tenure. Generally the tenant is called
an inquilino, although in the Santa Cruz area this term is normally
applied to those who pay their rent in kind.1 In the valleys one finds
the " part-owner " (propietario en parte)—a farmer who has not
enough land of his own and leases extra land for which he pays in cash,
in kind or in labour.
The payment of rent in the form of labour or services was the most
common arrangement in Bolivia until 1953, when the legislative decree
on agrarian reform was enacted. On the High Plateau the bulk of the
1
O. E. LEONARD : Santa Cruz : a Socio-Economie Study of an Area in Bolivia,
Foreign Agriculture Report No. 31 (Washington, D.C., 1948), p. 23.
6
THE LANDLESS FARMER IN LATIN AMERICA
rural population was employed under the colonato system. The colono
undertook to work on the owner's estate without payment or for a fraction of the normal wage and in exchange was given the use of a plot of
land (sayona) for himself. The colono used his own tools and draught
animals both on the estate and on his own holding. Although the obligations incurred by the colonos varied from one part of the country to
another, it can be stated that this system barely enabled the colono and
his family to keep body and soul together. The Legislative Decree of
2 August 1953 on agrarian reform abolished the colonato system and any
other system whereby personal services are performed without payment
or in exchange for benefits granted by the landowner and provided that
the former colonos were to be assigned land, which would become their
property, by the National Agrarian Reform Service.
Share-farming in the valleys, and particularly in the valley of Cochabamba, is sometimes called compañía, while on the High Plateau itself
it is referred to as medierla. In both cases the tenant contributes the
equipment, tools, seed and labour (although occasionally the landowner
provides the seed) and the crop is shared equally. The pegujalero is in
much the same situation as the colono of the high plateau.
Squatters are found in the sparsely-populated areas of Bolivia; they
are known as tolerados.
Brazil
In Brazil the legal concepts of tenancy on a fixed-rental basis (arrendamento) and share-farming (parceria) in the rural areas are regulated and
defined in accordance with the principles embodied in Portuguese
legislation of the colonial period. These principles survived the Empire
intact, and they form the foundation of section 1410-1423 of the
Brazilian Civil Code, which defines tenancy and share-farming as
distinct contractual forms both economically and legally. Thus, while
tenancy implies a right to the full usufruct of land in exchange for a
specified sum of money, a share-farming agreement is defined as the
transfer of a plot of land to another individual who undertakes to
cultivate it and to share its produce on an agreed basis.
The methods and types of share-farming in Brazil vary enormously
owing to the sheer size of the country and the consequent diversity of
the ethnic composition of the population and of farming systems. To
these must be added the changes brought about by up-to-date farming
techniques, which in Brazil, as in other Latin American countries, have
modified, and occasionally supplanted, the traditional methods of
Indian agriculture.
SYSTEMS OF LAND TENURE
7
The term arrendamento is used throughout the country even when
the rent is paid in kind. In the north-east the term rendeiro is frequently
used to describe the tenant of a small plot of land, while elsewhere, as
in the sugar-growing areas in the state of Pernambuco, the term means
a farmer who leases land from the sugar mills.
Parceria is common particularly in the state of Säo Paulo, where
this term is used to describe a system whereby the share-farmer receives
the seed and the land already prepared for the year's crop and undertakes to sow it, cultivate it and reap the harvest. The crop is shared
out on the holding itself in a proportion which varies from region to
region. According to Schmidt, the crop may be shared on a 50-50 basis,
or, when the quality of the soil is such that no fertilisers are needed,
the owner only receives a third. 1 In the wooded region of the Paraiba
valley the share-croppers clear and burn small plots of land (roças)
on which they plant their crops ; the landowner in such cases is entitled
to a fifth or as much as a quarter of the harvest. Livestock share-farming
is also encountered in the stock-raising areas of Brazil. In such cases
the vaqueiro is entirely responsible for the livestock and in exchange he
receives a quarter of the yearly output of young steers.
Share-farming on a 50-50 basis is chiefly found in the agriculturally
backward areas. A survey carried out in the town of Cunha, in the
state of Säo Paulo 2, describes the mediero as a cultivator who is given
board, lodging and seeds by the landowner, with whom he divides the
crop equally.
A particular form of share-farming (empreteiro) is found in
coffee-growing. In the north of Paraná an empreteiro is employed by
the estate or fazenda to establish new coffee plantations. A written
contract is signed whereby the estate undertakes to clear and burn the
land and to measure and mark out the area to be covered by the rows
of plants, to plough the furrows (cobas) and to supply the seeds and the
boards needed to protect the seedlings from the sun. The empreteiro
undertakes in turn to sow the coffee and to shield the seedlings with
boards, to weed over the plantation two or three times a year and to
thin the plants out twice. In exchange he receives the first coffee crop,
payment in cash when the plantation is handed over and, for four years,
the usufruct of a plot of land (roça) and lodging provided by the fazenda.
In this same region the colono is the person who looks after the fully
grown coffee trees. His annual contract requires him to hoe the planta1
Carlos B. SCHMIDT: " Systems of Land Tenure in Säo Paulo ", in Rural
Sociology (University of North Carolina), Vol. 8, Nos. 1-4, 1943, p. 242.
2
Emilio WILLEMS: Cunha, tradiçào e transiçào em una cultura ru al do Brasil
(Secretaria de Agricultura, Säo Paulo, 1947), p. 32.
8
THE LANDLESS FARMER IN LATIN AMERICA
tion two or three times a year, receiving in exchange a sum of money
and the usufruct of a plot of land both of which vary in accordance
with the size of the plantation he tends. In addition he undertakes to
work as a hired labourer whenever his services may be required by the
estate (i.e. during the two months of the coffee harvest). This system is
also very widespread in the state of Säo Paulo.
Squatters in Brazil are known as posseiros, moradores, intrusos or
ocupantes. There are unlimited opportunities in the huge areas of
uncultivated land in Brazil for settlement in this way, which is practised
by semi-nomadic cultivators who use slash-and-burn methods. However,
according to Smith, there is a fairly marked tendency on the part of
these cultivators to settle down as agregados1, who correspond more or
less to the peones acasillados 2 of pre-revolutionary Mexico.
Chile
Rural tenancies in Chile are subject to the general provisions of the
Civil Code, which apply to any type of fixed-rent lease. All forms of
share-farming are regulated by the Labour Code, Sections 75-76 of
which classify the share-farmer as a farm worker.
Share-farming in Chile conforms to the normal pattern; the sharefarmer uses his own equipment and the landowner provides the land
and sometimes part of the seed. In certain areas and for certain crops
the contract may provide for the produce to be shared equally, in which
case the arrangement is called medieria. A mediero who is unable to
provide the means of production, with the result that the landowner
himself has to supply them, is described as a mediero apatronado, although
even if he works under the immediate supervision of the landowner he
does not necessarily incur any more obligations than if he had undertaken to farm the holding as a mediero.
The Chilean inquilino lives on the estate and in addition to board
and lodging receives a plot of land, and sometimes grazing rights (talaje)
as well, in addition to the wage he is paid for the work he carries out
for the employer. McBride attributes the origin of the inquilino system
to the destruction during colonial times of the tribal ties between the
Chilean Indians and the land. The same writer describes the regulations
issued by the Prince of Esquilache (Francisco de Borja, Viceroy of
Peru) in 1619 and shows that even then the Indians living on Chilean
estates were called inquilinos and were required to work 160 days in
1
2
T. Lynn SMITH: Brazil : People and Institutions, op. cit., pp. 459-464.
See p. 13.
9
SYSTEMS OF LAND TENURE
the year for their employers, in exchange for which they were given the
usufruct of 5 almudes (approximately 2J4 acres) of arable land, together
with the implements needed to till it.1
The inquilino-mediero is an inquilino who, in addition to the usual
plot of land, is granted another holding, half the produce of which he
gives to the landowner.2
Squatters in Chile are known as precarios.
Colombia
In Colombia tenancy on a fixed-rental basis and share-farming are
widespread throughout the country. The owners of plantations in the
coffee-growing areas in the hilly country in the east often live either in
Bogotá or abroad and lease out their estates.3 In the sugar-growing
areas of the Cauca valley land is rented from the sugar mills, which buy
up the tenant's crop. The terms arrendamiento and aparcería are used
throughout the country.
Tenant-labourers fall into two main classes : the agregados or vivientes
and the terrazgueros.11 The agregado lives on the estate, which grants
him the usufruct of a plot of land, in exchange for which he works
for a given number of days on the estate at a prescribed wage.
This practice is widespread throughout the country. Terrazgueros,
however, are found mainly in the western part of the Andean uplands,
particularly in the departments of Narino and Cauca. The tenantlabourer is given the usufruct of a small plot of land (pegujal) in exchange
for various services which he performs for the estate owner. This is
known as the terraje system. In some districts the terrazguero has to work
for a specified number of days a month in payment for the use of his
pegujal and several more as a wage labourer. A survey carried out in 1944
revealed that the wage paid was of the order of 10 centavos per day,
while in certain districts the wage is paid in boiled maize at a price fixed
by the employer.5
1
George McCutchen MCBRIDE: Chile : Land and Society, American Geographical Society, Research Series, No. 19 (New York, 1936), pp. 113-114.
2
Ricardo MARÍN MOLINA: Condiciones económico-sociales del campesino chileno
(Santiago, 1947), p. 30.
3
Kathryn H. WYLIE: Agriculture of Colombia (Washington, D.C., United States
Department of Agriculture, 1942), p. 45.
4
These persons are also called arrendatarios, because in some parts of the
country such systems of tenure are disguised as tenancies. In such cases the rent for
housing and the plot of land is still paid for in the form of personal services. See
United Nations, Economic Commission for Latin America: Analysis and Projections
of Economic Development. III. Economic Development of Colombia (E/CN. 12/365/
Add.l, 6 Aug. 1955), pp. 163-164.
5
See Indigenous Peoples, op. cit., p. 346.
2
10
THE LANDLESS FARMER IN LATIN AMERICA
The term colono is used in Colombia to describe a squatter. Their
poverty and their numerical importance are such that one of the main
purposes of the Land Tenure Act of 1936 (No. 200) was to solve the
colonato problem. Smith, discussing the reasons for the Act, states that
colonos are the main social problem facing the country and adds that
one of the chief causes of the disorders created by the settlement of
colonos on estates was the fact that landowners allowed them to remain
there for a number of years and then evicted them forcibly as soon as
the land was in a fit state to be farmed. This author adds that very
often the squatters were tricked into settling on the estates.1
Costa Rica
In Costa Rica an Act regulating rural tenancies (No. 58) was passed
on 9 March 1944. Section 3 of the Act deals with medieria (sometimes
referred to as medianería), which it treats as a form of tenancy. After
laying down the procedure for fixing rents, this section goes on to
state that " landowners who make land available without payment
and who, in addition, provide assistance in the form of seed, draught
animals and implements or who advance money without interest for
the same purpose shall be considered, if the parties so agree, as equal
partners in the undertaking ".
The term esquilmo is also used in Costa Rica to describe tenancies,
whether rent is paid in kind or in both cash and kind. Generally speaking
the esquilmo lasts for one crop only.
Squatters are referred to as colonos, parásitos or ocupantes gratuitos,
depending on the part of the country. Squatters are to be found in
isolated areas which are not really suitable for farming.
Cuba
In Cuba tenancy on a fixed-rental basis, share-farming and their
variations have been clearly defined in the agrarian legislation, which
is largely based on customary practice.
The explanatory statement issued in conjunction with the agricultural
census of 1946 2 defines tenants (arrendatarios) as persons who pay a
cash rent for the holding granted to them in usufruct and a sub-tenant
(subarrendatario) as a person who receives a plot of land from a
1
T. Lynn SMITH: " Some Observations on Land Tenure in Colombia ", loc. cit.,
pp. 119-123.
2
Memoria del Censo Agrícola Nacional de 1946 (Havana, Ministry of Agriculture,
1951), p. 87.
SYSTEMS OF LAND TENURE
11
tenant and pays him a cash rent. Act No. 7 of 1948 lays down the
principles regulating agricultural tenancies.
In the sugar-growing districts a person who leases land from a sugar
mill is called a colono controlado, while a person who leases land from
an owner other than a sugar mill is called a subcolono. These, together
with the colono libre, i.e. one who grows sugar on his own land, are
referred to collectively in the sugar industry as the colonato.
Share-farming (aparcería) is also defined in the 1948 Act. Section 25
defines share-farming as an arrangement between the landowner,
usufructuary, occupier or tenant of an agricultural holding and one or
more persons for the production of crops or raising of livestock for
the purpose of dividing the produce between them. The person who
provides the land is required to provide the farmer with accommodation,
tools, part of the seed, fertiliser, installations and water whenever the
latter may be necessary for farming purposes.
There is a sub-chapter of the 1948 Act (Sections 32 to 35) dealing
with share-farming in the tobacco-growing areas. In addition to the
partidarios (another word for aparceros), it is also common in these
areas to find tenants who are described as cuartarios or terciarios. These
terms are derived from the proportion of the crop which the tenant has
to pay for the right to use the land. The proportion of the crop the tenant
has to hand over seems to depend largely on the amount of tools and
equipment he supplies.
Squatters in Cuba are called precaristas and are defined in the 1946
national census as persons who farm a plot of land without any legal
right to it and without paying rent or being answerable to anyone for
their actions.1
Ecuador
In Ecuador the term arrendamiento is used in its normal sense in
the rice-growing coastal areas. There are other words, such as sembrador,
finquero and desmontero, for special types of arrangement such as that
under which a cultivator plants an area with cocoa-plants and looks
after them for anything up to eight years, after which he hands them
over to the landowner, receiving in exchange a sum of money calculated
on the basis of the number of trees which are giving a yield. The
cultivator also receives the crop (if any) gathered in while he is responsible for them. Arrangements of this kind are also common on some
large banana estates in the provinces of Los Ríos and El Guayas. These
words are also used when alluding to workers in the rice-growing areas
who give labour in exchange for the usufruct of a piece of land.
1
Memoria del Censo Agrícola Nacional de 1946, op. cit., p. 87.
12
THE LANDLESS FARMER IN LATIN AMERICA
The huasipunguero, who is the equivalent in the Ecuadorean highlands
of the former Bolivian colono, is defined in Section 244 of the Labour
Code as " a person who works on an estate for remuneration which he
receives partly in cash as wages and partly in the right to use a piece of
land made available to him by the employer ". The services to be provided by the huasipunguero are determined in the form of a given
number of days' work each week. In addition the huasipunguero's wife
usually has to milk the cows of the estate and perform other agricultural
tasks, for which she receives either a ration of food, a share of the crop
or a small remuneration in cash.1 In practice cash payments are reduced
to a minimum or are omitted altogether.
Section 246 of the Labour Code deals with another special class of
workers frequently encountered in certain mountainous areas (especially
the provinces of Pichincha and Imbabura), namely the yanapero or
ayuda. It defines the yanapero as a person who " enters into an agreement in which he undertakes to work on an estate for a specified number
of days in a week or a month in return for certain benefits he receives
from the owner ". These benefits usually consist of grazing rights in
upland corners of the estate or the right to take firewood and water
for domestic use.2
Guatemala
In Guatemala the term arrendamiento is normally used to denote
an arrangement whereby payment is made in kind for the use of land.
The term aparcería covers a number of methods of dividing the produce,
depending on how much the share-tenant has invested in equipment
and tools.
The Guatemalan tenant-labourer is known as a colono, pegujalero
or mozo. Whatever the name, this, system involves the performance of
various services in exchange for a plot of land known as a pegujal.
Whenever payment is made for these services the rate is always lower
than the normal daily wage in the district. The colonos-arrendatarios
in Patzicia, a town in Chimaltenango province, are required to provide
45 days' labour without payment and also to give the landowner a
specified share of their crops. 3 This system is used not only for crops but
sometimes for stock-raising as well; in some parts of the country there
are herdsmen whose only remuneration is the right to use a plot of land.
Squatters are known are ocupantes.
1
Indigenous Peoples, op. cit., p. 346.
Ibid., p. 349.
3
See Crédito agrícola supervisado para Guatemala (Guatemala City, Instituto
de Fomento de la Producción, 1951), p. 36.
2
SYSTEMS OF LAND TENURE
13
Honduras
In Honduras the land-tenure system is much the same as in Guatemala.
Mexico
In Mexico the operation of tenancy on a fixed-rental basis and sharefarming systems has been closely bound up with the forms of land
tenure which have shaped the agrarian structure of that country during
its history. Both forms existed under the Aztec system of land tenure
even on calpulli lands, i.e. land owned by villages or town districts and
conquered lands which were distributed to nobles and warriors. It was
common, however, to use the services of the former owners—known as
mayeques or maeques, tlamaltecas or tlamaites—who became for all
practical purposes a class of share-farmers with privileges which they
were allowed to pass on to their descendants.1 By confining themselves
to transferring the benefits of the Aztec system from the conquered
Mexicans to the privileged among their own numbers the Spanish
conquerors helped to establish the system of land tenure which remained
in force in Mexico until the agrarian revolution of 1910. The prerevolutionary estate owners made extensive use of cash-rental and
share-farming systems in order to avoid the capital investment that
would otherwise have been required if they farmed their enormous
estates themselves.
The attached labourer (peón acasillado) was paid in two ways:
partly in the form of credit at the estate store (with its usual disastrous
results for the worker) and partly by being given the usufruct of a plot
of land on which he could at least partially support himself.
At the present time both renting and share-farming are regulated and
defined by the Civil Code, which applies in the federal district and
territories and also in some of the states. The Idle Lands Act of 23 June
1920 regulates all tenancies on uncultivated lands. A special chapter
of the Civil Code deals with share-farming in crops and livestock
respectively.
Panama
In Panama the chief forms of tenancy which concern us here are
renting and the squatter system. In some inland areas tenant-labourers
are sometimes used to open up new pasture land. Under this system
1
L. MENDIETA Y NÚÑEZ : El problema agrario de México (Mexico City, Porrúa,
1934), p. 6. See also Silvio A. ZAVALA: La encomienda indiana (Madrid, Centro de
Estudios Históricos, 1935), p. 151.
14
THE LANDLESS FARMER IN LATIN AMERICA
the cattle farmer gives landless labourers the right to cultivate an
unlimited area of virgin land for one or two years, after which the land,
which is now cleared and sown with grass, reverts to the owner, whose
only outlay has been the cost of the seed. For this reason the definition
of tenancy used in the 1950 census of agriculture and livestock is not
restricted to arrangements involving payment in cash or kind alone but
also covers arrangements whereby payment is made in the form of
services such as clearing land, mending fences, sowing pasture, etc.1
The same source defines the squatter (usufructuario) as a person
who uses or cultivates a plot of land without having any title to its
ownership and without paying for its use in cash, kind or services. In
Panama the usufructuario resembles in almost every way the squatter
as described earlier in this chapter, even to the primitive methods of
cultivation he uses.2
Peru
In Peru the main characteristics of arrendamiento and aparcería are
outlined in the Civil Code, which has been in force since 1936. In
practice the word arrendamiento is used in its ordinary sense, especially
when speaking of large areas of land which are usually intended to be
tilled by persons other than the owners. However, the term is also
sometimes used to designate tenant-labourers, who work under two
kinds of arrangement, namely colonato and yanaconaje. The former is
found mainly in the Andean uplands, while the latter is more common
in the coastal areas. One Peruvian author has stated that " colonato is a
double contract of hire in which the tenant is lessee of the land and at
the same time lessor of his own service ". He goes on to say that while
tenancy for a cash rental is a contract entered into for a specified period,
the hiring inherent in the colonato is for an indefinite period and frequently results from a situation of fact in which previous agreement
had no part.3 The yanacona is defined by another Peruvian author as
" a worker who performs two contracts at the same time : one in which
he undertakes to serve the estate as a regular worker and another by
which he receives a piece of land to cultivate on his own account. It is
this second contract which gives binding force to the agreement." This
second contract may be a leasehold or a share-farming contract. In the
1
Special communication from the Contraloria General de la República, Panamá,
Nov. 1953.
2
See p. 3.
3
Francisco PONCE DE LEÓN: Al servicio de los aborígenes peruanos (Cuzco.
Librería e Imprenta D . Miranda, 1946) p. 70.
SYSTEMS OF LAND TENURE
15
former case the rent is normally agreed upon in terms of money, but it is
usually paid in products specified in fixed quantities by the employer.1
Natural pastures are sublet to majaderos, among others, who, in
addition to paying a nominal sum for the right to graze each head of
cattle, sheep or pigs on the estate, are required to perform a specified
amount of work during the year.
The Act of 15 May 1947 (No. 10835) describes a yanacona as " a
person who receives a plot of land for cultivation not exceeding 15
hectares in the irrigated areas and hill country and not exceeding 30 in
the highlands ". Under this Act a yanaconaje contract may provide for
the rent to be paid in cash, in kind, in services or by sharing the crop.
In the latter case the yanacona is referred to as an aparcero, partidario,
socio, compañero, camayo or concertado, according to the district. In
practice, however, the system of yanaconaje is closely bound up with
the performance of services either in direct exchange for the use of a
plot of land or in return for a share-farming contract. Farm workers
employed to establish coffee and cocoa plantations or orchards in the
departments of Huánuco and Junin are known as mejoreros. The
worker assumes full responsibility for preparing the soil and sowing
and caring for the crops; in exchange he can plant his own crops in
between the rows and is paid a fixed sum for each producing tree which
he hands over, usually at the end of three years. Cash advances, tools
or any basic items he may have received are allowed for in the general
settlement which is made when he hands the plantation over.
The allegado is a person who is granted the usufruct of a plot of
land by a yanacona or colono, towards whom he contracts a number of
obligations which, in the main, are similar to those existing between
the latter and the landowner. His most important personal obligation
is to take the place of the yanacona or colono in carrying out the latter's
obligations to the landowner.2
El Salvador
In El Salvador bothfixed-rentaltenancy and share-farming (which is
known as terrajé) are found in the same forms as elsewhere. However,
the most frequently encountered arrangement is the colonato, the chief
characteristic of which is that the colono actually lives on the coffee
1
Manuel SÁNCHEZ PALACIOS in a communication to the I.L.O. in May 1950;
quoted in Indigenous Peoples, op. cit., p. 352.
2
United Nations: Report of the Commission of Enquiry on the Coca Leaf,
Economic and Social Council, Official Records, Fifth Year: Twelfth Session, Special
Supplement No. 1 (Doc. E/1666) (Lake Success, New York, 1950), p. 77.
16
THE LANDLESS FARMER IN LATIN AMERICA
plantation or estate.1 In this way the coffee planters always have at their
disposal the plentiful supply of labour which is necessary for coffeegrowing. On the other hand, the colono has little free time to till his own
plot and is unable to do more than plant cereals to feed himself and his
family.2
In the " tenant " group we find tenant-labourers who have to work
for the estate as well as pay rent, the arrendatario simple, who lives in
a village outside the estate, and the arrendatario con promesa de venta,
who enters into a hire-purchase contract with the landowner and pays
the price in instalments, usually on a yearly basis.
Uruguay
In Uruguay the law defines tenancy as a contract whereby one of
the parties undertakes to grant the usufruct of a plot of land against
payment in cash or " in crops or farm produce ". 3 In practice, however,
tenancy always involves the payment of a fixed cash rental agreed upon
in advance.4
Share-farming is defined in Section 141 of the Rural Code as a contract
whereby one of the parties undertakes to cede a piece of land or animals
or both while the other undertakes to care for the animals or cultivate
or look after the land for the purpose of sharing the crops or livestock.
The term medianero is frequently used as a synonym for a share-tenant;
it does not imply that the crops will be shared on a 50-50 basis. The
term used for squatters is ocupantes.
Venezuela
In Venezuela the definitions used for the purpose of the census of
agriculture and livestock in 1950 5 deal with arrendamiento and aparcería
along the usual lines. They state that rent may be paid either in cash or
in kind and, with regard to aparcería, draw a distinction between medianería and tercieria. The same document states that squatters sometimes
1
By extension the term colono is also used to cover wage labourers on small
coffee estates the land of which is so valuable that all that can be set aside for the
worker is a small patch to build his home on.
a
Francisco ALTSCHUL: " El problema de los cereales en la República de El
Salvador ", in Revista de Economía de El Salvador (San Salvador), Vol. II, Nos. 5-6,
Jan.-June 1951, p. 210.
3
Rural Tenancies Act, 1954, art. 2.
4
Special communication to the I.L.O. from the Instituto Nacional de Colonización, Montevideo, Dec. 1953.
5
Ministerio de Fomento, Dirección General de Estadística: Resultados preliminares del Censo agropecuario de 1950 (Caracas, 1952), p. 4.
SYSTEMS OF LAND TENURE
17
occupy a plot of land with the owner's permission. Such land may
belong to private individuals, to the State (including waste land) or to
municipalities (ejidos).
Nevertheless, squatters are usually referred to as conuqueros ;
they rely mainly on slash-and-burn methods and move on elsewhere
from time to time. A special study made by the Institute of InterAmerican Affairs in the Lake Valencia region calls this system " a black
spot in the agriculture of this region ". 1
*
*
*
There is a great variety of tenure arrangements peculiar to Latin
America and of the terminology used to identify them. The same
word may have many different meanings according to the country
to which reference is made; for example the word colono means entirely
different things in Argentina, Cuba and Peru.
The only terms which may be used without difficulty throughout
the region are terrateniente or propietario (owner) and arrendatario
(a tenant paying rent in the form of cash or a fixed quantity of produce).
The term aparcero (share-farmer) is commonly used but is not applicable
in all countries ; in some cases mediero or medianero are used to describe
similar arrangements. However, for purposes of convenience the systems
of tenure which have a number of features in common have been
grouped together in this study. No particular merit is claimed for the
grouping used, but it may at least be considered as a possible framework on which a more detailed analysis might be based. The advantages
in following some accepted terminology when making studies of land
tenure in Latin America are obvious.
1
Institute of Inter-American Affairs: The Lake Valencia Region in Venezue'a
(Washington, 1948), p. 7.
CHAPTER II
IMPORTANCE OF THE VARIOUS FORMS OF LAND TENURE
There is not enough information available to assess the importance
of the various forms of land tenure by any method applicable to all the
Latin American countries. Up to 1950 only two countries in this region
had published agricultural censuses which could be considered as in
any way comprehensive or as giving a fairly accurate picture of the
working conditions of the agricultural population. Since 1950, however,
all of them have made considerable efforts to improve their agricultural
statistics in order to find out about various problems affecting their
agrarian systems. The holding of these censuses was largely due to the
efforts of the Inter-American Statistical Institute, which decided in 1947
to set up a committee for a census of the Americas ; this step fitted in
with the proposal of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation to carry out a world agricultural census in 1950.
TABLE 1.
NUMBER
OF
HOLDINGS
IN
TEN
LATIN AMERICAN COUNTRIES
GROUPED ACCORDING TO TYPE OF TENURE
Percentage in each category
Country
Census
year
Total number
of
holdings
Owners 1
Tenants s
Squatters
Other
forms 3
Argentina
1947
468,680
36.8
33.4
Brazil . . .
1950
2,064,519
80.8
9.1
10.1
—
Costa Rica
1950
43,086
81.1
3.6
—
15.3
Cuba . . .
1946
159,958
36.3
53.9
8.6
1.2
Guatemala.
1950
341,188
48.3
16.4
3.9
31.4
Panama . .
1950
1943
85,473
14.1
9.3
67.3
9.3
.
94,495
15.9
63.0
14.5
El Salvador
1950
175,317
62.9
6.6
18.1
19.0
—
Uruguay.
.
1951
85,258
50.2
34.7
11.4
Venezuela .
1950
248,738
41.3
20.6
3.1
35.8
Paraguay
29.8
2.3
1
8
In Brazil, Cuba and Guatemala this category includes estate managers.
In all countries this
category includes3 share-ten ants. In Costa Rica and Cuba it also includes esquilmo and sub-tenancies
respectively.
Includes mixed systems. In Guatemala includes colonos and comuneros. In Costa
Rica includes squatters.
19
IMPORTANCE OF FORMS OF LAND TENURE
Two particularly interesting statistical tables based on the information
produced by the agricultural censuses held in a number of Latin
American countries are given. Table I shows the number of holdings,
broken down into four groups, according to the type of tenure, in
ten countries with a total of some 3J/2 million farm holdings, while
table II shows the area of cultivated land under the same four types
of tenure in six of these countries, which between them account for
over 250 million hectares. Although these tables cover a considerable
number of farmers, who together with their families cultivate very large
areas of land under various types of tenure, their value is seriously
impaired by the lack of similar data for the other countries or of
details making it possible to distinguish between the different types
of land tenure. Despite these limitations they illustrate to some extent
the relative importance of the various forms of tenure among quite
a large proportion of the farming population of Latin America.
To analyse the situation in countries which have not published
much on this subject it has been necessary to fall back on local or regional
surveys carried out by various institutions or individuals. It is unfortunate that the countries of the Andean region, where the most primitive
and unstable systems of land tenure in Latin America are most widespread, should also have the least information on the relative importance
of these systems of tenure within their own agrarian systems.
TABLE II. AREA UNDER CULTIVATION IN SIX LATIN AMERICAN COUNTRIES
ACCORDING TO TYPE OF TENURE 1
Percentage in each category
Census
year
Country
Costa Rica
Cuba
Guatemala
Uruguay
1
. . . .
1950
1950
1946
1950
1950
1951
Area
(hectares)
233,988,108
1,811,433
9,077,086
3,550,085
1,159,082
16,973,632
Owners
Tenants
90.1
89.7
58.0
74.5
38.9
40.3
5.6
0.7
38.5
2.8
7.4
33.0
Squatters
Other
forms
4.3
2.7
1.2
39.7
0.6
9.6
0.8
21.5
14.0
26.1
The different forms of tenure have been classified in the same way as in the previous table.
In order to correlate the information from the different agricultural
censuses reproduced in these two tables it has been necessary to put
rent-paying and share-tenants together in one column. The findings
20
THE LANDLESS FARMER IN LATIN AMERICA
of each census will be analysed separately. Nevertheless, the above
tables call for some general comment. Of the 3l/2 million farm
holdings roughly 64 per cent, are farmed by their owners, while tenants
and share-farmers together account for about 16 per cent. In the nine
countries that supplied detailed information about squatters it was
found that the latter were cultivating 15 per cent, of the total number
of farm holdings; in both Panama and Paraguay they were operating
over 60 per cent, of all holdings. In five of the countries the squatters
till roughly 4 per cent, of the total area of farmland (roughly 10 million
hectares).
The figures in the tables should also be considered in relation to the
total active agricultural population of Latin America. A recent survey
by the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America
(E.C.L.A.) on manpower in that continent 1 showed that in 1950 the
active agricultural population of Latin America totalled 28 million or so,
i.e. 53.2 per cent, of the total economically active population.
Despite the long-term upward trend of the total agricultural population, the E.C.L.A. survey shows that during the last decade the rate of
increase has been slower than in the earlier decades and in some countries
has actually come to a halt. The survey accordingly estimates that if
economic development continues at the same rapid pace as it did during
the period 1945-51 for another 30 years the agricultural population will
cease to grow and after a short period of apparent stability will begin
to fall.
ARGENTINA
In Argentina the majority of farmers in the cereal-growing areas
and in the stock-raising belt have traditionally been either fixed-rental
tenants or share-farmers. This dates back to the headlong expansion
of agriculture in the last century, when the demand for cereals, coupled
with the influx of large numbers of immigrants without capital and the
high price of land, made it necessary to use these forms of tenure to
settle the land and bring it into full production.
The statistics on this point do not permit any exhaustive or accurate
analysis of the trend in these systems of land tenure. Owing to the
persistent tendency to use the heading " other forms of tenure " in all the
agricultural censuses that have been carried out so far, it is impossible
to make any comparative study of the different categories of farmers.
Into this category are lumped not only squatters but also workers
1
United Nations, Economic Commission for Latin America: " Estudio sobre la
mano de obra en América latina ", reproduced in Panorama Económico (Santiago),
No. 146, 8 June 1956, p. 280.
TABLE III.
ARGENTINA : PERCENTAGE OF FARM HOLDINGS ACCORDING TO FORM OF TENURE IN 1 9 1 4 , 1 9 3 7 AND 1 9 4 7
Province or
territory
Santa Fe
Entre Ríos
Córdoba
San Luis
Santiago del Estero . . .
Mendoza
La Rioja
Catamarca
Salta
Jujuy
Chaco
Formosa
La Pampa
Misiones
Santa Cruz 3
Tierra del Fuego . . . .
Comodoro Rivadavia . .
Whole country
1914
Owners
33.8
32.8
54.8
62.9
55.4
73.0
77.4
76.6
72.5
77.4
81.6
77.0
34.3
34.2
57.8
50.6
62.5
33.6
91.7
70.6
52.1
66.5
49.7
21.9
Tenants
54.6
59.2
36.8
27.6
32.1
11.1
12.7
15.1
15.6
13.9
5.1
10.4
57.7
58.9
24.9
11.0
20.8
54.3
6.7
10.7
31.6
14.9
27.0
18.8
1947
1937
l
Other forms
Owners
Tenants *
Other forms
Owners
Tenants
11.6
8.0
8.4
9.5
12.5
15.9
9.9
8.3
11.9
8.7
13.3
12.6
8.0
6.9
17.3
38.4
17.7
12.1
1.6
18.7
16.3
18.6
23.3
59.3
30.9
32.4
42.5
55.9
44.3
61.9
35.5
74.3
53.0
64.9
61.0
63.3
25.7
24.3
9.7
18.3
2.4
27.7
0.2
35.4
9.0
24.3
11.1
31.5
65.2
62.8
48.9
23.2
47.7
16.0
28.6
19.3
25.1
14.2
6.6
13.6
46.3
62.1
26.9
29.9
18.5
62.2
3.9
4.8
8.6
20.9
8.0
22.1
35.9
6.4
21.9
20.9
32.4
23.1
28.0
13.6
63.4
51.8
79.1
10.1
99.8
61.5
79.6
54.0
22.3
31.5
31.0
31.5
41.9
44.5
39.4
54.5
23.4
66.7
71.7
79.0
46.4
69.8
24.5
22.2
9.4
22.1
2.3
30.9
50.2
44.8
30.9
22.1
39.7
11.6
25.9
13.9
13.0
7.9
5.1
8.8
41.4
48.9
16.2
8.9
4.2
49.6
—
—
—
3.1
11.4
21.7
66.6
37.0
—
—
—
—
—
—
50.5
38.4
11.1
37.9
44.3
17.8
40.5
19.1
34.5
8.6
17.9
13.7
36.7
í
Other forms
18.8
23.7
27.2
33.4
20.9
33.9
50.7
19.4
15.3
13.1
48.5
21.4
34.1
28.9
74.4
69.0
93.5
19.5
—
2.9
6.9
11.1
2.3
3.6
4.7
56.6
74.0
54.4
89.1
78.5
81.6
29.8
33.5
Source: Argentine National Census, 1914; Argentine Censuses of Agriculture and Livestock, 1937 and 1947.
1
a
Including share-tenants.
This territory no longer exists as a political unit; it has been absorbed by the provinces of Jujuy, Salta and Catamarca.
for the years 1914 and 1937 these figures cover the new territorial division of Comodoro Rivadavia.
1
It is assumed that
S
•a
o
>o
H
>
z
o
M
O
O
S
C/3
O
TI
r
>
z
o
H
rn
Z
c
m
b->
22
THE LANDLESS FARMER IN LATIN AMERICA
who perform services which are remunerated in cash or form part of
tenant-labourer arrangements {contratistas, puesteros, etc.). The agricultural censuses of 1914 and 1937 clearly showed increases ranging
from 3.6 to 39.6 per cent, in the proportion of tenants and share-farmers
in all the areas where productivity was highest. With a few exceptions
(in the vine-growing and mixed-farming areas) this trend was accompanied by a fall in the number of farms operated by owners or their
agents. On the other hand, according to the fourth census of agriculture
and livestock, held in 1947, in which a total of 468,680 farm holdings
were registered, there was at the same time a sharp drop in the number
of tenant-operated holdings (viz. from 200,318 to 156,633); thus the ratio
between the numbers of farms operated by tenants and of those run by
owners and agents was relatively little affected. However, the full
significance of this fact cannot be fully appreciated, as the number of
farms classified under " other forms " almost doubled and reached the
same percentage as the other two categories. As for the relative proportions of cash- and share-tenants, who are lumped together in the
Argentine census under the heading " tenants ", a detailed study of
the 1937 census shows that of the 200,318 farm holdings classified under
this heading more than half (57.5 per cent.) were leased on a cash
basis and 39.4 per cent, were subject to share-farming arrangements,
while the remainder were subject to various combinations of these
two systems.
The highest percentage of tenancy is found in wheat growing—the
1937 statistics show that tenants and share-farmers accounted for
66 per cent, of the area under wheat—while the next highest proportions
were to be found in stock-raising and maize-cultivation respectively.
There is no information available on the number of squatters, since
in the Argentine censuses they are included in the " miscellaneous "
group.
BOLIVIA
In Bolivia there are no official statistics which give any clue to the
numbers of tenants and share-farmers. In any case the situation is
constantly changing, and it is still impossible to analyse the impact
of agrarian reform on the pattern of land tenure so far.
BRAZIL
In Brazil the agricultural censuses of 1920, 1940 and 1950 enable a
more detailed analysis to be made of the extent and development of
23
IMPORTANCE OF FORMS OF LAND TENURE
various forms of land tenure. According to the 1920 census Brazil then
contained 648,153 agricultural holdings, of which 23,371 (3.6 per cent.)
were farmed by tenants, 47,572 (7.3 per cent.) by administradores and the
remainder (577,210, or 89.1 per cent.) by owners. The census showed
that tenancy was relatively most widespread in the areas where the
population was lowest, e.g. the Amazon Basin, the Mato Grosso and the
states of Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande do Sul and Pernambuco. The total
area registered during this census was 175,104,675 hectares, of which
72.4 per cent, was classified as being tilled by owners, 22.7 per cent, by
agents and 4.9 per cent, by tenants.
Between 1920 and 1940 there was a considerable increase in the
number of tenants in Brazil. The relatively small figure of 23,371 tenantfarmers registered in the 1920 census had risen to 221,505 by 1940—an
increase of 849 per cent. The area and total value of tenant farms also
rose by 123 and 556 per cent, respectively. Whereas in 1920 only 3.74
per cent, of the agricultural holdings covered by the census were operated
by tenants, in 1940 this proportion had risen to 12.65 per cent, and
accounted for 9.67 per cent, of the total area covered by the census.
The 1940 agricultural census revealed a total of 1,904,589 agricultural
holdings with a total area of 197,720,247 hectares, of which 18,467,170
hectares were cultivated by tenant-farmers as follows :
Use made of land
Hectares
Permanent cultivation
Temporary cultivation
Pasture
Scrub
Uncultivated
324,215
1,522,216
6,392,251
8,210,443
2,027,045
Total . . .
18,467,170
TABLE IV. BRAZIL : IMPORTANCE OF THE VARIOUS FORMS OF TENURE
ACCORDING TO NUMBER, AREA AND ECONOMIC SITUATION IN 1940
(Percentages)
Holdings
covered
by
census
Area
Value
of
holdings
Value
of
output
in 1939
Persons
in
employment
Squatter
Others or undeclared . .
72.28
9.37
11.63
5.72
1.00
64.37
22.68
9.67
2.67
0.61
69.48
20.53
8.46
1.31
0.22
69.34
16.96
10.45
2.89
0.36
72.43
14.99
8.50
3.56
0.52
Total . . .
100.00
100.00
100.00
100.00
100.00
System of tenure
Owner
Agent
Se urce: Instituto Brasileiro di Geografia e Estatística: Recenseamento Geraldo Brasil, io de setembro
de 19^,0 (Rio de Janeiro, 1950).
24
THE LANDLESS FARMER IN LATIN AMERICA
TABLE V. BRAZIL: NUMBER AND AREA OF AGRICULTURAL
Total
All Brazil
North
Guaporé
Acre
Amazonas
Rio Branco
Para
Amapá
North-East
Maranhäo
Piauí
Cearà
Rio Grande de Norte
Paraíba
Pernambuco
. . . .
Alagoas
Owners
Holdings
Area
(hectares)
2,064,519
233,988,108
1,550,662
78,229
23,357,918
693,775
8,897,957
5,853,755
596,323
6,581,875
734,233
(64.4)
(48.5)
(37.5)
(73.1)
(60.0)
(63.3)
(42.3)
10,896,391
530
1,701
15,222
446
59,876
454
50,380
257
638
11,126
268
37,899
192
317,969
3,370,090
3,519,516
280,964
3,210,001
197,851
(46.6)
(45.8)
(37.9)
(60.1)
(47.1)
(48.8)
(26.9)
543,557
95,165
34,116
86,689
34,396
69,119
172,112
51,960
41,992,089
9,536,666
7,863,581
10,411,269
3,855,179
3,613,944
5,229,085
1,482,365
355,683
25,044
27,506
69,681
26,233
52,912
120,230
34,077
(65.4)
(26.3)
(80.6)
(80.4)
(76.2)
(76.5)
(69.8)
(65.6)
28,146,448
6,174,309
4,713,330
7,541,234
2,386,088
2,659,982
3,683,857
987,648
(67.0)
(64.7)
(60.0)
(72.4)
(61.9)
(73.6)
(70.5)
(67.0)
660,741
60,194,736
560,040
44,689,627
(74.2)
(75.8)
(67.5)
(78.1)
(82.0)
(64.1)
(32.6)
Holdings
(75.1)
Area
(hectares)
155,901,001
(66.6)
.
.
.
.
42,769
258,123
265,487
44,170
40,655
5,264
1,112,677
16,165,617
36,807,535
2,539,312
3,176,396
41,309
36,474
216,216
234,721
38,387
31,626
2,076
(84.8)
(85.3)
(83.7)
(88.4)
(86.9)
(77.8)
(39.4)
54,545,973
534,978
(76.2)
36,414,803
Säo Paulo
Paraná
Santa Catarina . . .
Rio Grande do Sul .
702,227
221,611
89,461
104,434
286,721
19,071,351
8,032,743
5,356,419
22,085,460
143,090
68,609
94,140
229,139
(64.6)
(76.7)
(90.2)
(79.9)
11,390,603
5,068,893
4,622,808
15,332,499
(66.8)
(59.7)
(63.1)
(86.3)
(69.4)
79,765
16,024
63,741
53,897,392
29,189,279
24,708,113
49,581
11,651
37,930
35,753,732
18,967,018
16,786,714
(66.3)
(65.0)
(67.9)
East
Sergipe
Bahia
Minas Gerais
Espirito Santo
Rio de Janeiro
Federai District
. .
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
South
West Central
Mato Grosso
Goiás
. . . .
(62.2)
(72.7)
(59.5)
Source: 1950 census of agriculture. The figures in italics are percentage figures.
843,942
10,925,126
28,742,685
2,083,469
2,033,517
13,471
25
IMPORTANCE OF FORMS OF LAND TENURE
HOLDINGS FARMED UNDER DIFFERENT FORMS OF TENURE IN 1950
Squatters
Tenants
Area
(hectares)
Holdings
186,899
4,608
Agent
Area
(hectares)
Holdings
Holdings
(9.1) 13,085,038 (5.6) 207,866 (10.1) 9,917,757 (4.3)
(5.9) 5,375,700 f2i.O;
33 (6.2)
96,317 (13.9)
715 (42.0) 3,254,267 ( 3 Í . 5 ;
1,046 (6.9) 1,539,700 (26.3)
18 (4.0)
20,653 (3.5)
2,772 (4.6)
454,781 (6.9)
24 (5.3)
9,982 (1.4)
117,977
Area
(hectares)
(5.7) 54,941,269 (23.5)
19,651 (25.1)
631,585 (2.8)
3,568
199
238
2,475
58
16,568
25
45,378
3,117
117,428
21,510
423,901
20,251
41 (7.7)
234,111 (33.7)
110 (6.5) 2,270,483 (25.5)
565 (3.7)
677,001 (11.6)
97 (22.0)
251,483 (42 J J
2,542 (4.3) 2,492,500 (37.9J
213 (46.9)
506,149 (27.0)
(37.6)
(14.0)
(16.3)
(13.0)
(27.8)
(5.5)
(6.6)
(0.03)
(2.1)
(3.6)
(6.4)
(2.7)
(4.6)
6,431,727 r27.tfj
72,473 (13.4) 1,059,863 (2.5)
81,524 (15.0) 1,073,977 (2.7)
33,688 (6.2) 11,692,112 (27.8)
5,273
1,391
4,236
3,491
10,107
35,397
12,578
61,831 (65.0)
934 (2.7)
2,844 (3.3)
1,066 (3.1)
1,574 (2.3)
10,431 (6.1)
2,844 (5.5)
(5.8)
(1.6)
(1.7)
(1.3)
(0.8)
(2.3)
(1.4)
3,013 (3.2) 2,692,092 P S . 2 ;
4,283 (12.6) 2,883,790 (36.7)
9,910 (11.4) 2,467,161 (23.8)
3,498 (10.4) 1,287,007 (J3.4J
4,521 (6.5)
796,502 (22.1)
6,017 (3.5) 1,167,502 (22.3)
2,446 (4.7)
397,808 (26.9)
27,020
3,344
8,212
8,898
1,073
3,633
1,843
(5.5)
f47J
(4.9)
(70.2 J
(14.7)
f20.6j
f24.2j
118,959
140,584
219,695
128,059
127,912
255,220
69,434
(1.3)
(1.7)
(2.1)
(3.4)
(3.5)
(4.9)
(4.7)
(4.1) 1,197,818 (2.0)
15,128
118,097
827,246
52,793
174,432
9,486
(7.S;
(3.3)
f.?.4J
f2.4J
(8.9)
CJ5.7J
(1.3)
(7.3)
(2.2)
(2.1)
(5.5)
(22.9)
27,806
(4.2) 1,475,735 (2.5)
1,238 C2.9J
12,893 f5.0j
6,615 (2.5)
1,856 Í 4 J J
995 (2.6)
574 f/0.9,1
77,620 (11.0) 3,433,449 (6.3)
58,910
53,121 f2<0,l
998,254
4,436 Í5.0J
184,198
110,650
4,067 (4.0)
15,996 r^. 7j 2,140,347
7,689 (3.5)
12,043 (75.4;
4,853 (4.7)
34,325 (77.9 j
5,178
(5.3)
(2.3)
(2.1)
(9.8)
(6.5) 2,018,208 (3.7)
916 f.í.7; 1,665,944 (5.7)
4,262 f<5.7J
352,264 (1.4)
1
550,410
125,715
179,028
48,127
29,201
121,013
20,483
10,570
539,181
556,610
77,565
30,109
3,362
(1.1)
(3.1)
(1.5)
(3.1)
(1.0)
(8.2)
fS.JJ 1,851,380 (3.4)
250,860
688,828
158,857
752,835
(1.3)
(8.6)
(3.2)
(3.4)
19,975 (25.0 J 4,885,080
(9.2)
2,133 (13.4) 1,358,437 (4.7)
17,842 f26\0; 3,526,643 (14.3)
45,492
(6.9) 12,793,053 (21.3)
1,700
20,542
15,203
2,837
4,360
770
(4.0)
242,929 (Z/.SJ
(7.9J 4,553,832 (28.1)
(5.7) 6,676,461 f / S J j
324,487 (12.8)
C6.4;
(10.7)
934,885 (29.4J
(74.<iJ
14,980 (5<U;
30,219 ("*.5j 12,809,895 (23.5)
17,594 (7.9) 6,415,652 (33.8)
4,361 ("*.$>; 2,090,309 (26.1)
1,068 (1.1)
451,664 (8.4)
7,196 p . 5 ; 3,852,270 (77.4J
5,010
(<UJ 11,214,482 (20.8)
1,317 (8.2) 7,178,637 C^.tf;
3,693 (5.07 4,035,845 (16.4)
26
THE LANDLESS FARMER IN LATIN AMERICA
The majority of the rented farms given over to crops or to crops and
stock-raising were small or medium-sized holdings (under 50 hectares),
whereas among those given over exclusively to stock-raising the
relative proportions of small and large-scale holdings were more
evenly balanced.
The census showed that tenant-farming was evenly distributed
throughout the country. The highest proportion was found in the
Federal District (46.12 per cent, of the total number of holdings). This
was followed by the territory of Acre, in which the proportion of
45.75 per cent, was due to the widespread practice of harvesting vegetable produce under concession arrangements. Fairly high proportions
were also encountered in Sào Paulo (26.49 per cent.), Pernambuco
(17.55 per cent.), Goiás (16.01 per cent.) and Alagoas (14.27 per
cent.).
Table IV, the data in which are taken from the 1940 agricultural
census, shows the distribution of the various forms of land tenure in
1940 and their importance in the country's agrarian economy.
The same census showed that share-farming played a greater part
in agricultural production. Although there is no detailed information
available on this point, the 1940 census registered 226,102 establishments,
with an area of 35,664,034 hectares or 18.5 per cent, of the total covered
by the census, operated under share-farming arrangements.
The 1950 census of agriculture showed an over-all drop of 2.5 per
cent, in the number of tenancies since 1940. There was only one exception
to this trend, namely north-eastern Brazil; in the state of Alagoas there
was an increase of 10 per cent. However, the most noteworthy fact
brought to light by this census is the sharp rise in the proportion
of squatters, which almost doubled, rising to 10.1 per cent, of the total
number of farmers. Squatters are particularly common in the state of
Maranhäo, in which they operate 65 per cent, of the total number of
holdings, followed by the territory of Guaporé (37.6 per cent.) and the
states of Goiás (28 per cent.), Para (27.8 per cent.), Amazonas (16.3 per
cent.), Paraná and Mato Grosso (13.4 per cent. each).
CHILE
In Chile the statistics available give little indication of the relative
importance of different forms of land tenure in the country's agrarian
economy. The 1940 census revealed that 609,000 persons were actively
engaged in agriculture; 151,844 (25 per cent.) of them were classified as
employers, 43,847 (7 per cent.) as permanent employees and 413,272
IMPORTANCE OF FORMS OF LAND TENURE
27
(68 per cent.) as labourers. The heading " employers " covered tenants
and managers as well as owners. The number of owners was swollen
by the enormous number of smallholders, the bulk of whom work
partly on their own account and partly as wage earners.1 The 1930
census showed that 30 per cent, of the farm labourers were inquilinos
while the remainder were casual workers who, unlike the inquilinos,
were not given the usufruct of a plot of land in addition to their
wages.
A survey recently carried out by the Economic Commission for
Latin America in two provinces in the central region (Santiago and
Valparaiso), covering 401 farm holdings with an area of some 2 million
hectares, showed that out of a rural population of somewhat more than
12,000 persons the economically active population, totalling approximately 4,000, was made up of 172 operators, approximately 110 skilled
workers, 400 administrative employees and some 350 medieros, while
inquilinos numbered between 2,800 and 3,000, i.e. three-quarters of the
total economically active population. 2 The same source, after pointing
out the similarity between conditions in the two provinces covered by
the survey and the remainder of the central zone, states that inquilinos
form the largest group of the working population and make the largest
contribution to agricultural output. In the agricultural year 1951-52
55 to 60 per cent, of the total labour employed came from among these
workers and their families; approximately 70 per cent, being the inquilinos
themselves, i.e. the breadwinners, and the remaining 30 per cent, members of their families, who, if they live with the breadwinner, normally
undertake to work on the estate.3
The survey also showed that out of a sample group of 397 holdings
73 per cent, were operated by owners, 18.2 per cent, by tenants and
8.8 per cent, by medieros.
COSTA RICA
In Costa Rica the 1950 population census showed that only 54.72
per cent, of the country's economically active population was engaged
1
Ricardo MARÍN MOLINA: Condiciones económico-sociales del campesino chileno,
op. cit., p. 32.
2
United Nations, Economie Commission for Latin America : Analysis of Some
Factors Which Act as an Obstacle to the Increase of Agricultural Production (document E/CN. 12/306, Rio de Janeiro, 1953), p. 29. These figures do not include
afuerinos (casual labourers). On the other hand they do include members of the
family or the household and other persons who do not necessarily work in agriculture.
3
Ibid., pp. 25-26.
TABLE VI. COSTA RICA: NUMBER OF FARM HOLDINGS ACCORDING TO SYSTEM OF TENURE BY PROVINCES, 1 9 5 0
Owners] ip
Province
San José . . . .
Alajuela
Cartage
Heredia
Guanacaste
Puntarenas
Limón
Whole country . . .
Total
Number
Percentage
of total
Number
Other forms 1
Esqui mo
Tenancy
Percentage
of total
Number
Percentage
of total
Number
Percentage
of total
Mixed systems !
Number
Percentage
of total
10,989
10,377
3,701
2,803
7,804
4,926
2,486
8,583
8,944
3,013
2,647
5,876
4,037
1,835
78.1
86.2
81.4
94.4
75.3
82.0
73.8
253
127
101
13
149
129
135
2.3
1.2
2.7
0.5
1.9
2.6
5.4
156
150
16
22
263
30
15
1.4
1.5
0.5
0.8
3.4
0.6
0.6
242
197
227
6
290
362
361
2.2
1.9
6.1
0.2
3.7
7.3
14.5
1,755
959
344
115
1,226
368
140
16.0
9.2
9.3
4.1
15.7
7.5
5.7
43,086
34,935
81.1
907
2.1
652
1.5
1,685
3.9
4,907
11.4
TABLE VII. COSTA RICA: AREA OF FARM HOLDINGS ACCORDING TO SYSTEM OF TENURE BY PROVINCES, 1 9 5 0
(In manzanas 3J
Owners! ip
Province
San José
Alajuela
Cartage
Heredia
Guanacaste
Puntarenas
Limón
Whole country . . .
Total
Number
Tenancy
Other forms 1
Esquilmo
Percentage
of total
Number
Percentage
of total
Number
Percentage
of total
Number
Percentage
of total
Number
Percentage
of total
0.5
1.1
0.9
0.1
4.1
3.0
3.9
28,577
22,030
9,836
1,860
113,028
13,300
20,296
9.3
5.0
3.7
3.3
11.0
3.4
11.1
1.3
208,927
8.1
306,724
442,934
267,580
56,836
948,166
387,210
182,770
274,782
414,571
254,234
54,777
827,817
357,029
142,918
89.6
93.6
95.0
96.4
87.3
92.2
78.2
1,312
744
971
82
2,139
3,010
10,379
0.4
0.2
0.4
0.1
0.2
0.8
5.7
449
675
52
67
1,354
241
2,065
b'.i
1.4
0.6
1.1
1,604
4,914
2,487
50
3,828
13,630
7,112
2,592,220
2,326,128
89.7
18,637
0.7
4,903
0.2
33,625
0.2
0.1
Mixed systems a
Source: Ministerio de Economia y Hacienda, Dirección General de Estadística y Censo: Censo agropecuario de 1950 (San José, 1953).
Includes squatter systems and other unspecified types of tenure. 2 Includes various combinations of the most frequently encountered systems, e.g. owner and tenant, owner
and esquilmo, tenant and squatter, etc, s In Costa Rica 1 manzana=6,988 square metres.
1
to
oo
IMPORTANCE OF FORMS OF LAND TENURE
29
in agriculture as against 61.77 percent, in 1927.1 The 1950 census of
agriculture and livestock found that of a total of 43,086 farm holdings
81.1 per cent, were operated by their owners, 2.1 per cent, by tenants,
1.5 per cent, under the esquilmo system, 3.9 per cent, under "other
systems " (squatters, etc.) and the remaining 11.4 per cent, under mixed
systems, i.e. systems in which part of the land is owned and part held
on a tenancy, esquilmo or squatter basis (see table VI). The same
source states that the farms operated by their owners covered 89.7 per
cent, of the total area while those operated under tenancies accounted
for 0.7 per cent. ; " other systems " accounted for 1.3 per cent, and
holdings farmed under mixed systems for 8.1 percent, of the agricultural
land (see table VII).
The 1950 population census and the census of agriculture and
livestock held in the same year show a preponderance of ownership
over other forms of tenure; compared with the position in the other
Central American countries this points to a reasonably balanced agricultural economy. A breakdown by provinces of the census figures
shows that the relative frequency with which these different systems are
encountered depends to a great extent on such factors as population
density, climate, soil fertility and communications. For instance, the
high percentage of owner-farmers in the province of Heredia, on the
central plateau, is due to a favourable combination of these factors;
on the other hand, in the coastal province of Limón, where conditions
are less favourable, the percentage of owner-farmers is smaller. The
opposite applies to the other groups, particularly the squatters, who
are encountered mainly in the remoter areas where conditions are
unsuitable.
CUBA
In Cuba the 1943 population census revealed a rural population
of 2,171,093 persons, 575,798 of whom were classified as actively
engaged in agriculture. The 1946 census of agriculture showed that in
1945 there were 159,958 farm holdings covering a total of 9,077,086
hectares. The numbers and areas under the various forms of tenure
are shown in table VIII.
These censuses clearly show the predominance of indirect systems
of farming through agents, tenants, share-farmers and similar systems
of tenure. Farms run by agents make up 5.8 per cent, of the total
number and 25.6 per cent, of the area. Cash tenants and sub-tenants,
who held 33.2 per cent, of the total number of farms, cultivated approxim1
Ministerio de Economía y Hacienda, Dirección General de Estadística y
Censo: Censo de población de Costa Rica (22 May Í950) (San José, 1953), p. 44.
30
THE LANDLESS FARMER IN LATIN AMERICA
TABLE VIII.
CUBA : NUMBER OF HOLDINGS AND AREA FARMED UNDER
VARIOUS SYSTEMS OF TENURE IN 1946
Total area
Farms
Type of tenure
Owners
Agents
Tenants
Sub-tenants
Shaxe-tenants
Squatters
Others
Whole country . . .
Number
Percentage
Hectares
48,792
9,342
46,048
6,987
33,064
13,718
2,007
30.5
5.8
28.8
4.4
20.7
8.6
1.2
2,958,694.5
2,320,444.7
2,713,929.7
215,215.5
552,078.9
244,588.8
72,134.2
32.4
25.6
30.0
2.4
6.1
2.7
0.8
159,958
100.0
9,077,086.3
100.0
Percentage
Source : Ministerio de Agricultura : Memoria del Censo agru-ola nacional de 1946 (Havana, 1951), p. 88.
ately one-third—32.4 per cent.—of the total area of farmland. Sharetenants held 20.7 per cent, of the total number of farms and 6.1 per
cent, of the total area. The share-tenant group was strongest (54.5 per
cent.) in the province of Pinar del Rio owing to the predominance of
tobacco-growing, in which this system of tenure is very common.
Squatters cultivate 8.6 per cent, of the farms and 2.7 per cent, of the
total area; according to the census 84 per cent, of them were found in
the province of Oriente. They were cultivating the largest areas in this
province (12.9 per cent.) and the province of Havana (11.5 per cent.).
They were drawn to the latter province by the large estates in Isla de
Pinos. In no other province is more than 0.4 per cent, of the arable
land occupied by squatters.
A comparison of the 1946 figures with the statistics collected during
the 1931 population census shows a fall of some 7 per cent, in the number
of owners and in the area cultivated by them and an increase of 100 per
cent, in the number of share-tenants, although the area cultivated by
the latter showed no change. The proportion of cash-tenants fell by
16.8 per cent., while the area farmed by them remained at the same
level as in 1931.
The 1946 census of agriculture showed that the average size of
farms as a whole was 56.7 hectares. A breakdown by type of tenure
showed that the average area of the farms operated under the various
systems was as follows :
IMPORTANCE OF FORMS OF LAND TENURE
Type of tenure
Average area
(hectares)
Owners
Agents
Cash-tenants
Sub-tenants
Share-tenants
Squatters
Others
60.6
248.4
58.9
30.8
16.7
17.8
35.9
31
The importance of the different systems of tenure from the standpoint
of the country's agricultural economy can be seen more clearly if it is
borne in mind that the farms operated by cash-tenants produced 38.2 per
cent, in value of the country's agricultural output in 1945; those operated
by owners 25.9 per cent.; those operated by managers 15.3 per cent.;
and those operated by share-tenants 13.7 per cent. Farms run by subtenants accounted for only 4.1 per cent, and those operated by squatters
for 1.9 per cent. If we take the three main crops (sugarcane, tobacco
and coffee), we find that farms operated by cash-tenants produced
52.2 per cent, of the total output of sugarcane in 1945, those operated
by managers 18.8 per cent, and those operated by owners 16.1 per cent.;
in 1945-46 share-tenants produced 51.3 per cent, of the total tobacco
crop, cash-tenants 22.7 per cent, and owners 19.1 per cent.; owners
produced 48.8 per cent, by value of the 1945 coffee crop, while 19.8 per
cent, came from estates operated by share-tenants, 12.3 per cent, from
estates run by cash-tenants, 9.2 per cent, from squatter farms and
8.5 per cent, from estates operated by managers.
ECUADOR
In Ecuador the importance of the different forms of land tenure in
terms of the population actively employed in agriculture 1 can only be
determined from regional surveys carried out in certain parts of the
country. One such survey, conducted in 1952 in Pichincha province,
showed that of a total of 20,115 farm holdings covering an area of
757,491 hectares, 47.1 per cent of the farmers, holding 62.9 per cent, of
the total area, were owners, and 30.4 per cent., holding only 2.04 per cent.
huasipungueros (see table IX).
1
Calculated to be 820,000 persons, or 63 per cent, of the total economically active
population of the country. See United Nations, Economic Commission for Latin
America: El desarrollo económico del Ecuador (document E/CN. 12/295, Mexico City,
1954), p. 34.
TABLE IX.
ECUADOR: CLASSIFICATION OF FARM HOLDINGS IN PICHINCHA PROVINCE
BY AREA AND FORM OF TENURE IN 1952
Owners
Tenants
Share-tenants
Huasipungueros
Other forms
Total
Mixed systems
Category
Number
Under 1 hectare
Area
Number
. . . .
4,230
1,496
210
Area
Number
Area
Number
Area
Number
Area
Number
Area
Number
Area
93
165
78
1,170
884
30
15
105
78
5,910
2,644
1-5
hectares
. . . .
2,835
5,822
1,170
3,422
1,185
2,562
3,945
8,156
180
430
150
422
9,465
20,814
5-10
"
. . . .
390
2,350
300
2,169
165
1,116
945
5,701
60
344
75
555
1,935
12,235
10-20
"
. . . .
180
2,393
240
3,010
30
390
60
750
—
—
—
—
510
6,543
13,989
15
330
15
375
—
_
465
27,916
60
4,088
15
750
735
143,466
30
6,001
—
—
—
—
90
16,575
30
3,630
885
169,672
500 hectares and over .
225
278,711
60
146,144
—
—
—
—
—
—
45
70,740
—
—
330
493,590
All sizes . . .
9,480
476,143 2,085
163,252
1,575
5,271
6,120 15,491
435
89,724
420
7,610
20,115
757,491
20-50
"
. . . .
50-100
"
. . . .
100-500
"
. . . .
420
15
660
30
1,050
495
16,404
15
960
30
1,875
585
35,589
Source : Reply of the Government of Ecuador to the United Nations questionnaire on agrarian reform (New York 1952). See also Raymond J. JESSEN : " Agricultural
Sample Survey of the Province of Pichincha", in Estadística (Washington, journal of the Inter-American Statistical Institute), Vol. XII, No. 44, Sep. 1954, p. 417.
IMPORTANCE OF FORMS OF LAND TENURE
33
A further 10.4 per cent., holding 21.5 per cent, of the area, were
cash-tenants, while 7.8 per cent., holding 0.7 per cent, of the area,
were share-tenants and medieros.
A survey carried out in the parishes of Cumbayá, Pomasquí, Nayón
and Calderón 1 gave similar results: owners occupied 51.8 per cent.
of all farm holdings, huasipungueros 16.8 per cent, and tenants and
share-farmers combined 13.6 per cent.
All the evidence available suggests that the bulk of holdings are
owned by those who till them. However, the great majority of them
do not produce an adequate income, and their owners are forced to
work as wage earners or to lease additional land. Huasipungueros come
next in order of importance; the exact area fanned by them is not
known, but the majority of the large estates on the High Plateau allocate
between 15 and 30 per cent, of their total area to huasipungueros for
cultivation or grazing.2 These two categories are followed by various
forms of fixed-rental tenancy, which are very common in the interAndean region and are tending to spread down to the banana plantations
in the coastal areas. The breakdown is given in table IX.
GUATEMALA
In Guatemala the ) 950 census of agriculture and livestock 3 showed
that the economically active population employed in agriculture totalled
1,052,794 persons or 37.8 per cent, of the country's total population.
It is interesting to note that 40 per cent, lived on the west-central plateau,
which covers 10 per cent, of the country, and that only 18.6 per cent, of
the country's total area in fact consists of farmland.
The 1950 census showed that out of a total of 341,188 farm holdings,
158,782 or 46.6 per cent., representing 41.3 per cent, of the total area
of cultivated land, were operated by owners; 30,106 farm holdings or
8.8 per cent, were run by part-owners, i.e. those who owned part of
their holdings and either leased the remainder or farmed it under some
other type of tenancy (as owner-tenants, owner-squatters, owner1
Plutarco NARANJO VARGAS: El campesinado ecuatoriano y el seguro social obligatorio. Investigaciones médico-sociales (Quito, Imprenta Caja del Seguro, 1948).
2
An E.C.L.A. survey of privately owned land in Ecuador shows that 40 per cent.
in value of all the land holdings in the country belongs to 1,100 large estates, or rather
less than 1 per cent, of all the holdings in the country, while at the other end of the
scale 100,600 small holdings, or 91.9 per cent, of all the holdings, only have 32.1 per
cent, of the country's agricultural land values between them. The disparities between
these large numbers of tiny farms and the huge estates are particularly striking in
the highlands. See El desarrollo económico del Ecuador, op. cit., pp. 74-75.
3
Dirección General de Estadística: Boletín, No. 39-40, Oct.-Dec. 1952, pp. 39-40.
TABLE X. GUATEMALA: SYSTEM OF TENURE ACCORDING TO SIZE OF FARM HOLDING, 1950
Size of holding
Under 1 manzana 6
Total number
of operators
Owners
Partowners 1
Tenants '
Colonos 8
Squatters *
Comuneros
4^
Agents
Others '
72,775
32,765
1,768
13,106
14,474
2,686
2,267
109
5,600
88,727
30,850
6,504
22,207
15,156
3,708
5,427
88
4,787
M
2-5
97,668
41,493
11,840
16,776
10,401
4,681
8,361
172
3,944
>
5-10
41,963
25,157
5,933
2,763
2,342
1,652
2,686
150
1,280
1-2 manzanas
10-32
..
26,545
19,411
3,067
849
550
633
1,079
205
751
32-64
„
6,068
4,469
545
222
22
76
284
179
271
1-10 caballerías''
6,382
4,272
419
68
4
30
47
1,006
536
10-20
„
552
216
19
5
20-50
„
351
123
6
1
50-100
„
103
19
4
100-200
„
32
4
1
22
3
341,188
158,782
200 caballerías and over
Whole country . . .
30,106
1
1
55,997
42,949
13,468
20,151
r
ta
c«
V¡
50
m
256
55
179
42
76
3
23
4
15
4
2,458
17,277
1
Includes operators who only own part of the land they cultivate, i.e. owner-tenants, owner-share farmers, ov/ner-colonos and owner-squatters.
* Includes share-farmers
and tenant-share-farmers, tenant-co/onos and tenant-squatters. 8 Includes co/owo-squatters, colonos-comuneros and colonos-aparceros. * Includes squatter-co/Mwneray. s Includes
fl
T
usufructuaries and encargados (who do not act as agents). In Guatemala 1 manzana = 6,972.25 sq. metres. 1 caballería = 64 manzanas (about 45 hectares).
50
r
>
z
ra
S
Ô
>
IMPORTANCE OF FORMS OF LAND TENURE
35
colonos, etc.); 55,997 farm holdings or 16.4 per cent, of the total, representing 2.8 per cent, of the total area, were operated by tenants; 42,949
or 12.6 per cent., covering 1.6 per cent, of the total area, were operated
by colonos; 13,468 holdings, or 3.9 per cent, of the total, representing
1.2 per cent, of the total area, were farmed by squatters; and 20,151 holdings, or 5.9 per cent, of the total, representing 1.7 per cent, of the total
area, were operated by comuneros. Managers operated 0.7 per cent.
of the farms, while the remainder—5.1 per cent.—are classified under
" others ". The breakdown by size is given in table X.
MEXICO
In pre-revolutionary Mexico the immense territorial power of the
large estates rested on the peón acasillado (resident labourer) and the
worker who received a share of the produce as remuneration. In 1910,
1 per cent, of the population owned 97 per cent, of the land, while the
small farmers owned only 2 per cent, and the villages and comunidades
a mere 1 per cent., despite the fact that these two groups between them
accounted for 96 per cent, of the population engaged in agriculture.
At that time, of the 70,000 villages in the country, 55,000 were actually
on the large estates. There were only two kinds of opportunity open to
the peasants on these estates—they could become peones acasillados or
medieros. The degrading conditions to which the peasants were
subjected eventually gave rise to a bitter and bloody struggle which
only came to an end when the demands of the peasants for land of their
own were granted and the relationship between the land and those who
tilled it was finally stabilised.
In 1940 there were 3,803,030 economically active persons engaged in
agriculture, 1,223,168 of whom were ejidatarios with holdings of their
own. In addition there were 2,442,190 non-ejido holdings. These did
not belong to an equivalent number of owners; nevertheless, this figure,
if added to the previous total, gives some idea of the increase in the
number of owners.
The 1930 census of agriculture showed that there were 36,683 tenants
and share-tenants in the whole country, while the 1940 census of agriculture found that there were only 15,060; this figure, however, is
considered to be far too low and is certainly due to the fact that many
of the farmers concerned were registered in other groups. It should be
added that whenever a holding is very small, i.e. of about the same area
as an ejido holding, a peasant cultivates it in the same way as the ejidatarios, leasing it out if he finds that he is unable to cultivate it on his own
36
THE LANDLESS FARMER IN LATIN AMERICA
account or if he can find a more remunerative job elsewhere. In some
parts of the country where farmland is scarce (as in the mountain districts
of Chiapas, Oaxaca and Guerrero) or where farm labour is plentiful
(as in the southern high plateau), some small landowners with a few
hectares are able to rent them out to the tenants or share-farmers and
live off the proceeds.
The 1950 census of ejidos casts a certain amount of light on the position of the ejidatarios as regards the tenancy of land outside the ejidos.
This census showed that at that date 17,377 ejidatarios were renting a
total of 59,163 hectares, or 10.3 per cent, of the non-ejido land, while
31,196 ejidatarios were cultivating 115,853 hectares (i.e. 20.3 per cent, of
the total land area outside the ejidos) under share-tenancy arrangements.1
PANAMA
In Panama 64 per cent, of the population of 622,576 lives in rural
areas, and 55 per cent, of the economically active population is engaged
in agriculture.2
The 1950 census of agriculture and livestock 3 assessed the number of
farm holdings with an area of more than 1 hectare at 85,473. The
TABLE XI. PANAMA : FARM HOLDINGS ACCORDING TO USE AND SYSTEM OF TENURE, 1950
(Areas in hectares)
Squatters
Tenants
Mixed
Total
12,058
57,513
7,981
7,921
85,473
Total area . . .
450,167.4
460,261.8
86,170.0
162,483.3
1,159,082.5
Area under cultivation
Artificial pasture
. . . .
Natural pasture
Fallow land
42,406.7
203,596.4
72,790.9
66,602.8
64,770.6
139,675.7
129,000.1
31,195.4
101,546.6
58,844.0
28,604.4
23,178.2
6,361.9
17,320.5
10,705.0
25,925.1
71,782.4
14,181.4
28,093.8
22,500.6
236,611.9
427,557.1
124,529.6
213,563.7
156,820.2
Category
Number of holdings covered
by census
Owners
1
Dirección General de Estadística: Tercer censo ejidal de 1950: Resumen general
(Mexico City, Secretaría de Economia, 1953), p. 6.
2
These figures do not include the Indian population, who, according to the 1940
census, made up 9.5 per cent, of the total population. This section of the population
is chiefly engaged in gathering plant and tree produce, mainly coconuts.
3
Contraloria General de la República : Censo nacional agropecuario de 1950.
37
IMPORTANCE OF FORMS OF LAND TENURE
most noteworthy fact to emerge was the proponderance of squatters
in the agrarian structure of Panama. No less than 67.3 per cent, of these
holdings, representing 39.7 per cent, of the area declared, were cultivated
by persons who had no title to them whatsoever. Owners, on the other
hand, accounted for 14.1 per cent, of the number of holdings and farmed
38.9 per cent, of the area covered by the census; tenants represented
9.3 per cent, of the number and farmed 7.4 per cent, of the area; the
remaining holdings, totalling 9.3 per cent, of the number and covering
14 per cent, of the area, were classified under " mixed systems ".
The census showed that holdings covering between 1 and 4.9 hectares
accounted for 52 per cent, of the total number and 8.3 per cent, of
the total area; those between 5 and 9.9 hectares accounted for 19.7 per
cent, of the total number and 9.2 per cent, of the total area; those
between 10 and 49.9 hectares accounted for 23.9 per cent, of the total
number and 33.6 per cent, of the total area; and lastly those covering
more than 50 hectares accounted for 4.4 per cent, of the total number and
48.9 per cent, of the total area.
TABLE XII.
PANAMA:
FARM HOLDINGS BY SYSTEM OF TENURE AND SIZE, 1 9 5 0
System of tenure
Size of holding
(hectares)
Number
of holdings
1.01.9 . . .
2.04.9 . . .
5.09.9 . . .
1 0 . 0 - 19.9 . .
2 0 . 0 - 49.9 . .
5 0 . 0 - 99.9 . .
100.0- 199.9 . .
200.0-499.9 . .
500.0-999.9 . .
1,000.0 and over .
Total
Owners
Squatters
Tenants
Mixed
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
18,548
25,894
16,847
12,235
8,231
2,407
809
348
93
61
1,557
2,115
2,256
2,313
2,188
908
381
224
67
49
13,603
19,339
11,698
7,360
4,291
924
233
58
5
2
2,636
2,389
1,144
1,013
587
143
40
15
8
6
752
2,051
1,749
1,549
1,165
432
155
51
13
4
. . .
85,473
12,058
57,513
7,981
7,921
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
The importance of squatter farming in Panama can be appreciated
even more clearly if it is borne in mind that this class cultivates 59.1 per
cent, of the mixed farming land (planted in maize, rice, vegetables, etc.)—
in other words, the squatters make a bigger contribution to the country's
agricultural economy than all the other farmers put together. This
fact becomes even more significant if it is remembered that the squatters
settle on the poorest land in the country and rely exclusively on slashand-burn methods.
TABLE XIII. PARAGUAY: NUMBER OF OPERATORS BY SIZE OF HOLDING AND SYSTEM OF TLNURE, 1 9 4 3
"Number of
holdings
reporting
Size of holding
(hectares)
Type of operator
Owners
Tenants
Squatters
Ownertenants
Ownersquatters
Tenantsquatters
Owner-tenantsquatters
1.0-1.9
9,835
417
1,307
6,672
149
139
1,138
13
2.0-2.9
14,366
871
1,668
9,484
279
230
1,795
39
21,222
2,032
1,841
13,723
557
543
2,419
107
6,954
1,374
798
11,752
443
642
1,283
132
17,774
2,724
183
4,321
210
380
398
88
10.0 - 19.9
15,527
3,667
227
10,086
263
797
370
117
20.0 - 49.9
6,263
2,224
59
3,211
134
521
82
32
50.0 - 99.9
1,185
781
15
233
28
120
4
4
100.0 -999.9
1,215
876
25
192
35
74
8
5
154
114
7
28
2
3
0
0
3.0-4.9
5.0 -
7.49
7.5-9.9
1,000.0 and over
>
f
t/3
S
tri
7¡
>
>
S
m
2
o
>
Total . . .
94,495
15,080
6,130
59,702
2,100
3,449
Source: Servicio Técnico Interamericano de Cooperación Agricola: Censo de agricultura del Paraguay, 1942-43 y 1943-44 (Asunción, 1948).
7,497
537
IMPORTANCE OF FORMS OF LAND TENURE
39
PARAGUAY
In Paraguay it has been calculated 1 that the rural population totals
600,000 out of a total population of 1,225,000 persons.2 The same source
states that 60 per cent, of the inhabitants are concentrated in an area
representing only 2 per cent, of the country (i.e. the central zone) and
that " approximately four-fifths of the rural population live within
25 kilometres of either the railway line from Asunción to Villarrica and
Encarnación or the main roads ".
The system of tenure under which the economically active population
in agriculture works is much the same in Paraguay as in Panama. The
1942-43 census of agriculture 3 showed that of the 94,495 holdings covered
by the census 63 per cent, were cultivated by squatters and that 12.2 per
cent, were cultivated under mixed systems of tenure (owner-squatters,
tenant-squatters, and owner-tenant-squatters) in which the squatter
element was the common denominator. Owners and tenants farmed
15.9 per cent, and 6.6 per cent, respectively of the total number of holdings, while those operating under mixed systems of ownership and
tenancy accounted for 2.3 per cent.
E L SALVADOR
In El Salvador the 1950 census of agriculture and livestock showed
that there were 174,204 farm holdings in the entire country. A breakdown by system of tenure showed that 61.9 per cent, of them were
farmed by owners, 18.8 per cent, by tenants and 19.3 per cent, by squatters
(colonos).*
URUGUAY
In Uruguay the 1951 general census of agriculture and livestock 5
put the rural population at 453,912, or 19 per cent, of the total population
of the country (2,376,000), and the active rural population at 323,927
(14 per cent.).
1
Roberto L. PETIT : " El programa de crédito agrícola supervisado en el
Paraguay", in El Trimestre Económico (Mexico City), Vol. XVIII, No. 1, Jan.-Mar.
1951, p. 118.
2
United Nations: Economic Survey of Latin America, 1948 (document E/CN.
12/82, New York, 1949), p. 140.
3
Servicio Técnico Interamericano de Cooperación Agrícola: Censo de agricultura
del Paraguay, 1942-43 y 1943-44, op. cit.
4
Dirección General de Estadísticas y Censos: Primer censo agropecuario (San
Salvador, 1954), p. 42.
5
Ministerio de Ganadería y Agricultura: Censo general agropecuario de 1951
(Montevideo, 1952).
40
THE LANDLESS FARMER IN LATIN AMERICA
This census established that there were 85,258 farm holdings of more
than 1 hectare amounting in all to 16,973,632 hectares. The published
figures show that ownership is the most widespread form of tenure,
accounting for 49.3 per cent, of the economically active population,
50.2 per cent, of the total number of farms and 40.3 per cent, of the total
area. Tenants, who only total 27.3 per cent, of the population actively
engaged in agriculture, operate 28.7 per cent, of the total number of
holdings and cultivate 31 per cent, of the cultivated area.
The 1951 census showed that the proportion of holdings worked by
their owners was about the same as in 1924, having risen since reaching
a low point of 41.6 per cent, in 1941 1, and that 25.9 per cent, of the
cultivated land was held under mixed systems of tenure, the corresponding figure in the 1937 statistics 2 being only 15 per cent.
TABLE XIV. URUGUAY! DISTRIBUTION OF ACTIVE RURAL POPULATION BY
NUMBER OF HOLDINGS, AREA CULTIVATED AND SYSTEM OF TENURE, 1951
Active rural
population
Number of
holdings
Category
Per| centage
Number
Percentage
Number of
hectares
Percentage
159,802
88,545
15,896
8,050
1,331
43,285
4,027
2,991
49.3
27.3
4.9
2.5
0.4
13.4
1.3
0.9
42,840
24,514
5,097
2,667
445
8,097
900
698
50.2
28.7
6.0
3.1
0.6
9.5
1.0
0.9
6,837,369
5,264,680
314,995
97,170
43,118
4,169,760
134,558
111,982
40.3
31.0
2.0
0.6
0.2
24.6
0.7
0.6
323,927
100.0
85,258
100.0 16,973,632
100.0
Number
Owners . . .
Tenants . . .
Share-croppers
Squatters . .
Other forms .
Owner-tenants
Owner-share-cro PPers
Tenant-share-cro PPsrs
Total
Area
(hectares)
The same source states that tenants cultivated a slightly larger area
of wheat, flax and sunflowers than owners.
1
Ricardo CHRISTOPHERSEN: Recopilación de la estadística agrícola del Uruguay
(Montevideo, Ministerio de Ganadería y Agricultura, 1948), Publication No. 96,
p. 83.
2
C. H. FARNWORTH: " T h e Agriculture of Uruguay", in Foreign Agriculture
Bulletin, No. 3 (Washington, D.C., U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1952), p. 15.
IMPORTANCE OF FORMS OF LAND TENURE
41
VENEZUELA
In Venezuela the 1950 census of agriculture and livestock showed
that there were 248,738 agricultural producers in the country, of whom
102,817 (41.3 per cent.) were owners, 88,994 (35.8 per cent.) were squatters, 35,587 (14.3 per cent.) were tenants, 15,624 (6.3 per cent.) were
share-farmers and the remaining 5,716 (2.3 per cent.) were classified
under mixed systems of tenure. 1
The squatters, who according to this census constituted the second
most widespread form of tenure in the country, are commonly found on
state-owned idle land, which is particularly suitable for their settlement.
Both squatters and tenants also settle on land administered by official
bodies such as the Bank of Agriculture and Stock-Raising, the National
Agrarian Board and the Venezuelan Development Corporation.
*
*
*
The lack of relevant statistics makes it impossible to give a comprehensive picture of the situation in all the countries covered by this
report. Even when national census figures on the subject are available
the classification systems used make international comparison difficult ;
some countries break the available statistics down into greater detail
than others, while the field covered by a given heading often varies
from one country to another. Nevertheless, when it is borne in
mind that up to 1950 such statistics were completely non-existent
in most of these countries, and if allowance is made for the great
efforts made since then by the Latin American countries to improve
their agricultural statistics and the progress achieved so far since that
date, it can be expected that the classification systems used will in time
improve.
Any general conclusions based on the available statistics must
inevitably be confined to the group of countries which have published
agricultural census statistics containing comparable information.
The countries of Latin America can be divided into three groups
on the basis of the importance of the various forms of tenure. The
first group, which is undoubtedly the largest, is made up of those
countries in which owner-operators form the majority of farmers; the
1
Resultados preliminares del Censo agropecuario de 1950, op. cit.
42
THE LANDLESS FARMER IN LATIN AMERICA
second group is made up of countries such as Argentina, Cuba and
Uruguay in which ownership, tenancy and share-farming are all more
or less equally important; lastly, there are countries such as Panama
and Paraguay in which the majority of cultivators are squatters who
operate the greater part of the cultivated land.
CHAPTER III
LEGISLATION AND PRACTICE ON
AGRICULTURAL LEASES : I
CONTRACTS
Generally speaking, tenancy and share-farming arrangements are
based haphazardly on custom and circumstances.1 In practice a formal contract guaranteeing a minimum degree of security of tenure
for these farmers is only found in three countries, Argentina, Cuba
and Uruguay. In the remainder legislation on this point either has
serious shortcomings in practice or fails to deal precisely enough
with the problem of tenants, share-farmers and similar categories of
agriculturists. Obviously, when there are no statutory provisions
requiring the inclusion of certain conditions in any form of contractual
arrangements between landlord and farmer, the latter will necessarily
be in a weaker bargaining position.
Among other things, the arrangements based on custom are for
extremely short terms, varying from the time needed to grow one harvest
to a few years, and afford no assurance that they will be extended.
These short-term arrangements lead not only to undue instability
among the farmers but also to neglect of the land itself, because the
tenant has to get as much as possible out of the land during the short
period of his contract; nor does he make the investment or efforts
needed to keep the holding in good shape, since it will revert to the
landowner in any case. The fertility of the soil is one of the major
factors governing the duration of contracts or, in the case of the squatters,
whether they remain or move on. When the length of contracts is
governed by custom and when the usual farming methods are used
without sufficient attention to restoration of the exhausted soil the
1
A United Nations survey of defects in the agrarian structure which hamper
economic development refers to the prevalence of vague and unstable systems of
tenancy and share-farming in Latin America, and points out that there is less security
of tenure in these countries than in Asia " because customary obligations are less
powerful " (United Nations, Department of Economic Affairs : Land Reform : Defects
in Agrarian Structure as Obstacles to Agricultural Development (New York, 1951),
p. 18).
44
THE LANDLESS FARMER IN LATIN AMERICA
plot is usually allowed to " rest " for a given period, e.g. the ainokas
of the Bolivian high plateau, on which crops are rotated, and the rastrojos
of the tropical and semi-tropical areas.
Argentina
In Argentina leases were systematically regulated for the first
time in 1921 when Congress passed Act No. 11170, which set forth
the legal system governing rural tenancies. Previously tenancies were
based on informal arrangements that were largely dictated by circumstances and custom. In practice this procedure had meant that
tenants everywhere were in an extremely precarious position. The
agricultural depression of 1911 led to an increase in the number of
evictions and seizures, which, coupled with the unrest existing in the
Argentine countryside, culminated in a series of protest movements
such as the disturbances at Alcorta in Santa Fé and the peasant strike
of 1919 which demanded "lower rents and contracts without onesided clauses ".1
The Rural Tenancies Act of 1921 prescribed the form of contract
and introduced basic provisions designed to give lessees relative security
of tenure. Nevertheless the fundamental reforms in this enactment
did not have the desired effect in the important cereal-growing sector.
In the first place, the Act was applicable only to holdings not exceeding
300 hectares, so that the practice grew up of signing a fake contract
with a single individual for an area greater than 300 hectares when,
in fact, the land in question was split up among a number of tenants.2
In the second place, these farmers were prohibited from putting more
than 5 to 10 per cent, of the leased land to pasture. The result of this
was to prevent a large section of the country's farming population
from sharing fully in the prosperity of the Argentine cattle-breeding
industry and to give an even greater incentive to single-crop farming.
Act No. 12771 of 1942 and Decree No. 14001 of 1943 tackled this
problem and formed the basis for Section 9 of Act No. 13246 of 1948,
which allows these farmers to use up to 30 per cent, of their holdings
for stock-raising or high-yield crops even if they have agreed to use the
land exclusively for agriculture. The only exceptions to this rule are
holdings given over to intensive farming.
At the same time other legislative reforms were made, the purpose
being to extend the scope of the original Act of 1921 and clarify some
1
Enrique A. PEÑA and René R. THIERY: Arrendamientos rurales de emergencia
(Buenos Aires, 1946), p. 10.
s
Celestino SIENRA: Campo y ciudad : El problema agrario (Buenos Aires, Editorial
La Vanguardia, 1946), p. 161.
LEGISLATION AND PRACTICE ON AGRICULTURAL LEASES: I
45
of the concepts it embodied. These amendments were introduced by
the 1932 Rural Tenancies Act (No. 11627) and the 1948 Rural Tenancies
and Share-Farming Act (No. 13246) already mentioned. The duration
of tenancy agreements was fixed at five years, and in Act No. 14166,
promulgated in October 1952, it was provided that tenants and sharefarmers can opt for an extension of their contracts for a further three
years.
Section 7 of the Act states that in the event of the tenant's death
the lease may be taken over by his heirs, descendants or close relatives
provided the lessor is officially notified. Sections 19 and 25 of the same
Act state that a tenant or share-farmer can only be evicted if it is proved
that he has abandoned the holding for no good reason, failed to pay
his rent (or to share the produce if he is a share-farmer), or has broken
his obligations regarding the use and conservation of the land, buildings
and other improvements covered by the lease.
Bolivia
In Bolivia Sections 167 and 169 of the Legislative Decree No. 3464
of 2 August 1953 concerning agrarian reform stipulate that all existing
contracts leasing out idle land or allowing it to be used for agricultural,
grazing or forestry purposes are subject to review by the agrarian reform
agencies. A special decree is to be issued specifying the exceptions in
which contracts of compañía, tenancy and share-farming will be allowed.
However, it is still too early to attempt to estimate the extent to which
the situation has changed since the time when contracts were of an
informal nature and based on custom.
Brazil
In Brazil the first legislation on share-farming contracts dates from
1879, during the Empire, when a Decree (No. 2827) was issued prescribing " the form of contracts for the hire of services ". Section 9 of
Chapter II of this enactment stated that the hire of services covered not
only services as such but also agricultural and livestock share-farming.
Sections 11 and 12 stipulated that share-farming contracts could not be
for a period exceeding six years and that when no period was specified
they should be deemed to be for three agricultural years.1 Notwithstanding this the 1940 census of agriculture showed that 85 per cent.
of tenancies were based on short-term contracts ranging from less than
a year to two years, most of them being for one year.
1
See Nerio BATTENDIERI : " O trabalho agrícola na legislaçâo brasileira ", in
Traballio e seguro social (Rio de Janeiro), Vol. XXXI, May-June 1952, pp. 61-72.
46
THE LANDLESS FARMER IN LATIN AMERICA
Although in recent years written contracts have become widespread
there is at present no special legislation regulating tenancy and sharefarming agreements, and the parties are free to make such arrangements
as they desire. In the absence of any statutory regulation, problems
arising between the contracting parties are settled under the general
provisions of the Civil Code. Share-farming contracts, whether written
or oral, are almost invariably based on customary practice, which in
turn is governed by the crop cycle, although this is not necessarily
a safeguard against the contract being cancelled before the harvest. In
the case of medìeria1 the position is even worse, as the Civil Code allows
a contract of this sort to be terminated either by mutual consent or
unilaterally.
At the present time a number of draft enactments are under consideration which should have the effect of regulating rural tenancies.
The National Agrarian Policy Board recently submitted a Bill to the
Government covering both tenants and share-farmers. This Bill specifies that leases may not be for less than three or five years according
to whether the land is used for agriculture or stock-raising. Contracts
would be extended automatically unless the regional agrarian office is
notified to the contrary not less than six months before their expiry.
Termination of the arrangement would be possible only if the owner
himself proposed to farm the land directly or to transfer it to his son or
grandson so that they could farm it directly; the owner could also
terminate the lease if he were offered a higher rent, although the sitting
tenant would have the option of extending the lease provided he offered
the same terms.2
Chile
In Chile the general provisions of the Civil Code regulating the
leasing of agricultural properties as complete production units apply to
all types of tenancy contracts and leave the contracting parties completely
free to arrange such terms as they think fit. Although contracts may
take the form of public instruments and be filed with the Registrar of
Real Estate this step is not compulsory. However, Act No. 7747 of 1943
imposes certain restrictions on leases affecting private individuals
whenever the land concerned is not properly cultivated. In such circumstances the law provides that holdings rented for more than eight
years at a time may be expropriated.
1
Special communication to the I.L.O. from the National Agrarian Policy Board,
Rio2 de Janeiro, Dec. 1953.
United Nations: Progress in Land Reform, op. cit., pp. 135-136.
LEGISLATION AND PRACTICE ON AGRICULTURAL LEASES: I
47
In practice both tenancies and share-farming contracts are based
on oral arrangements which are governed by custom and circumstances.
An exception is provided by the procedure for leasing state land ; such
leases are granted by supreme decree, and this decree imposes such
restrictions as may be called for. Normally these leases contain ample
safeguards for the tenants and vary in length from 15 to 20 years.
Cuba
In Cuba the conditions of tenure for farmers who do not own their
holdings are regulated by the Sugar Industry Co-ordination Act of 2 September 1937 and by an Act dated 2 December 1948. The former, together
with the regulations thereunder, prescribes in detail the contractual
relationships among the sugar mills, the cane producers (colonos) and
the wage earners; it lays down production quotas, the prices payable
for cane delivered at the mills, the rents to be charged for the use of land,
wage rates and arbitration and conciliation procedures. The second Act
deals with tenancy and share-farming in general. Both these enactments
and subsequent legislation have given tenants and share-farmers a
relatively high degree of security of tenure.
The duration of the leases depends on the crop it is intended to
grow; it varies from three to six years and can be extended at the
tenant's option.
The extent to which the Sugar Industry Co-ordination Act gives
security of tenure to the colonos is clearly set forth in Section 26 and
particularly Section 97 of the regulations issued under the 1937 Act; the
latter states that " a colono occupying land used for the cultivation of
sugarcane which is to be processed by a sugar mill under a tenancy, subtenancy, usufruct, or any other arrangement whatsoever shall be entitled
to remain on such land indefinitely as long as the sugar industry is
subject to restrictions, i.e. until the cultivation and production of sugar
are decontrolled ". This right is subject to only one condition, viz. that
the colono must pay to the person who cedes him the land the rent which
has been agreed upon or which is prescribed in accordance with the
Act and in addition that he must produce each year the quantity of cane
needed to meet the quota allotted to him. 1
1
The production quotas, at present governed by Legislative Decree No. 664
of 29 January 1953, are intended to stabilise Cuban sugar production in the light
of world demand. This enactment contains rules on the registration of each colono
with a sugar mill, and on the determination of the percentage of cane the mill must
crush for its registered colonos. Percentages are determined by negotiation between
the mill and representatives of the growers, but must be approved by not less than
70 per cent, of the colonos.
48
THE LANDLESS FARMER IN LATIN AMERICA
The 1948 Act stipulates that leases, including share-farming contracts,
must be in writing and must be filed with the Registrar of Real Estate,
who also maintains a register of leases. The minimum duration of
tenancies depends on the crops grown on the leased holding, viz. six
years for tobacco, sugarcane, coffee, cocoa, rice, pineapples and grazing
land and three years for secondary crops (potatoes, tomatoes, etc.).
A tenant is entitled to one extension for a like term provided he
has carried out his contractual obligations. When there is no agreement between the parties the Act lays down the procedure for granting
extensions. Share-farming agreements must be for not less than six
years.
The 1948 Tenancies and Share-Farming Act also dealt with the
question of compulsory leases; Section 17 stipulated that any owner
of potential farmland who does not use it for agricultural or stockraising purposes or who has a greater area than is necessary for his
reasonable needs shall be compelled to lease it out in parcels not exceeding 5 caballerías to any peasants who ask for it. However, although
the Act laid down the procedure for enforcing these provisions the
indications are that in practice it was not very effective in bringing idle
or abandoned land under cultivation.1
Lastly, there are a series of legislative measures designed to protect
small tenants, share-farmers and squatters. With regard to the latter,
the decree of 29 November 1950 (No. 4139) stays the execution of
existing or future eviction orders pending congressional legislation on
their position. Identical measures have been taken to safeguard tenants
of holdings not exceeding 5 caballerías; Legislative Decree No. 247
of July 1952 stipulates that these small farmers must be allowed to remain
indefinitely on their holdings and may only be evicted if they fail to
carry out the contractual obligations set forth in that enactment.
Ecuador
In Ecuador the contractual conditions governing aparcería (sharefarming) and the various types of tenancies with rental paid in the
form of labour are regulated by the current Labour Code. Under
this Code a share-farming contract must be concluded in writing in
the presence of an inspector of agricultural labour, but only when the
1
See A. ROCHAC and M. MONZÓN: " La tenencia de la tierra y el crédito agrícola
en Cuba " (report submitted by the Cuban delegation to the Latin American Seminar
on Problems of Land Tenure, Campinas, Brazil, 25 May-26 June 1953), in Problemas
agrícolas e industriales de México (Mexico City), Vol. VI, No. 1, Jan.-Mar. 1954,
p. 119. See also J. MARTÍNEZ SÁENZ: " Política agraria cubana ", in Caribbean Land
Tenure Symposium (Washington D.C., Caribbean Commission, 1946), p. 258.
LEGISLATION AND PRACTICE ON AGRICULTURAL LEASES: I
49
value of the produce to be divided is calculated to be greater than
1,000 sucres. In such cases the contract must be for a minimum period
of one year, or three years if the land is hilly and has to be broken
first. A share-farmer may be required to leave at the end of the agreed
period if the owner gives him notice of his intention not to renew or
extend the contract.
The Code lays down the general principles governing relationships
between huasipungueros, yanaperos, ayudas, and similar groups and
the landowners. The former are entitled to obtain the water and wood
they need for domestic purposes from the estate and to use its natural
pasture to graze a specified number of livestock without charge. If
one of these cultivators is ordered to quit he is allowed to remain on
his holding until he has harvested any crops he has sown.
The evidence suggests, however, that in practice this legislation
is seriously limited in its application. A survey of the position among
this class of cultivators in Ecuador states that " the law barely affects
the big estates and in practice none of the provisions of the Labour
Code is enforced in agriculture ". 1 The United Nations survey of
agrarian reform refers to the recent establishment of the " rural police "
in its chapter on security of tenure, who operate mainly in the coastal
areas. 2 Although no details are given regarding the duties of this body,
they appear to include the enforcement of the provisions of the Labour
Code on this subject.
The debts piled up by fanners often affect their mobility since
the estate is in a position to force them to remain indefinitely on their
holdings for this reason. According to one study 3 " when the Indian dies
the huasipungo passes to the wife or to a grown-up son, if there is one,
and the man's debts go with it. In order to leave the huasipungo those
debts must be paid off first."
Mexico
With regard to ejido land in Mexico, Section 140 of the Agrarian
Code now in force prohibits contracts of tenancy, share-farming or
any other form of indirect cultivation of such land (e.g. by employing
labourers to do all the work); exceptions to this regulation are allowed
in the case of ejido land belonging to women with families, to persons
1
Plutarco NARANJO VARGAS : El campesinado ecuatoriano y el seguro social
obligatorio, op. cit., p. 47.
2
United Nations: Progress in Land Reform, op. cit., p. 139.
3
Aníbal BUITRÓN and Bárbara SALISBURY BUITRÓN: Condiciones de vida y
trabajo del campesino de la provincia de Pichincha (Quito, Imprenta Caja del Seguro,
1947), p. 80.
50
THE LANDLESS FARMER IN LATIN AMERICA
under the age of 16 who have inherited the right to ejido land and to
disabled persons who are incapacitated for agricultural labour. Although
the Agrarian Code lays down the procedure for allocating vacant or
abandoned ejido land to peasants who are entitled to land but have been
unable to obtain any in their own or in neighbouring districts, the
indications are that in some parts of the country, particularly where
the land is poor and water is short, ejido land is in fact fairly often
leased out. 1
Section 2453 of the Civil Code stipulates that uncultivated land is
subject to the Idle Lands Act (1920) which compels the owners of such
lands to lease them out to tenants or share-farmers. The law states
that when a tenancy for a given period lapses before the harvest the
tenant is entitled to use the land and any buildings on it for as long as
he needs to harvest the crop. In such circumstances the law adds that
the incoming tenant may allow the land not cultivated by the outgoing
tenant to lie fallow provided there is not enough time to sow the usual
crops. Leases of publicly owned land may not be for more than
ten years.
The Mexican Agrarian Code contains measures designed to protect
squatters on communal land or persons whose title to their holdings
is in any way questionable. In order to facilitate this task the Code
requires certificates to be issued specifying the rights of each individual
under the ejido system.
Panama
Tenancies of privately owned land in Panama are governed by
custom and there is no legislation on this point. Whenever small farmers
come to some arrangement, whether verbal or written, to lease land the
usual practice is for the contract to run for one year. There is no legislation ensuring security of tenure for such tenants, and it is entirely up
to the landowner himself whether the lease is extended on expiry or not.
Leases of publicly owned land are governed by Act No. 137 of
1928 which introduces an element of formality into the contractual
arrangements by providing that the Ministry of Finance will issue a
written document valid for a period of two years. The Act limits this
type of lease to holdings of less than 100 hectares. Although there are
no special provisions dealing with extensions, in practice such leases can
be renewed indefinitely at two-yearly intervals at the tenant's request.
The relative security given to tenants who wish to extend their leases
1
Nathan L. WHETTEN: Rural Mexico
1948), p. 258.
(Chicago, University of Chicago Press,
LEGISLATION AND PRACTICE ON AGRICULTURAL LEASES: I
51
of publicly owned land is due to the great area of such land available
and to the fact that the demand is very limited, the population being
so small in relation to the land available.
There are also legal provisions to afford protection to squatters on
publicly owned land. Section 56 of Act No. 63 of 1917 lays down
that when the State sells a tract of land that comprises holdings bearing
crops belonging to other individuals the new owner is required to
give each squatter, free of charge, a title deed to twice the area he occupies
and to allow him rights of passage; failing this he must pay him five
times the value of his holding.
Peru
In Peru the provisions of the Civil Code regulating rural tenancies in
general do not require a formal lease to be drawn up. Section 1494 of
the Code, dealing with state lands, stipulates that such lands may not
be leased out for periods of more than ten years at a time.
Leases affecting small holdings which are directly cultivated by
farmers on their own account while belonging to another person are
regulated in some cases by law and in others by custom. Section 2 of
Act No. 10835 of 1947 on contracts of yanaconaje lays down the procedure for concluding contracts for plots not exceeding 15 hectares in
the irrigated and hill districts or 30 hectares on the high plateau. Under
this Act ordinary cash-tenancy contracts (arrendamiento simple) may
not be for less than six years, and when the yanaconaje contract involves
some form of crop-sharing arrangement the duration will be three years.
The law allows a yanacona to be evicted for failure to pay his rent (or
to deliver a share of the produce, if he is a share-farmer), for failure to
repay any advances received or for failure to cultivate his land. In practice yanaconaje is based on a special type of contract whereby the farmer
is not at liberty to decide how he will use the land, and he is usually not
able to dispose of the produce as he wishes.
Contracts governed by custom may be either verbal or written.
Verbal arrangements, or tanda, as they are called in some parts of the
country, are commonest when the rent is paid in the form of services.
When written contracts are concluded they consist mainly of a list of
the farmer's obligations towards the landowner. A survey carried out
in Convención province 1 shows that in either case personal services
1
Carlos F. CUADROS Y V. : " El arriendo y la reforma agraria en la provincia de
la Convención ", in Revista Universitaria (Cuzco, Universidad Nacional del Cuzco),
First Quarter, 1949, p. 90.
52
THE LANDLESS FARMER IN LATIN AMERICA
form part of these contractual obligations. The same source states that
in practice the existence of leases, whether verbal or written, gives no
assurance of security of tenure since the landowner can always raise
the cash rent whenever the yield of the holding goes up; alternatively,
he may shorten the length of the contract or may even raise the number
of days' personal service required of the yanacona.
Uruguay
In Uruguay the 1954 Rural Tenancies Act stipulates that any contract
of tenancy, share-farming, or sub-tenancy must be in writing and must
be registered with the Registrar of Tenancies and Mortgages within
45 days of its conclusion. Any registration fees incurred must be borne
by the lessor or sub-lessor.
The law also provides a statutory minimum period of five years for
cash leases with an option on a further three-year extension.1 Such an
extension can only be granted if the tenant has satisfactorily carried out
the main terms of his lease, pays his rent regularly, husbands the land
and any improvements with care and prevents any avoidable damage.
An extension may be refused if the owner himself is not working any
other land-holding and proposes to take over the leased property with
the intention of farming it himself or of having it farmed by his close
relatives for a period of not less than two years; alternatively the owner
may claim the land in order to subdivide it for settlement. In the latter
case the owner's settlement scheme must first be approved by the National
Settlement Institute.
With regard to share-tenancies the law stipulates that on the expiry
of the statutory or contractual period, whichever is the greater (or of
its extension, if any) the share-tenant must hand over the holding
without being entitled to any further extension except the time needed
to harvest the crop.
Under Uruguayan legislation, once a tenant's right to remain on
the property has expired the appropriate courts may order his eviction
at the request of the other party. In such cases the holding must be
vacated within 15 days. Formerly the legal procedure stipulated that
whenever a lease expired eviction from land used for agricultural
purposes should take effect one year after the nearest 30 April or within
six months if the land was used for stock-raising purposes.
1
Before the introduction of the 1954 Act the minimum duration of cash leases
had been fixed by the Act of 16 December 1927 at four years even when the lease
itself specified a shorter period.
LEGISLATION AND PRACTICE ON AGRICULTURAL LEASES: I
53
COMPENSATION FOR IMPROVEMENTS
It is generally accepted that a tenant has the right to compensation
for the unexhausted value of the improvements made by him and
which are needed to enable him to farm his land efficiently, not only
because a man is entitled to a fair return for the labour and capital
he has put in but also because it encourages the tenant to preserve and
develop the natural resources entrusted to his care. Whether or not
improvements are carried out and whether or not compensation is paid
depends to a large extent on the length of the lease. As has been seen
above, the short leases which are common in some countries impel
the tenant to get as much out of the land as he can without caring
whether he depletes the soil. On the other hand a long lease naturally
has the effect of amortising any improvements that have been made
and either cancels or reduces the tenant's entitlement to compensation.
Argentina
In Argentina the practice of making tenants entirely responsible
for undertaking and looking after the improvements needed to provide
a minimum standard of comfort and to increase the efficiency of the
farm without allowing them any compensation for such improvements
had a serious effect on their living and working conditions. This was
even true of their housing, which they had to build themselves; on
the expiry of their leases they were faced with the choice between selling
their houses to the incoming tenants, moving their houses to their
new holdings or simply abandoning them. Whenever the incoming
tenant found improvements already in existence it was up to him to
pay for their upkeep out of his own pocket; as a result he almost invariably neglected them completely.1
To ensure that on the termination of his lease the tenant received
fair compensation for any improvements he had made, provisions were
inserted in Sections 10-13 of the Rural Tenancies Act requiring the
landlord to undertake certain basic improvements on each holding, e.g.
he must provide a dwelling house and a boundary fence up to a value
not exceeding 20 per cent, of the taxable value of the holding. The
tenant is empowered to carry out these improvements on behalf of the
landlord if the latter does not have them done himself during the first
two years of the lease, in which case the tenant is entitled to recover his
outlay by deducting it from the rent he pays.
1
Carl C. TAYLOR: Rural Life in Argentina (Baton Rouge, Louisiana State
University, 1948), p. 202.
54
THE LANDLESS FARMER IN LATIN AMERICA
In the case of other improvements more directly related to the
operation of the farm, the Act states that when such improvements do
not already exist and when the landlord fails to carry them out within
180 days of the date on which the tenant makes a definite request for
them, the latter is entitled to construct on the landlord's behalf an
aguada (a pond to collect rain water), a barn for the produce and a
shed for the machinery and equipment, and hygienic accommodation
for the labourers; he is also allowed to plant five trees per hectare up
to a total of 50. On the expiry of the lease the landlord is required
to compensate the tenant for any improvements he has made at their
current value, up to a maximum of 20 per cent, of the taxable value
of the holding. According to the Act the tenant's claim to compensation
for any improvements and repairs (including both original cost and
interest) constitutes a privileged claim against the leased property with
priority over all others, including the mortgagee's; meanwhile he retains
his right to remain in possession.
Bolivia
In Bolivia compensation for improvements made to a leaseholding
are covered by Legislative Decree No. 3464 dated 2 August 1953
concerning agrarian reform. In its final and transitional provisions
this enactment states that share-tenants who are allowed to use a. pegujal
or sayaña in addition to the land which they cultivate on a share-farming
basis retain their right to the former holdings on the expiry of their
lease and are entitled to compensation for any improvements they may
have made thereon.
Chile
Section 1936 of the Chilean Civil Code states that the landlord
is not required to reimburse the cost of any necessary improvements
the tenant may have made unless he has explicitly agreed to pay for
them. The tenant is at liberty to remove these improvements provided
that no damage is thereby done to the leased property. This provision
applies to tenancies on both privately and publicly owned land.
Cuba
In Cuba Act No. 7 of 1948, which relates to tenancies in general,
states that on the expiry of his lease a tenant is entitled to compensation for any useful improvements he may have made to the holding
LEGISLATION AND PRACTICE ON AGRICULTURAL LEASES: I
55
during the first half of his lease provided they were necessary to house
his family and employees adequately and to farm the holding efficiently.
Improvements designed merely for decoration and convenience must
be paid for by the tenant, as must any other useful improvements he
carries out that entitle him to a reduction in rent in accordance with
the agreed terms of the lease. If the lease is extended the tenant is not
entitled to compensation either in respect of any useful improvements
he may have made during the original term or in respect of those he
makes during the prolongation of the lease. If the parties cannot agree
on the usefulness of any improvements, the appropriate courts are
empowered to make a ruling. Legislative Decree No. 247 of 1952, which
applies to holdings not exceeding five caballerías farmed by cash tenants,
share-tenants and even by squatters, states that when the lessor carries out
any useful or voluntary improvements to such holdings he is entitled
to raise the rent by 5 per cent, of the value of the land thus improved,
provided the tenant has expressed his agreement to the making of these
improvements.
Haiti
Similar provisions to those in Chile exist in Haiti, except that when
the tenant remains on publicly owned land for more than ten years
no allowance is made for any improvements when the statutory review
of the rent takes place after ten years ; however, in the next revision,
which is due to be held after 20 years on the holding, these improvements
are taken into account in fixing a fair rent.
Panama
In Panama there are no special regulations defining the right to
compensation for improvements in connection with leases of privately
owned land. On the other hand, there are certain regulations dealing
with these problems as they affect publicly owned land. For instance,
Act No. 63 of 1917 states that squatters on publicly owned land are
entitled to compensation from the person who buys the land or to whom
it is leased. When the two parties cannot settle the matter between
themselves the Department of Finance is empowered to arbitrate.
Peru
In Peru Act No. 10835 of 1947, which applies to smallholdings,
requires the landlord to hand over the holding complete with certain
improvements relating mainly to the dwelling house. If this require-
56
THE LANDLESS FARMER IN LATIN AMERICA
ment is not complied with, the Act empowers the tenant to build a
house up to a value of 1,000 gold sols without permission from the
landlord; in such a case he is entitled to compensation for its value
on the expiry of the lease. In practice it is usual for the lease to stipulate
the amount payable to the tenant on the expiry of his lease as compensation for any improvements. When the latter exceed this sum in value
the balance accrues to the landowner.
Uruguay
In Uruguay, before the passing of the Rural Tenancies Act of 27 April
1954, the compensation payable for any improvements the tenant might
make to his holding was agreed upon in advance by the parties. Usually
the tenant was responsible for making any essential improvements
provided that he informed the landowner beforehand of the need for
them. Any trees planted by the tenant became the landowner's property
without any compensation's being paid.
The 1954 Act systematically defines the improvements that can be
carried out and the compensation payable for them on the expiry of
the lease. Part V of the Act states that the owner of the land leased
is required to provide a dwelling house, kitchen, boundary fences, drinking water and accommodation for the labourers. He is also responsible
for undertaking such improvements as are necessary for the normal
operation of the holding, such as internal fencing, milking sheds, cattle
dips, drinking troughs and any changes needed to enable the lease or
contract to be carried out.
Although improvements may be made during the term of the lease
as agreed between the parties, the Act authorises the tenant to carry
them out himself if the landlord fails to do so. In such cases a tenant
whose lease has not less than two years to run must submit details of
the proposed improvements to the regional office of agriculture; the
cost must not exceed 20 per cent, of the assessed value of the holding
for real-estate tax purposes. Any existing improvements are reckoned
as part of this percentage. The regional office must then notify the
lessor of the proposed improvements; if he lodges no objection within
30 days of being notified he is presumed to have given his consent
thereto, and the tenant may carry them out on behalf of the landlord
and under the supervision of the regional agricultural officer. If, however, the landlord enters an objection to the proposed improvements, or
their cost, the case is taken to arbitration. The compensation payable
to the tenant must be paid in cash at the current value of the improve-
LEGISLATION AND PRACTICE ON AGRICULTURAL LEASES: I
57
ments at the time of handing over the holding; failing this, the tenant
is at liberty to exercise his right of retention.
*
T
*
Only three countries in this region have laid down minimum standards regarding the contents of contractual arrangements between landowners and tenants, share-farmers and similar categories, and require
them to be in writing. In the remainder contracts are only put in written
form in special circumstances, e.g. when state or communal land is
involved.
Where verbal contracts are common they are usually based on
custom, which has consistently tended to operate against the cultivator.
Moreover, verbal contracts are easily broken—a particularly serious
matter on account of the difficulty of proving the terms of such an
agreement. In fact, the introduction of legally valid contracts can do
more than anything else to increase the security of the great majority
of Latin American peasants. Without security of tenure the latter can
make little progress in farming, nor can he achieve a reasonable standard
of living for themselves and their families.
Only a few of the countries have established a minimum duration
for leases and share-farming contracts. In the rest short leases (e.g. for
one year) are common. Apart from the instability and the obvious social
and economic consequences of short-term arrangements, experience has
clearly shown that the use made of natural resources depends largely on
the length of the contract. It has repeatedly been noted that tenants with
short-term leases try to get as much as possible out of the land without
making any effort to maintain its fertility. This attitude is quite understandable if it is borne in mind that they have no incentive to invest their
capital or labour since neither is likely to produce results during the short
period they occupy the holdings.
Specific regulations protecting the cultivator from arbitrary eviction
by the landowner appear to exist only in Argentina, Cuba and Uruguay.
Cuba is the only country in Latin America with agrarian legislation
designed to confer a certain degree of security of tenure on squatters.
Under this legislation the statu quo is preserved by the expedient of
suspending all eviction notices until legislative and financial measures
have been taken to settle them permanently on the land.
In Latin America a special meaning is attached to the term " improvements ". Whereas in other parts of the world this term comprises
the investment in capital or labour made by the tenant or landlord in
order to increase the value of the permanent installations (buildings, etc.)
or the future productivity of the land, in Latin America " improvements "
5
58
THE LANDLESS FARMER IN LATIN AMERICA
are usually taken to mean the facilities needed to make the land ready
for use (clearing, drainage, irrigation, etc.) and even investments in
such basic installations as housing, wells, sheds and boundary fences.
Accordingly there are always detailed statutory provisions specifying
the basic installations to be provided on any rented property and
sometimes laying down the procedure whereby, if such improvements
are not carried out by the landlord, the tenant may undertake them on
his behalf. Quite often both law and custom stipulate that even the basic
permanent installations must be put in by the tenant and that they
revert to the landowner when the lease expires unless they can be
removed without damage to the property.
CHAPTER IV
LEGISLATION AND PRACTICE ON
AGRICULTURAL LEASES : II
REMUNERATION FOR USE OF LAND
As has already been mentioned in previous chapters, the practice
of giving the use of a plot of land in exchange for labour and personal
services rendered by the tenant is a characteristic feature of Latin
American tenancy arrangements. This system goes back to the practices
and customs of pre-colonial days 1 and was given a new lease of life
with the establishment of the encomienda system, which gave the Spanish
conquerors jurisdiction over the land and its inhabitants together with
the right to receive tribute, labour and other personal services.2
The survival of such systems, which are here referred to as " tenantlabour contracts ", in modern times is closely bound up with population pressure on the land. The shortage of capital, lack of initiative
to use more efficient methods of developing the big estates and the
high degree of absenteeism among the big landowners are other
important factors accounting for the persistence of these obsolete
systems of land tenure.
It is, however, impossible to lump together all the systems of tenure
in which the consideration paid for the use of land is made up of
labour and services. The chief difference between them lies in the fact
that some are more temporary than others, and enable the farmer
to move on to more secure and equitable modes of tenure, whereas
in other cases the farmers are tied to the system from generation to
generation, with little chance of changing the arrangements under
which they work.
1
Under the Aztec Empire the land allotted to the teocallis (temples) came in time
to be tilled by special classes of serfs who were tied to the land. These serfs were
unable to change their occupation or place of residence, and whenever the property
changed hands they were transferred with it. In addition to handing over part of the
crop to the landowner they were required to perform various personal services such
as collecting food, supplying water and even providing personal attendance at times.
See Nathan L. WHETTEN: Rural Mexico, op. cit., p. 79.
2
See I.L.O. : Indigenous Peoples, op. cit., p. 294.
60
THE LANDLESS FARMER IN LATIN AMERICA
Argentina
In Argentina the different forms of payment for use of the land and
of distributing the produce are derived from the large-scale extension
of tenancy arrangements from the middle of the nineteenth century
onwards. In the province of Santa Fé intermediaries known as colonizadores subdivided the larger estates into smallholdings or chacras for
which the settlers usually paid in kind. A survey of the development
of agriculture in this province states that " while the colonizador paid
20 per cent, of the yield to the landowner, he demanded at least 35 per
cent, from his tenants ".1 He drew his profits without taking any
risks whatsoever. According to this same source colonizadores were
usually tradesmen or the owners of threshing machines who compelled
the tenants to use their equipment. At the start of the century this
state of affairs had reached a point where tenancies were publicly
auctioned and as much as 45 per cent, of the output was demanded as
rent; it was common for clauses to be inserted in the lease whereby
the crop had to be sold to the landowner, insurance against hail had
to be taken out with companies selected by him and threshing had to
be carried out with his machinery.2
The success of agrarian legislation in changing the pattern of distribution of the income from the land can best be gauged from the
published statistics. A report issued by the Ministry of Agriculture
in 1933 s stated that on the average in that year land rentals in the wheat
belt represented 25.7 per cent, of total production costs. Discussing
the position during the 1945-46 agricultural year this same body reports
that rent on wheat-growing lands made up only 15.3 per cent, of total
production costs.4 The operation of the enactments on this subject was
not finally standardised until 1940, when rent adjustment committees
were set up by Decree No. 68344. The work of these committees had
been supplemented by the joint boards formed in 1941 and consisting of representatives of landowners and tenants with officials of the
Ministry of Agriculture acting as chairmen. Being regional in scope
these boards were able to facilitate submission of applications and
complaints by the parties concerned and at the same time had greater
1
Curio Erico HOTSCHEWER: Evolución de la agricultura en la provincia de Santa
Fe (Santa Fé, Ministerio de Hacienda, Economía e Industrias, 1953), p. 115.
2
Enrique A. PEÑA and René R. THIERY: Arrendamientos rurales de emergencia,
op. cit., p. 9.
3
See Lázaro NEMIROVSKY: Estructura económica y orientación política de la
agricultura en la República Argentina (Buenos Aires, 1933), p. 103.
4
Ministerio de Agricultura de la Nación: Memoria correspondiente al ejercicio
1947 (Buenos Aires, 1947), p. 68.
LEGISLATION AND PRACTICE ON AGRICULTURAL LEASES: II
61
authority and were better placed to enforce their decisions regarding
rent adjustments.
In 1942 Congress approved the Agricultural Tenancies (Adjustment)
Act (No. 12771); the regulations issued under this Act gave the
Government power to draw up an annual scale of rent-adjustment
factors for each part of the country and set up a rent arbitration
tribunal to enforce the Act. However, in 1943 a Legislative Decree
(No. 14001) was issued repealing this Act and introducing instead an
all-round compulsory and automatic reduction of 20 per cent, in the
rents in force on 1 July 1940. These provisions applied to all leases
of land used for agricultural purposes or to that part of the land that
was used for agricultural purposes on mixed holdings; it also covered
subtenancies and the like. Decree No. 18290 issued in 1945 confirmed
the provisions of the 1943 decree, and in the same year two more decrees
(Nos. 18291 and 18292) were issued extending these provisions to
tenancies and subtenancies of land used respectively for dairy farming
and for stock-raising in semi-arid areas. This system of imposing allround reductions in rents was given statutory sanction by Act No. 12842
of 1946 which, however, specifically excluded medieria contracts from
eligibility for this rebate.
Act No. 13246 of 1948 empowered the Government to make
general adjustments of rents and share-farming terms whenever general
or local conditions had caused a marked discrepancy between production
costs and selling prices. In such cases the regional compulsory joint
conciliation and arbitration boards set up under this Act were
empowered to review the level of rents on application from any of
the parties concerned.1
In order to give some guidance to the regional joint boards in deciding whether there is any marked discrepancy between production costs
and selling prices, the regulations issued under the 1948 Act stipulated
that such a discrepancy was deemed to exist when the margin between
production costs and selling prices varied by more than 50 per cent.
The comparison was between the freely negotiated rent or percentage
share of the produce and the rate at the time when the case comes
up for revision. For those agreements already in force at the time when
these regulations were issued (1948) the comparison was to be made
with the figures for the five-yearly period 1938-42.
With regard to crop losses the regulations issued under Act
No. 13246 stated that when such losses were not offset by earlier
harvests the regional joint boards might provisionally exempt the
1
See be!ow, p. 73.
62
THE LANDLESS FARMER IN LATIN AMERICA
lessee from paying all or part of the rent for the land on which the lost
crop had been grown for a period between the time when cultivation
of the land began (or should have begun in accordance with local
custom and practice) and the date when the land could be converted
to some other crop.
Bolivia
In Bolivia before the 1953 Agrarian Reform Act landless peasants
were usually required to perform various services for the landowner
in exchange for the use of their holdings.1 Generally, the practice of
exchanging services for the use of the holding meant that the cultivator
had to work on the landowner's estate either for nothing or for a
fraction of the usual wage, or else either he or the members of his
family had to serve as domestic staff in the employer's home. The
extent of these obligations and the area and quality of the land allotted
to the smallholder in exchange were apt to vary and depended on local
custom, population pressure and the kindness (or lack of it) of the
landowner.
The colonos of the High Plateau were generally required to work
for three days a week on the employer's estate and even more during
the harvest, supplying their own tools and ploughing equipment and
providing a yoke of oxen. They also had to bring along other adult
members of their families, who during the sowing season on the
employer's estate were required to scatter the seed and spread the
fertiliser; they were also expected to look after the employer's livestock,
repair the buildings and perform various other personal services.
The heading " other personal services " included domestic work by
the colono or the members of his family in the employer's town or
country house (pongo, semanero), running errands (cacha), working in
the kitchen (mitani) and even chewing maize to make chicha (mukero).2
The pegujaleros of the valleys paid for the use of their land in much
the same way as the colonos of the High Plateau, although they had
a wider choice as far as personal services were concerned. The sharetenant or compañero of the Cochabamba valley usually provided all
the means of production and paid for the use of his holding by handing
over half his produce. In Chullpas canton Leonard found that it was
1
The Supreme Decree of 15 May 1945 (No. 318), which tried to lighten the burden
of these traditional services, had a number of serious limitations in practice and
although it introduced a number of changes in the nature of such services it did not
succeed in reducing the scale on which they were performed. On this point see O. E.
LEONARD: Bolivia: Land, People and Institutions (Washington, D.C., The Scarecrow
Press, 1952), pp. 116-117.
2
See Indigenous Peoples, op. cit., p. 376.
LEGISLATION AND PRACTICE ON AGRICULTURAL LEASES: II
63
not uncommon for the landowner to supply the seed and fertiliser,
in which case the produce was shared in a great variety of ways.1
The indications are that cash tenancy is commonest in the Tarija
and Sucre valleys; here there is no interference at all by the landowner
and the tenants are free to plant whatever crops they think fit.
Brazil
In Brazil at the present day neither the cash nor share rents payable
by tenants are subject to any special regulation, and they are accordingly based on local custom and practice. In the early part of the
century the sugar mills in the state of Pernambuco made land available
for planting sugarcane under share-farming arrangements and in
exchange received 50 per cent, of the total output of cane. Sometimes
tenants paid the mills a cash rent, the amount varying with the quantity
of cane delivered.2
According to the 1940 census of agriculture, cash tenancy was the
predominant form of tenure. In the south, cash tenancy is usual
principally in rice and cotton growing but is spreading rapidly to farms
producing crops with a shorter growing cycle, such as beans, maize
and potatoes. Some land companies in the state of Säo Paulo lease
out land exclusively for the growing of cotton and grain; the going
rent is usually 500 cruzeiros per alqueire3 and the tenant must deposit
security equal to 5 per cent, of the rent. These leases specify the proportion of the holding on which the tenant must grow cotton, although
he has a choice of several cereals to plant on the remainder. He is
required to sell his cotton output to the company at the prices it
fixes, and he himself pays the transport costs. The company also
reserves the right to acquire the output of cereals at prices similar
to those of the open market.
In the north of Paraná the empreteiro, who is used by the coffee
estates to establish new plantations, is entitled to the full usufruct
of a plot of land which varies in size according to the area he plants
with coffee.4 When the estate has no spare land for this purpose the
usual practice is to allow the empreteiro to plant his own crops between
the rows of coffee seedlings. In either case, the area of land that he can
cultivate for his own use depends on the number of members of his
1
O. E. LEONARD: Canton Chullpas: A Socio-Economie Study in the Cochabamba
Valley, Foreign Agriculture Report No. 27 (Washington, D.C., 1948), p. 22.
8
Boletim da Uniäo dos Sindicatos Agrícolas de Pernambuco, No. 6, Sep. 1910,
quoted by T. Lynn SMITH in Brazil : People and Institutions, op. cit., p. 471.
3
One alqueire equals 2.24 hectares.
4
Normally the empreteiro receives one alqueire of land for every 10,000 coffee
bushes he looks after.
64
THE LANDLESS FARMER IN LATIN AMERICA
family who can work. Apart from the produce of his holding or space
between the rows of seedlings, he is also entitled, at the end of the
four years required to bring the plantation into production, to take
the first coffee crop, i.e. the crop produced in the fourth year, and a
specified cash payment for each coffee plant he hands over to the estate.
The colono, the man employed in this same region to look after the fully
grown coffee bushes, is given the usufruct of a plot of land which varies
in size in the same way as with the empreteiro1, it being impossible
after four years to plant other crops between the rows of coffee bushes.
For tending the coffee plantation the colono receives a fixed sum per
year for every 1,000 bushes; this remuneration is usually paid in twomonthly instalments. In addition the colono undertakes to work on
the coffee harvest for two-and-half months, during which he is paid
by the task. Whenever he is not looking after the plantation, harvesting
the coffee or working on his own holding he is required to work on
the estate as a day labourer at the appropriate wage.
Schmidt, referring to systems of tenancy in the state of Säo Paulo 2 ,
states that cash rents range from 100 to 300 cruzeiros and sometimes
as high as 500 cruzeiros per alqueire in cotton growing. The same
writer adds that in those parts of the state where agriculture is most
efficient there are medieria (share-cropping) arrangements whereby the
landowner provides the holding already ploughed and harrowed while
the mediero sows and looks after the crop and applies the insecticides.
The landowner puts up all the seed and half the cost of any fertiliser
that may be needed. The produce is shared equally in the fields as it
is harvested. In the Paraiba valley in the state of Säo Paulo it is customary to conclude arrangements whereby the tenant delivers between
20 and 25 per cent, of his output in payment for the use of the land.
Chile
In Chile a patriarchal customary relationship has developed between
the landowner and his inquilinos who, in addition to their wages, receive
various perquisites such as a plot of land for themselves, housing,
grazing rights, etc. An investigation into the incomes of 3,546 inquilinos
in all the provinces of the country showed that these perquisites represented 60 per cent, of their total remuneration. 3
1
In the state of Säo Paulo a colono is allotted one alqueire of land for his own use
for every 6,000 coffee bushes he looks after. See " Características de lavoura cafeeira
de Säo Paulo ", in Agricultura em Säo Paulo : Boletim da Sub-Divisäo de Economia
Rural (Säo Paulo), second year, No. 5, May 1952, p. 5.
2
Carlos B. SCHMIDT: Systems of Land Tenure in Säo Paulo, op. cit., p. 244.
3
Dirección de Estadística: Veinte años de legislación social (Santiago, 1945), p. 93.
LEGISLATION AND PRACTICE ON AGRICULTURAL LEASES: II
65
The only measures taken to regulate rents apply to publicly owned
land; these rents may not be less than 6 per cent, of the taxable value
of the land at the time of drawing up the lease nor less than 12 per cent.
of the said value in the case of sub-leases or the transfer of leases of public
land.
Cuba
In Cuba the 1946 national census of agriculture showed that in 1945
the total rents paid by tenants and sub-tenants amounted to nearly
10 million pesos, representing an average rent of 3.28 pesos a hectare.
This annual average figure varied from 1.59 pesos in the province of
Camagüey to 9.13 pesos in the province of Havana.
The procedure for determining cash and share rents is laid down in
the 1937 Sugar Industry Co-ordination Act as far as the various types of
colonato are concerned and in Act No. 7 of 1948 as regards cash tenancies
and share-farming in general. The former enactment divides the land
occupied by colonos into three categories: area A, consisting of the
section under sugarcane in 1937; area B, which is an additional area
equal to between 30 and 50 per cent, of area A (the greater area A is, the
smaller the percentage for area B) ; and area C, made up of the remaining
land farmed by the colono. The rent for area A is fixed at 5 per cent, of
the yield of sugar obtained by the mill. For example, if a unit of area
cultivated by a colono yields an average of 40,000 lb. of cane and the
extraction rate is 12.5 per cent., the output will be 5,000 lb. of sugar;
the rent will thus be 250 lb. of sugar. The cash value of the sugar is
worked out on the basis of the yearly average taken from the Ministry
of Agriculture's index of prices at the ports of loading for the last five
years. The rent for area B is directly linked with the price of sugar and
varies with each shift of one-quarter of a centavo in the price, the rent
for irrigated land being 50 per cent, higher than for dry land. The
rent for area C is whatever may be specified in the lease and if there are
no special arrangements dealing with this point it is calculated in the
same way as for area B.
Section 5 of Act No. 7 of 1948 stipulates that the rents fixed in
cash leases of rural properties may not exceed 6 per cent, of the sale
value stated in the municipal registry of real estate or, failing this, the
price at which the property last changed hands. The Act prohibits any
clause requiring the payment of a commission or any other pecuniary
benefit to the lessor. When the lease has run for a year the tenant may
apply for the rent to be changed. The lessor in turn may request a
review of the rent for the following reasons : if tax has been levied on the
increment in value of the leasehold, if he has made improvements thereon
66
THE LANDLESS FARMER IN LATIN AMERICA
with the written consent of the lessee or, lastly, if fresh taxes which affect
the level of rent that can be considered reasonable have been levied by
the State, provincial government or municipality. In any of these cases
an application for a change in rent must be made in writing to the
appropriate court, which will be governed by the rules of the Code of
Civil Procedure. Legislative Decree No. 247 of July 1952 states that
peasants who occupy land not exceeding 5 caballerías in extent, even if
they are only squatters, must pay for the usufruct of the land an annual
rent not exceeding 5 per cent, of the sale price shown in the municipal
land register on 1 January 1948; where no price is shown the value is
deemed to be the price at which the land last changed hands before the
passing of the legislative decree.
On the subject of share-tenancies the 1948 Act stipulates that the
percentage share of the produce to which each party is entitled must
be in keeping with the landowner's commitments to provide the sharetenant with housing, implements, machinery and draught animals
as well as his contribution towards the seed, fertiliser, pasture or fodder,
accommodation, buildings or installations, where applicable to the
holding, and (if the land is irrigated) his share of the cost of water.
The landlord must likewise provide facilities for transporting the produce
and give advances with which to pay the wages of day labourers and for
anything else that contributes in any way towards bringing in the crops.
This Act makes special provision for share-farming in tobacco
growing. In the area around Vuelta Abajo and the " zona de Partido ",
i.e. the whole of the province of Pinar del Rio and part of the province
of Havana, the landowner is entitled to 25 per cent, of the produce and
must also defray the same proportion of all production costs with the
exception of labour. When he only provides the share-farmer with land,
housing and the permanent buildings needed for planting, cultivating
and making the first curing of the tobacco the landowner receives only
20 per cent, of the crop. The Act also lays down the proportions governing share-tenancy leases in the other tobacco-growing areas of the
country.
Discussing the establishment of coffee plantations, Nelson 1 describes
a form of aparcería whereby the tenant is given a holding for eight
years, at the end of which he hands over the fully grown coffee plantation; he receives three coffee crops as the sole payment for his work.
After emphasising that under this system the share-tenant can barely
eke out a living, the author adds that at the end of eight years the
tenant can sign a contract as a partidario which entitles him to keep
1
Lowry NELSON: Rural Cuba (Minneapolis, University of Minnesota Press, 1952),
p. 129.
LEGISLATION AND PRACTICE ON AGRICULTURAL LEASES: II
67
the coffee plants on condition that he hands over between 33 and 40
per cent, of the crop to the landowner.
Ecuador
In Ecuador the consideration payable by the huasipunguero of the
High Plateau for his holding is regulated by the Labour Code, which
specifically states that the number of days worked may not exceed four
a week and that the wage paid may not be less than half the minimum
wage laid down for day labourers in the same district. Nevertheless the
practical effectiveness of these minimum standards suffers from the
same limitations as the contractual arrangements which are also prescribed by this Code and were described in the previous chapter.
According to a survey conducted in Pichincha province and published
by the National Institute of Social Welfare in 1947L, the huasipungueros
work from Monday to Friday and sometimes from Monday to Saturday
and thus have only one or two days to cultivate their own holdings.
The same source adds that all huasipungueros work on the " task "
system, the tasks including ploughing, weeding and fencing. Any one
of these tasks takes up at least eight hours' work. Moreover it has
become the customary practice for these workers to be required to
perform various personal services for the landlord for between one and
three months a year as huasicamas or cuentayos. The first of these is
equivalent to the former Bolivian pongo, while the cuentayo acts as stockman on the estate. For both these categories work continues throughout
the week, including Sundays, and they are paid the same wages as those
received by a huasipunguero when working on the landowner's estate.
On some estates this wage is only nominal; on others it amounts to
10 sucres a month. As a rule the wage varies from 0.45 centavos to
3 sucres for a working day, which usually means a 12-hour day. An
I.L.O. study 2 describes the operation of this system in the province
of Imbabura where, in exchange for a plot of land and a daily wage
ranging from 30 to 70 centavos (often paid in the form of grain), the
huasipunguero works most of the time on the owner's estate at various
farm jobs while his wife milks the cows and his children act as domestic
servants. Another type of tenant-labourer is the cuadrero who, in
exchange for the use of a plot of land and a monthly wage of from
5 to 12 sucres, looks after the estate-owner's urban property and
together with other members of his family acts as a domestic servant
' A n í b a l BUITRÓN and Bárbara SALISBURY BUITRÓN: Condiciones de vida y
trabajo del campesino de la provìncia de Pichincha, op. cit. pp. 66-70.
2
I.L.O. : Indigenous Peoples, op. cit., p. 348.
68
THE LANDLESS FARMER IN LATIN AMERICA
in the latter's house. He even has to obtain his employer's permission
to take time off to cultivate his own plot of land. Tied to the estate as
he is and living and working under deplorable conditions, a huasipunguero is little better off than a bonded serf.1
Even fixed-rental tenancies in some parts of the High Plateau tend to
be variations of this system. There is evidence that such leases are often
merely a matter of form since in fact the rent is paid in the form of
services. The distribution of the produce under share-farming arrangements is also dealt with by the Labour Code, Section 266 of which states
that " in a contract for produce-sharing farming, the land shall be
provided by the landlord and the labour by the share-tenant, and the
products shall be divided between them ". Referring to the sharing of
the produce this same section stipulates that " . . . in no case may the
share-tenant's percentage be less than half of the crop ". Nevertheless
a survey conducted in 1948, in a commentary on this section, showed
thar there was a close similarity between the operation of this form of
tenure and the huasipungo system:
As a rule the share-cropping contract is only verbal, a circumstance which
gives rise to abuse. The Indian receives a plot of land, while the seed is provided
either by the owner or by the share-farmer or by both in equal parts. When
harvest time arrives, the Indian has to pay the " companions " who have
helped him gather the crop a " ration ", i.e. a small part of the same. Then
come the tithes (diezmos) for the local ecclesiastical authority and the share
(primicias) of the estate-owner himself. In addition he has to pay so-called
damages caused to the neighbouring estates. In fact, he finally receives what
remains of his 50 per cent, after these deductions. Furthermore, it is a general
custom that during the period of his contract the partidario must carry
out certain land improvements and render personal services for a specified
number of days for the benefit of the estate-owner.2
Referring to these same characteristics of various forms of land
tenure in Ecuador, the survey of economic development in that country
by the Economic Commission for Latin America 3 states that " The
principal characteristic common to all these systems is the tendency
of the landowner to pay no cash wage and to compensate or remunerate
the workers with the right to cultivate a plot of land
It is not fully
appreciated how far the maldistribution of agricultural land and the
persistence of obsolete methods of paying the labour force are responsible for the inefficiency of farming on the high plateau."
1
United Nations, Economic Commission for Latin America : Desarrollo económico
del Ecuador, op. cit., p. 77. See also Plutarco NARANJO VARGAS: El campesinado
ecuatoriano y el seguro social obligatorio, op. cit., p. 17.
2
César CISNEROS CISNEROS : Demografía y estadística sobre el indio ecuatoriano
(Quito, Talleres Gráficos Nacionales, 1948), pp. 86-87.
3
United Nations, Economie Commission for Latin America: Desarrollo económico
del Ecuador, op. cit., p. 77.
LEGISLATION AND PRACTICE ON AGRICULTURAL LEASES'. II
69
Guatemala
In Guatemala rents paid in kind vary according to local custom.
For example, in some places the landowner's usual share is a third of
the crop while elsewhere it sometimes amounts to more than half.1
As stated above, variations in land rentals depend on population pressure
and the quantity of seed and implements provided by the tenant. Cash
tenancies are uncommon, being found only in the farming areas around
the capital ; they generally involve payment of an annual rent of between
7 and 15 quetzals per manzana.
The colono, pegujalero and mozo are all required to perform various
services in exchange for the use of a plot of land. Depending on the
region, work on the estate may be done either for a wage (which is
usually lower than the customary rate) or for nothing at all. Sometimes
this work covers the entire rent of the holding, but in other cases a stipulated percentage of the crop produced by the pegujal or holding has
to be delivered as well. These farmers do not necessarily work all the
time under one particular system of tenure ; their status varies not only
in accordance with circumstances but also on the type of arrangement
they make. Thus a tenant labourer at Malacatán in San Marcos who
earns 0.25 quetzal per day receives a plot of land and in exchange has
to work 45 days a year on the estate without payment and deliver a
quarter of his crop to the landowner. In this same district it is not
unknown for arrangements to be made whereby the labourer works for
150 days a year without payment in exchange for the use of a plot of
one-and-a-half manzanas.
Haiti
In Haiti the regulations governing the level of rents only apply to
public land. The Act of July 1927 stipulates that such land must be
rented for 6 per cent, of its current value and that the rent may not be
changed during the ten years following the signature of the lease. Nevertheless one provision of the Civil Code which applies to tenants of
both publicly and privately owned land does allow rents to be reduced
following the loss of half or all of the crop owing to fortuitous calamities.
Mexico
The Mexican Civil Code states that when no agreement exists rents
must be paid twice yearly in arrears. The Code makes provision for
1
Crédito agrícola supervisado para Guatemala, op. cit., pp. 36-37.
70
THE LANDLESS FARMER IN LATIN AMERICA
the reduction of rents whenever half or all of the crop is lost through
fortuitous circumstances, a distinction being drawn between fortuitous
circumstances which are ordinary and those which are extraordinary
(e.g. fire, war, plague, etc.). The Code allows share-tenants to keep
40 per cent, of the produce as compensation for their labour, although
in practice the shares vary in accordance with the tools and equipment
'provided by each party.
Peru
In Peru the regulations governing yanaconaje contracts fix the
maximum rents of farm-holdings and the share of the produce payable.
Act No. 10835 of 1947 specifies that the annual rent, whether paid in
cash or kind, may not exceed 6 per cent, of the value of the property
and that the landowner may not receive more than 20 per cent, of the
gross crop produced by a share-tenant. The Act stipulates that the labour
which a yanacona and members of his family perform on the owner's
estate shall be paid at a rate which may not be less than a minimum
fixed by the authorities in each region.
Before the 1947 Act was passed Supreme Decree No. 248 of 1944
was in force; this was designed to prevent the disturbance to food
production that would be caused by a sudden jump in rents of agricultural land. It stipulated that the rents of such land should not be
greater than those in force during the 1942-43 agricultural year or
during the calendar year ending 31 December 1943. These provisions
embraced tenancies, sub-tenancies, share-farming, compañía and
yanaconaje.
A survey by the Inter-American Co-operative Foodstuffs Production
Service published in 1945 found that rents varied from 10 centavos a
year for a hectare of state-owned wooded land at Iquitos and 12 sols
a hectare for privately owned land in the same district to over 1,000 sols
in the low-lying part of the Arequipa area. Owing to the acute population
pressure rents in this latter area fluctuated from between 240 and 300 sols
per hectare in the upland districts to between 750 and 1,050 sols per
hectare in the low-lying districts.1
There are many variations in the form in which rent is paid, ranging
from payment wholly in the form of services to payment wholly in kind.
There are also cases in which the yanacona not only pays his rent out
of the produce he grows but is also compelled to sell the remainder to
the estate-owner.2 When the rent is paid in the form of services the latter
1
Luis ROSE UGARTE : La situación alimenticia en el Perú (Lima, Servicio Cooperativo Interamericano de Producción de Alimentos, 1945), p. 31.
2
Conferencia Interamericana de Seguridad Social : Método de percepción de las
cotizaciones del seguro social en las Americas, Manual No. 2 (Geneva, 1952), pp. 358-359.
LEGISLATION AND PRACTICE ON AGRICULTURAL LEASES: II
71
usually consist of turno, i.e. a fixed number of days which the tenantlabourer works on the landowner's estate, and the palla whereby the
tenant is required to supply one or more women workers (pañadoras)
to pick coca leaves on the estate. A survey of tenancies in the province
of Convención published in 1949 reveals that in this province a colono
works for between eight and ten days a month for the landowner, for
which he is usually paid at a third or a quarter of the average rate for
an independent labourer. In addition he has to supply a palladora, who
during the coca-leaf picking season is paid 20 centavos a day; this job
is usually done by the colono's close relatives as otherwise he would
have to make up the difference between their earnings and the rate for an
independent palladora.1
In the Department of Huanuco the mejorero or cultivator whose
job it is to establish permanent plantations receives as his only remuneration 100 sols for every 1,000 coca plants and 1.20 sols for every coffee
bush in production when he hands over the plantation. In other parts
of the High Plateau, e.g. in the Department of Junin, the same class
of husbandmen receive from two to three sols for each coffee plant
in production. In either case they are entitled to any crops grown
between the rows of plants. The majadero in the coastal areas, particularly in the Department of La Libertad, rents natural pasture, paying
one sol a year for each head of horned cattle and 20 centavos for each
sheep or pig; in addition he is required to work for 12 days a year on the
estate at a special wage of 1.20 sols a day and to help in transporting
the produce of the estate for 12 days a year.2
Uruguay
In Uruguay the Rural Tenancies Act of 1954 sets out, as stated
in the preamble, to ensure that the cash or share rentals paid by tenants
are fair to both lessor and lessee, having regard to the " normal profitability of the holding". It devotes a whole chapter to the standards
which should govern the determination and review of these rents and
shares. The Act requires this to be done by the appropriate courts
in the light of the normal profitability of the holding, and to that end
they are required to examine " the terms of each contract, the quality
of the land, the existing improvements, the type of farming for which
1
Carlos F. CUADROS Y V. : " El arriendo y la reforma en la provincia de la Convención ", loe. cit., p. 10. See also United Nations: Report of the Commission of
Enquiry on the Coca Leaf, op. cit., pp. 76-78.
2
Ministerio de Agricultura : Valor de la mano de obra en los diferentes valles
de la República (Lima, Departamento de Economía Rural, Jan.-June 1954), pp. 10-14.
72
THE LANDLESS FARMER IN LATIN AMERICA
the land is used, the sales prices and rentals of land in the area, the rent
under the preceding lease and any grounds that may justify a change ". 1
Rents fixed by the courts are back-dated to the time the application
was made and such reviews may be requested at two-yearly intervals.
In assessing the profitability of holdings producing foodstuffs which
are subsidised by the State or for which there is a price support (e.g. milk,
meat and staple foods) the Act stipulates that the only yardstick used
must be their normal market value without reference to the price support
or subsidy and the consequent profit margin. Products which are
not officially supported but whose prices have fluctuated by more
than 25 per cent, during the two years preceding the application for
revision or establishment of the rent are valued at their probable market
price at the time when the application is made. In no circumstances
may the foodstuffs produced be assessed at more than the average
for prices during the last two years less 20 per cent. Nevertheless,
this preamble in defining the principles governing the establishment
of fair rents does not go into any greater detail with regard to what
the Act calls " the probable market price ".
In practice rents are paid annually either in advance or in arrears
although sometimes, as with the dairy farms supplying Montevideo,
they are payable monthly. In aparcería, which is a relatively common
form of land tenure wherever extensive farming methods are used,
the landowner usually only supplies the land, while the share-tenant
provides the rest; the landowner by custom takes 30 per cent, of the
crop, which is delivered to him in sacks as it comes out of the threshingmachine. The evidence is that latterly this percentage has tended to
fall, and it is not uncommon for him to take only 27 per cent, or even
25 per cent, of the crop. 2
CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION
Argentina
In Argentina the conciliation and arbitration machinery to deal
with disputes between the parties to the contract is also regulated by
1
If any of the land is sublet the rental may be increased by not more than 10 per
cent.
2
Special communication to the I.L.O. from the National Settlement Institute.
See also D. T. CLARAMUNT : " Conferencia del curso internacional de extensión
agrícola y fundamentos de sociología rural, organizado por el Instituto ínteramericano de Ciencias Agrícolas (zona Sur) ", in Boletín del Instituto Nacional de
Colonización (Montevideo), No. 31, Sep. 1952, p. 12.
LEGISLATION AND PRACTICE ON AGRICULTURAL LEASES: II
73
Act No. 13246 of 1948, to which reference has already been made.
Section 46 of this Act stipulates that the Government is to establish
regional joint compulsory conciliation and arbitration boards and
a central tribunal under the Ministry of Agriculture. Officials of the
Ministry with special knowledge of the area act as chairmen of the
regional boards. The purpose of this provision is to make sure that
these bodies are thoroughly regional in character and jurisdiction
and that their rulings are accepted as being based on first-hand
knowledge of local problems, practices and customs. The central
tribunal is made up of nine members and the regional boards of
three. All of them include representatives of landowners and tenants,
three names being put forward for each seat by the numerically most
representative agricultural bodies in the country or region, as the
case may be.
Act No. 13897 of 20 May 1950 gives the joint conciliation and
arbitration boards sole power to deal with disputes between landlords
and tenants and lays down the procedure for taking cases to them,
which involves some amendment to Act No. 13246 of 1948. Decrees
Nos. 2700/49, dealing with the regional boards, and 8593/49, concerning
the central tribunal, prescribe where the boards shall meet, their jurisdiction and the procedure for putting forward the necessary three
candidates for each seat on the regional boards and the central tribunal
to represent the landowners, tenants and share-farmers.
The 1948 Act and the regulations issued thereunder lay down the
procedure to be followed by these bodies in undertaking conciliation and
arbitration, and also define their functions. Broadly speaking the
procedure falls into two phases. The first phase is that of the preliminary
conciliation proceedings, at which the parties concerned are required to
appear; the second phase is that of the arbitration hearing proper, at
which both parties can put forward their case. The regional boards have
full power to conduct the case and to make an award. They are required
to announce their findings within 90 days of the complaint's being lodged
and appeals must be submitted within 15 days of the award's being
announced. Such appeals lie with the central tribunal, which is required
to give a final ruling within 60 days. The regulations governing the
conciliation phase lay down the procedure for submitting petitions and
applications and for answering them, together with the correct procedure
for conducting the conciliation hearing. Should the conciliation procedure fail the boards are then required to act as arbitrators after
having first carried out the requirements governing evidence, i.e. once
the parties, witnesses and experts have been questioned and the necessary
documents have been submitted and inspected.
74
THE LANDLESS FARMER IN LATIN AMERICA
Bolivia
In Bolivia pending the issue of the relevant decrees and regulations,
the National Agrarian Reform Council, working through the agrarian
courts, is given responsibility for conciliation and arbitration in disputes
between all classes of workers on the land. Before the agrarian reform
the General Labour Act of 8 December 1942, which contained a special
chapter dealing with conciliation and arbitration arrangements for
workers in general, specifically excluded those employed in agriculture
(Section 1). In addition, Section 8 of Supreme Decree No. 318, dated
15 May 1945, which was designed to regulate the employment of rural
workers, stated that disputes between landowners and tenants should
be dealt with in the first instance by the constabulary within a time
limit of eight days. Appeals against such rulings could be taken to
the departmental labour judge, whose decision was final. This method
of settling disputes between landlords and tenants is still being used
even though the primary purpose of the Act, viz. the regulation of personal services by rural workers, was not in fact achieved.
Brazil
Disputes between landlords and tenants in Brazil are usually dealt
with by the ordinary courts. In the state of Säo Paulo, however, Act
No. 18609 dated 10 October 1922 set up rural tribunals to deal with
disputes arising out of the interpretation of contracts between colonos
and landlords. The Act requires these tribunals to be presided over by
a district judge and to include two other members appointed to represent
the colonos and the landowners.
Chile
The Chilean conciliation and arbitration machinery for agricultural
workers in general is regulated by Act No. 8811 of July 1947. This
Act supplements the provisions of the Labour Code regarding trade
unionism among farm workers and it applies, among others, to aparceros,
medieros and inquilinos. The 1947 Act set up special agricultural conciliation and arbitration boards made up of three members, one of
whom is selected by the committee of the appropriate agricultural trade
union or by the workers' representatives, as the case may be, the second
member by the employer and the third by joint agreement or, failing
this, by the appropriate labour judge. Once the statutory procedure
LEGISLATION AND PRACTICE ON AGRICULTURAL LEASES'. II
75
for conciliation has been exhausted the board has power to arbitrate.
The awards it makes in this capacity are binding and enforceable; an
appeal from them will lie to the appropriate labour court.
Cuba
The Cuban Sugar Industry Co-ordination Act of 1937 defines the
liability of the sugar mills to the colonos for any damage they may
cause and vice versa, and prescribes appropriate relief and compensation. The same Act set up the Sugar Industry Board, which is made
up of three members and their substitutes. Two of these members
are appointed by the Government from a list of three candidates nominated by the Cuban National Landowners' Association and a further
list of three candidates put forward by the association of colonos; the
third member, who acts as chairman, is appointed directly by the
Government in consultation with the foregoing two associations.
The cost of running this arbitration board is borne equally by the
two associations. Decisions of the board taken by two of its members
in official session are binding and final.
Lawsuits arising out of disputes between the contracting parties
over changes in rent, compensation for improvements, etc., are dealt
with by the courts prescribed by the Civil Courts Procedure Act, having
regard to the level of rent fixed in the lease. In any event, the procedure
invariably consists of an attempt at conciliation followed by the award
of the court, after hearing the arguments and evidence of both parties.
Appeals against this verdict may be lodged with the next higher court.
Ecuador
In Ecuador the 1938 Labour Code normally empowers the deputy
agricultural inspectors to take cognisance of disputes over the interpretation of the provisions of the Code dealing with tenancies and
similar contracts. These inspectors have full powers to settle disputes
and conciliate the parties involved. Appeals against their decisions may
be lodged with the General Directorate of Labour.
Peru
In Peru Act' No. 10835 of 1947 set up a general inspectorate under
the Ministry of Labour to look after the interests of the yanaconas
and peasants. Its duties include the enforcement of the social legislation
76
THE LANDLESS FARMER IN LATIN AMERICA
designed to protect the yanaconas. The Act stipulates that any disputes
arising between the latter and their landlords must be dealt with by the
labour courts.
Uruguay
In Uruguay arbitration in disputes arising out of the circumstances
covered by the Rural Tenancies Act of 1954 is carried out by the justice
of the peace for the locality in which the holding is situated whenever
the agreed or officially prescribed rent does not exceed 150 pesos a
month or the equivalent. If the rent is higher than this the case must
be taken to the court of first instance in the department concerned.
Appeals against the decision of either court may be made to the next
higher court; the verdict of the court of second instance is final.
*
*
*
The establishment of a fair rent for the use of the land is unquestionably the most difficult feature of the relationship between tenants
and landlords.
In Latin America the position with regard to rents, whether paid in
cash, in kind or a share of the produce, appears to be far from satisfactory. After paying his rent the tenant is unlikely to have enough
left to live decently, let alone accumulate savings. The problem is
particularly serious when the system of tenure is based on the performance of services in exchange for the use of land—an outdated arrangement which is in flagrant contradiction with any rational concept of
national economic policy and to present-day views on social justice.
In countries where the rent or share of the crop to be paid is systematically regulated in practice as well as in theory a number of criteria
are used to disti ibute the farm income fairly, the particular criteria used
depending on local needs and circumstances. In Mexico the law stipulates that in share-farming contracts the cultivator's investment in the
form of labour entitles him to not less than 40 per cent, of the crop,
while Cuban legislation specifies that the proportion of the crop received
by the share-farmer must be related to the investment he makes in
addition to his labour. In the specific instance of tobacco growing
Cuban legislation stipulates that the landowner is entitled to 25 per cent.
of the crop.
With regard to cash rents some countries have adopted the method
of arbitrarily specifying that they may not exceed a given percentage
of the value of the property. For example, Cuban legislation states that
LEGISLATION AND PRACTICE ON AGRICULTURAL LEASES: II
77
farm rents may not be higher than 6 per cent, of the holding's sale price.
The same criterion is used in Haiti but only with respect to state lands.
In some countries, e.g. Argentina and Uruguay, the rent may be adjusted
if there is a change in the ratio between production costs and the value
of the crop. In Cuba the rent may only be adjusted if material improvements have been made to the holding or if taxes are increased in such
a way as to affect the level of rent considered to be reasonable.
Disputes between landlords and tenants are generally settled under
procedures based on legislation and administered by the civil or labour
courts. An exception to this is provided by Argentina and Cuba (in
respect of sugar cultivation), where special machinery has been set up
consisting of joint compulsory conciliation and arbitration boards made
up of landowners and tenants with government representatives acting
as chairmen. Such machinery gives those who do not own the land
they cultivate a straightforward, speedy and effective means of asserting
their rights. Argentine experience demonstrates the advantages of
organising these bodies on a regional basis, for there can be no doubt
that they operate far more effectively if the people of the countryside
have easy access to them.
CHAPTER V
ACCESS TO LAND OWNERSHIP
The importance attached to land ownership from the colonial period
onwards has inevitably had a strong influence on the opportunities of
acquiring ownership open at the present day to peasants who do not
actually own their holdings or only cultivate them under unfavourable
systems of tenancy. The avidity of the first settlers to seize as much land
as they could by right of conquest was matched by the ignorance and
indifference of the Indians regarding the title deeds which, under the
property laws of those days, could have given them some rights over the
land they tilled. The encomienda as a system of land ownership, and
the large estates which developed out of it, not only extended and
accentuated systems of land tenure based on the performance of labour
and personal service but also gave rise to the practice whereby squatters
settled on the uncultivated areas of these enormous estates. 1 During
the colonial era there was little interest in solving or mitigating the problem of obsolete systems of land tenure or in creating wider opportunities
for land ownership. This lack of interest and the paradox of large
estates with no men to work them side by side with a multitude of men
with no land to till remained widespread even under various forms of
self-government. Even at the present time the opportunities of acquiring
ownership are seriously restricted by the excessive concentration of
landed property in a few hands.
We shall see in this chapter how several Latin American countries
have tackled the problem of helping landless farmers to acquire land
of their own. A distinction is made between those countries which
have adopted legislation of a general nature, those which have introduced
special systems such as that of patrimonio familiar, and those in which
the main efforts have been directed towards land settlement. We shall
later examine, by way of illustration, the action taken by some governments to make the necessary credits available to farmers desiring to
become the owners of their land.
1
Before the conquest the common law of Castile had recognised the right of
squatters to make temporary use of idle land. " The following is the law of Castile :
if any land lies idle and if a farmer ploughs it and when the time comes to harvest the
crop the owner of the land tries to harvest it instead, he who tills it shall have the right
to the harvest and the owner shall be given a third or a quarter thereof even if the farmer
has ploughed it without the permission of the owner." Quoted by L. MENDIETA Y
NÚNEZ in El problema agrario de México, op. cit., p. 474.
ACCESS TO LAND OWNERSHIP
79
LEGISLATION OF A GENERAL NATURE
Argentina
In Argentina the large-scale appropriation of public land since the
achievement of independence was largely due to the policy followed
of frequently making over great tracts of public land to individuals
and companies in order to add to the Government's short-term
income, settle the interior of the country and push forward the frontier
against the Indians. Some of these grants were made either without
any payment whatsoever or at nominal prices, while others were made
available under leases of the emphyteusis type. The latter system
originated in 1822 when Rivadavia introduced it in the province of
Buenos Aires and was subsequently extended to the whole country when
the General Constituent Congress of the United Provinces of the River
Plate passed the Act of 18 May 1826. The main difference between
enfiteusis as it operated in Argentina and the classic Roman system is
that the tenant was not granted the full usufruct for life, and that a
number of special restrictions were imposed, although the holding was
not granted for less than 20 years. The rent during the first ten years was
equal to 8 per cent, of the value of the land given over to pasture and to
4 per cent, if the land was under cereals. After ten years the rent was
subject to review. The most cogent criticisms that could be levelled
against the system were the lack of any upper limit to the area that
could be granted, the failure to require settlement of the land and the
practice of allowing the enfiteusis contract to change hands freely.
These loopholes in the Act led to land-grabbing and speculation and
left the way open for a system of " sub-leases that spoliated the wretched
countryfolk for the benefit of powerful urban interests ". 1
This Act introducing enfiteusis was followed by others dealing with
land settlement such as the Avellaneda Act of 19 October 18762, the
Homestead Act of 1884 which dealt expressly with state-owned lands,
Act No. 4167 of 1902 and Act No. 10284 of 28 September 1917. The
chief purpose of these enactments was to settle immigrants and tenants
1
For a more detailed comparative analysis of the enfiteusis system as applied
by the Romans, the Spaniards and in Argentina see Domingo BÒREA: Legislación
agraria de la República Argentina (Buenos Aires, Editorial Carlos Gide Ltda., 1948),
pp. 155-162.
2
Under this Act, and another of the same kind, a total of 100 land grants with a
total area of 5,080,000 hectares were made; there were cases in which a single person or
company in this way acquired estates of 240,000 hectares or more. Subsequent
investigations into these land grants as they affected a total of 2,600,000 hectares
showed that the majority of them were made without the recipients complying with
the basic obligations imposed by law. See Ministerio de Agricultura de la Nación:
Memoria correspondiente al ejercicio de 1947, op. cit., pp. 19-20.
80
THE LANDLESS FARMER IN LATIN AMERICA
on suitable land with government help until they could stand on their
own feet. In 1934 the Central Agrarian Council was set up and the
first steps were taken towards a complete overhaul of the agrarian
system, a process which culminated in the Settlement Act of 1940
(No. 12636) which set up the National Agrarian Council and laid
down the procedure to be followed by this agency in selling land holdings.
The results of the 1940 Act up to 1947 were announced in the President's message at the opening of the 1947 Session of Congress.1 This
message stated that up to that date 6,000 families comprising some
34,000 persons had received grants of land, temporary or permanent
title deeds, homesteads or leases. Between 1946 and 1950 some 455,000
hectares were distributed under this legislation.
The Public Lands Act of 5 October 1950 (No. 13995) and Decree
No. 8899 containing the regulations issued thereunder lay down the
fundamental principle that the land must be treated as a vehicle for
productive work rather than a source of unearned income and adds
that its principal aim is to protect the Argentine peasantry and to bring
government-owned land back into use. Such land may be sold, leased
or allocated for immediate or future occupation. Under the regulations
all public lands covered by this Act are the responsibility of the Ministry
of Agriculture and Stockraising, working through the General Directorate of Lands. Sales prices or rents of public land must be fixed by the
Directorate either for whole areas or for individual holdings, having due
regard to the purposes for which the land is to be used and its distance
from the available points of loading for the produce. The maximum
period for paying off the sale price of any holding given over to stockraising is 15 years, while for general farming it is ten years. In either
case leases are non-transferable and the surveying of the holding is the
responsibility of the grantee.
A lease without option to purchase is usually given when the land
is insufficient in either area or quality to form an economic farming unit;
such leases run for ten years and are automatically renewable for further
ten-year periods.
New legislation was introduced in January 1955 (Act No. 14392
providing facilities for the grant of land to agricultural workers for
settlement purposes) which gave the Argentine National Bank " working
in direct co-operation with a co-ordinating council composed of representatives of interested government departments and genuine agricultural
producers," wide powers to prepare settlement plans, acquire land,
organise credit facilities, grant technical assistance to settlers and provide
1
Diario de sesiones de la Cámara de Senadores de la Nación, sesión de asamblea
de l.o de mayo de 1947 (Buenos Aires), pp. 18-19.
ACCESS TO LAND OWNERSHIP
81
a wide range of facilities and amenities for settlers. The lands to be used
for settlement include, in addition to state land, " privately-owned lands
which are not fulfilling their social purpose ". All land " the internal
and external characteristics of which point to the need for its fragmentation on the basis of a joint analysis of the economic and social factors
emerging from modern agricultural technique and rural life " is considered suitable for settlement. Land is to be distributed in economic
units to suitable persons who have been engaged in agricultural work but
who do not own an economic unit, preference being given, among others,
to persons with large families of Argentine nationality or foreigners
with more than five years' residence. Cultivators who have been farming the land in question as tenants, share-farmers or " settlers under
any other title " are to be granted land outright, priority being given
to tenants or share-farmers " who have been deprived of the legal
extension periods of their contraéis ". Settlers shall receive title to the
land ten years after taking possession if they fulfil certain conditions,
such as residing on and personally cultivating the holding in accordance
with sound principles of husbandry as laid down by the Bank, making
the required payments and being members of co-operative organisations.
Bolivia
In Bolivia the Agrarian Reform Legislative Decree of 2 August 1953
brought about a radical change in systems of land tenure and was the
first piece of legislation designed to give landless tillers of the soil an
opportunity of owning land themselves. In laying down the order of
priority to be followed in sharing out the land the Legislative Decree
stipulates that peasants who have been subject to a feudal system of
labour and exploitation as pegujaleros, agregados, etc. " are hereby
declared to be the owners of the holdings they cultivate or occupy ".
Where large estates are farmed on the colonato system the decree gives
preference to the colonos and farm labourers previously working on the
estate. Certain regions in which the tenant-labourer system exists are
mentioned by name; in these regions peons are included among the
farmers having priority for the grant of the sayañas and leaseholds they
occupied. It also contains provisions which place considerable emphasis
on the process of settling the underpopulated eastern part of the country.
The Legislative Decree on agrarian reform stipulated that the sale price
of land granted to peasants must be based on the current assessed value.
Payment must be made in 50 half-yearly instalments; should the recipient
default on two consecutive instalments he is liable to a fine equal to 1 per
cent, of the amount due plus the interest for the period concerned. If he
82
THE LANDLESS FARMER IN LATIN AMERICA
defaults on four consecutive instalments the land automatically reverts
to the Government, which is at liberty to assign it to any other peasant
who may need it.
Brazil
In Brazil the federal Constitution grants " occupation rights " to
squatters who own no urban or rural property and who for ten consecutive years, without opposition or acknowledgment on their part that
the land belongs to anybody else, occupy a holding not exceeding
25 hectares which they make productive by their work and on which they
make their homes. A squatter who satisfies these conditions is granted
ownership of his holding by means of a duly entered declaratory
judgment. On this point it is interesting to note that as far back as 1850
an Act was passed (No. 601) containing similar provisions dealing
with this class of farmer. Section 5 of this Act laid down the procedure
for granting applications for title deeds based solely on occupation of
the land provided the squatter was actually living on the land and cultivating it.
Colombia
The fundamental purpose of the Colombian Land Tenure Act
(No. 200, dated 30 December 1936) is to make the right to the ownership
of land conditional on its use for farming purposes. The Act classifies as
idle land all private property which is not farmed by the owner, e.g. as a
plantation or cattle farm or for any other purpose of equal economic
value. The Act thus created a new opportunity of acquiring title to land
by stipulating that, even if they had lost an action for possession, " persons who two years before the commencement of the present Act have
established themselves, without recognising any ownership other than
that of the State . . . on land which was uncultivated at the time when they
settled thereon, shall be entitled to acquire the said land on payment
of a fair price ". This provision only applied if the owner of the land
allowed 90 full days to elapse after the entry into force of the Act without
bringing an action for recovery. In such cases the payment of the " fair
price " had to be made within a period of five years. Section 6 of the Act
was designed to avoid immediate and large-scale transfers of uncultivated
land by giving the owners of such property ten years' grace to bring the
land into cultivation and prevent it from being classified as " idle ". This
same section stated that at the end of this time only the uncultivated
sections of any estate would be forfeited and that in any event properties
of less than 300 hectares would be exempt from such extinctive prescription of title. Section 25 of the Act set up a number of " land courts " with
responsibility for dealing with applications made under the Act; the
ACCESS TO LAND OWNERSHIP
83
same section also laid down the procedure for dealing with appeals.
In 1937 Decrees Nos. 588, 650, 1150 and 1229 were issued to specify
the scope of the Act. In addition Decree No. 59 of 11 January 1938
defined more exactly the " farming purposes " referred to in the 1936
Act and established machinery for allocating idle land to those who
were entitled to it.
In practice these measures embodied in the 1936 Act with the intention of facilitating property ownership had a very limited effect.
Following the establishment of the Land Distribution, Settlement
and Forestry Protection Institute under Decree No. 1483 of 11 May
1948, a number of settlement centres were opened up such as those
at Sumapaz, Caracolicito and San Juan, and the stock-raising centre
at Carare; these small-scale schemes, however, fell far short of the
ambitious scope of the 1936 Act. Moreover, the periodic unrest through
which the country has passed has not formed a favourable setting for
carrying out the aims of the Act. In some areas its effects have been
quite the opposite, as Crist explains in his book on land tenure and use
in the Cauca Valley. According to him, landless farmers in this fertile
region are kept on the move more than ever because the landowners now
take greater care to prevent any peasant from remaining on their estates
long enough to be able to claim occupation rights through having made
economic use of his land. " This law has tended to diminish the already
precarious sense of security of the labourer, and has been a powerful
weapon in the hands of the large landlords ",1
Guatemala
In Guatemala the Agrarian Reform Act of 15 June 1952 (No. 900)
referred in its preamble to the unsatisfactory results obtained hitherto
from earlier legislation designed to compel the owners of idle land to
lease it out. One of the chief aims of the Act was to distribute land
to peasants, colonos and farm labourers who either had no land at all
or did not have enough. For this purpose the National Agrarian Department, which was set up under this Act, was empowered to distribute
publicly owned land, i.e. the " national estates " 2 and expropriated
land. Freehold grants of the latter could be made up to 18 hectares,
while land belonging to the national estates could only be assigned for
life in holdings of between 4 and 7 hectares of cultivated land. When
1
Raymond E. CRIST: The Cauca Valley, Colombia—Land Tenure and Land Use
(Baltimore, Waverly Press, 1952), p. 36.
2
Agricultural holdings under state administration, including estates which
formerly belonged to German citizens and were expropriated during the war.
84
THE LANDLESS FARMER IN LATIN AMERICA
this type of holding did not amount to 7 hectares the recipient was
given an additional holding of uncultivated land in order to bring the
total up to 18 hectares. The annual ground rent was 3 per cent, of the
value of the crop. This right to the usufruct expired on the death of the
holder, but members of his family were given a preferential right to
take over the holding on the same terms.
Between the introduction of land reform and 20 February 1954
a total of 444,454 hectares were expropriated from private individuals and 247,833 hectares had been divided up between 55,734
peasants. The land distributed consisted of expropriated private land,
municipal estates and the national farms, and property belonging to
the State.1
When the new Government assumed power presidential decrees were
issued on 27 July and 22 August 1954 rescinding the Agrarian Reform
Act, cancelling the grants of land situated on the national estates and
announcing the issue of new agrarian legislation to solve the problem
of land ownership by developing and settling uncultivated land belonging to the State. A decree was issued on 1 March 1956 (No. 559) instituting the Agrarian Charter, which consolidated and revised all the agrarian
legislation passed up to that date.2 Under this enactment the Directorate
of Agrarian Affairs, which took the place of the National Agrarian
Department, is responsible for handling the country's agrarian policy.
This Charter differs fundamentally from the earlier legislation in that
it stipulates that the land must always be granted outright and that
these grants must be accompanied by technical and financial assistance;
it also lays stress on the development of the underpopulated areas of
the country through the establishment of agricultural centres by means
of internal migration. In addition to stipulating that idle land belonging to the State, together with state farms in production, must be
shared out fairly on a freehold basis among the landless labourers, the
Charter makes it clear that idle land belonging to private persons
can be expropriated for the same purpose. To this end the Directorate
of Agrarian Affairs, following the government order of 17 September
1956, has issued an Idle Lands (Classification) Regulation giving details
of the procedure for deciding which privately owned idle lands should
be included in the new agrarian programme.
In conformity with this procedure, the following land is available
to the Directorate of Agrarian Affairs: (1) publicly owned land, whether
idle or cultivated; (2) land already expropriated under the former
1
Report of the President of the Republic to the National Congress at its first
ordinary sitting in 1954 (£/ Guatemalteco, Vol. CXL, No. 84, 2 Mar. 1954, p. 690).
2
Estatuto Agrario (Guatemala, Imprenta Liberación, 1956).
ACCESS TO LAND OWNERSHIP
85
Agrarian Reform Act—although the new Act requires all expropriations to be reviewed, when they will be amended, confirmed or rescinded; (3) expropriated idle land, and (4) land which is deemed to
be idle, i.e. land to which no title exists and which is not recognised as
having any owner, and is reported as such to the authorities. Land in the
latter category is investigated with a view to registering it as public
property, i.e. as available for distribution.
Between 2 July 1955 and 10 January 1957 a total of 10,837! title deeds
were granted, and it is expected that by the end of 1957 the deeds delivered
will represent a total of 122,696 hectares. The Government plans to
distribute 5,000 holdings a year.
Mexico
In Mexico the concentration of land in a few hands and the exploitation of the peasants were the chief causes of the 1910 revolution, which
paved the way for a reform aimed at restoring to the old peasant communities the land of which they had been robbed and at enabling the
farm workers to own the land they tilled. It was not, however, until the
passing of Act No. 6 in January 1915 that the first legislative measures
were taken to put down the abuses which had been prevalent hitherto
in the granting or alienation of communal land and to set up machinery
to distribute and restore the ejido land to its rightful owners.
Article 27 of the Constitution of 5 February 1917 not only gave
constitutional status to the Act of January 1915 but also proclaimed the
eminent domain of the State over landed property. By virtue of the
sovereign power granted by this article the State was authorised to
regulate the use and distribution of landed property, to impose such
measures as might be required in the public interest, to make grants of
land to such townships as might need it, to limit land holdings, to regulate
the redistribution of large estates and, lastly, to take measures to
protect and encourage small-scale property owning.
The first step towards implementing the above-mentioned provisions
was taken by the Ejidos Act of 28 December 1920 which consolidated
the decisions of the National Agrarian Commission set up by the 1915
Act and at the same time set a number of new objectives in agrarian
policy. In the following years various additional enactments were
promulgated. Some, like the Agrarian Regulations of 1922 and the
Land and Water Rights (Grants and Restitution) Act, 1927, were (like
1
Figure taken from Dirección General de Asuntos Agrarios : Tierra en propiedad
(Guatemala, Unión Tipográfica, 3 July 1956), and special communication to the
I .L.O. from the Directorate-General of Agrarian Affairs.
86
THE LANDLESS FARMER IN LATIN AMERICA
the earlier ones) concerned with the distribution of land to villages,
while others, such as the Ejidal Property Act, 1925, for the first time
laid down the procedure for allocating the land distributed to ejidos
among the individual villagers. The Agrarian Code of 1934 consolidated
and amended the earlier regulations. One amendment of particular
interest for the purpose of this report was its recognition of the right of
the peones acasillados to be counted in any agrarian census as inhabitants
of the nearby villages or to be reckoned as constituting new centres of
agricultural population, which automatically entitled them to the use
of plots of ejido land.
The 1934 Agrarian Code was followed by the 1940 and 1942 Codes,
the latter being still in force. In both of the last-mentioned measures
there was a tendency to bring the provisions governing the size of land
grants into line with the regulations governing ejido property. Under
the 1942 Code the standard land grant x was increased to 6 hectares
of irrigated or watered land and 12 hectares of other land. In 1946
an amendment brought the area of irrigated land up to 10 hectares and
that of other land to 20.
Agrarian legislation since 1940 has sought to make the holding of
the individual ejidatario more permanent; to this end deeds and
certificates of farming rights are now issued which make the tenure of
the holding conditional only on its being regularly farmed by the
ejidatario himself—the original idea behind the scheme. Side by side
with this form of ejido tenure, larger units are sometimes farmed collectively whenever conditions are such that it would be impracticable or
uneconomic to split them up among individuals. On the subject of land
grants to villages, the Code stipulates that the latter must have been in
existence for not less than six months before applying to the Agrarian
Department for a grant; the members of the community must devote
themselves to agriculture and must supply evidence that they are either
landless or do not possess sufficient land.
According to the latest ejido census 2, up to 1950 the agrarian reform
had resulted in the distribution of a total of approximately 30 million
hectares of cultivable land to 17,579 ejidos with 1,552,926 members.
In addition, the area under cultivation in the ejidos increased by more
than \y2 million hectares as compared with 1940, at which date the
1
The standard land grant is the area of ejido land to which each member is
entitled individually, i.e. through the subdivision of the land assigned to each village;
this village area is calculated on the basis of the standard grant and the number
of villagers with a valid claim.
2
Secretaría de Economía, Dirección General de Estadística: Tercer Censo Ejidal
de 1950 : Resumen General, op. cit., p. 4.
ACCESS TO LAND OWNERSHIP
87
corresponding cultivated area accounted for 50 per cent, of the total
area of land under cultivation in Mexico.1
In addition to the land reform, land settlement has also been encouraged so as to make more cultivable land available to landless farmers.
The first serious attempt to introduce legislation on this point was the
Federal Settlement Act of 5 April 1926, which made provision for the
establishment of settlers on holdings of not less than 5 or more than
150 hectares, the purchase price being payable over a long period at
a low rate of interest. At the present time another Act of the same
name, promulgated on 30 December 1946, is in force, and responsibility
for its administration rests with the National Settlement Commission.
Under this Act tenants, share-farmers and bona fide squatters on the
land which it is proposed to settle must be given priority as settlers.
Although the price of the land is fixed by regulation in each case, the
value of the settlement established by the Commission may not exceed
the value of the land plus that of any improvements made upon it; when
settlements are organised by private individuals, the Act allows the
owner to charge a price for the holding equal to the value of the capital
invested plus 20 per cent. The time allowed for repayment may not be
less than ten or more than 25 years, the first instalment being payable
as from the second year following the signing of the contract. Interest
of between 3 and 8 per cent, a year may be charged on unpaid instalments
as the Commission may think appropriate.
THE " FAMILY PATRIMONY " SYSTEM
In countries where the State owns large areas of uncultivated land
and where squatters are common, the enfiteusis system, sometimes in
combination with official land settlement schemes, is often used to
establish the squatters permanently on cultivable land. The squatter is
given the life or hereditary usufruct of a plot of land which is commonly
called the patrimonio familiar; this right is subject to certain restrictions
with regard to subletting or abandonment without good reason.
As Cuba has fairly detailed legislation on the subject, the situation
in that country is described at some length here.
Patrimonio familiar, as defined in Cuba by the Act of 4 June 1943
(No. 18) and the regulations (Decree No. 507) issued thereunder, is a
system whereby the minimum family " homestead ", as specified in the
Act, is unattachable, non-transferable and exempt from taxes, levies and
duties of any kind. These concessions are subject to the condition that
1
United Nations, Progress in Land Reform, op. cit., p. 39.
88
THE LANDLESS FARMER IN LATIN AMERICA
the father or head of the family must occupy, cultivate and farm in
person a holding belonging to him, of a value not exceeding 2,000 pesos;
it must, moreover, constitute his only piece of property and must be
essential for his support. Should there be any improvements that bring
the value of the farm to more than 2,000 pesos the extra amount is
hable to taxation. If these statutory benefits are claimed by the owner,
possession of the property becomes subject to a number of restrictions,
particularly with regard to sale or hypothecation.
Cuba is one of the countries in which the institution of " family
patrimony " exists side by side with land settlement schemes. As
long ago as in 1937 an Act was passed which allowed grants of state
land not exceeding 2 caballerías (26.8 hectares) in area or 2,000 pesos
in value to be made by " deed of gift ". Responsibility for administering
the 1937 Act was given to the Directorate of Settlement and Land
Distribution which comes under the Ministry of Agriculture. Rights to
land thus granted may not be transferred except by inheritance, nor may
the land be ceded, mortgaged, leased, share-farmed, given in usufruct or
alienated in any way. At the end of 1953 some 16,000 hectares (1,200
caballerías) had been distributed under this Act.1 On 18 June 1951 a
Presidential Decree (No. 2969) was issued which set up the Special
Agrarian Development Fund; this Fund was authorised to acquire
property and prevent evictions with a view to developing the land and
resettling landless peasants. The regulations issued under this enactment earmarked a total of 5 million pesos for this purpose. Land acquired
by this agency must be split up into holdings of not more than 2
caballerías, which must be handed over together with deeds of sale by
deferred payment; payment is made in 25 instalments at an annual
rate of interest of 2 per cent. The regulations stipulate that every effort
must be made in expropriating or purchasing land to avoid evicting any
squatters who may be on it; if this proves unavoidable they must be
given in exchange holdings similar to those of the other recipients under
the scheme. However, the financial resources of the development fund
were not replenished once the initial appropriations were exhausted,
and since the time allowed for repayment is fairly long, the fund has
found it necessary to limit its operations to what it could finance with
capital repayments and the interest from certain short-term loans which
it was also empowered to grant.2
In the Dominican Republic the Act of 25 August 1932 (No. 357)
stipulates that any cultivable land belonging to the State may be granted
1
Alfonso ROCHAC and Miguel MONZÓN: " La tenencia de la tierra y el crédito
agrícola en Cuba ", loe. cit., p. 124.
2
Ibid., p. 122.
ACCESS TO LAND OWNERSHIP
89
by the Government to any poor person who submits an application.
Section 8 of the Act of 3 October 1934 (No. 758) states that such persons
must complete a trial period of five years before being granted title
deeds for life to their holdings.
In Panama the Act of 20 March 1941 (No. 22) introduced the
patrimonio familiar for poor country dwellers (particularly for squatters),
who were given the right to the life usufruct (which is also hereditary)
of up to 10 hectares of state land or of land expropriated for that purpose.
The regulations issued under the 1941 Act were supplemented by the
Decree of 1 July 1950 (No. 125) which empowered the Directorate of
Agricultural Education and Family Patrimony to implement the original
legislation.
INTERNAL LAND SETTLEMENT
In the following pages reference is made by way of illustration to
some of the programmes of internal land settlement operating in Latin
America.
Chile
In Chile the obstacles in the way of land ownership by peasants with
no land of their own are similar to those met with in other Latin American countries where the cultivable land near the marketing centres
belongs to large private estates 1 , and the agencies set up to resettle
landless peasants lack the resources to provide the necessary communications and means of access to suitable land at some distance from the
towns.
The task of making land available is discharged by the Agricultural
Settlement Fund which was originally established by the Act of 10
December 1928 (No. 4496) and given its present form by the Act of
15 February 1935 (No. 5604). This agency, which operates independently, started work in 1935 with a capital of 100 million pesos and has
since raised internal loans totalling 400 million pesos. The Fund is
administered by a board appointed by the President of the Republic
from candidates nominated by bodies concerned with agriculture and
public administration; the board includes three representatives of the
1
The survey carried out by the Economic Commission for Latin America in
the provinces of Santiago and Valparaiso showed that out of 401 properties covered
by the census, 5 per cent, contained 80 per cent, of the cultivable land in those
provinces. The position is even more serious than these figures suggest, since this
is one of the major farming areas of the country in which nearly 40 per cent, of the
population is concentrated. See United Nations, Economic Commission for Latin
America: Analysis of Some Factors Which Act as an Obstacle to the Increase of Agricultural Production, loc. cit., p. 11.
90
THE LANDLESS FARMER IN LATIN AMERICA
settlers themselves. It has power to acquire the farm land needed for
settlement purposes by inviting tenders or at public auction or if necessary by private treaty. After selecting the settler as prescribed by the
regulations, the Fund only gives him the right to the usufruct of the
holding for one year, during which he has to give proof of his ability
to farm the holding efficiently. The Fund requires each applicant to make
a down payment of 10 per cent, of the sale price and to pay off the
remainder in instalments over 42 years. At the end of the probationary
year the settler is given the title deed together with a mortgage for the
balance due. Holdings made available by the Fund in this way may not
be broken up for resale without the permission of the board. Although
the Fund has taken over a total of 464,277 hectares, of which 359,638
have been redistributed, official circles are inclined to the view that
the aims of the Act setting up the Fund have not been achieved :
The main purpose of this law was to divide up the very large estates into
small holdings or economic units, varying in size according to their situation
and potential productivity, to enable them to be handed over to farmers
on long-term leases with eventual ownership. In spite of this law, however,
government activity in developing and dividing up state owned and privately
owned land has not been intense enough to solve the social welfare and land
tenure problems involved, the reason being that the Agricultural Settlement
Fund has lacked the necessary financial resources, owing to a large increase
in its operating expenses. Further, the rapid inflationary process which the
country is undergoing has reduced the value of the amortisation payments
on the holdings, thus limiting the Fund's ability to acquire additional land.1
Ecuador
In Ecuador 2 opportunities of acquiring land chiefly concern idle
land belonging to the State 3 which is administered by the Department
of Idle Lands and Settlement. Between 1945 and 1950 this agency
provisionally allocated 67,300 hectares and made permanent grants of
a further 68,300 hectares. The majority of these permanent grants
were made in the western part of the country, owing to the better
supply and marketing facilities available. In the eastern region, however,
1
United Nations: Progress in Land Reform, op. cit., p. 111.
Since this report was written, a National Colonisation Institute has been set up
by special decree (June 1957) to promote various forms of land settlement more
energetically.
3
Under the Idle Lands (Settlement) Act of 12 May 1936, idle land was deemed
to include not only state holdings but privately owned land which remains or has
remained uncultivated for a period of 30 years; this establishes a presumption of
abandonment by the landowner whereupon ownership reverts to the State. This
Act amended an Act of 1863 concerning idle state land, which excluded privately
owned land from its provisions. Although no details are available regarding the area
of idle land, it is generally accepted that it accounts for a high proportion of the
area of uncultivated land, which in Ecuador represents 75 per cent, of the total land
available.
2
ACCESS TO LAND OWNERSHIP
91
where conditions are less favourable, many of the holdings were abandoned and could not be granted on a permanent basis. These grants
are made on individual application. Approval for each application is
given after inquiries have been made by the authorities in the parish
where the holding is situated; it is a rule that the application must be
publicly announced in order to prevent any counter-claims by third
parties. On this point mention should be made of the fact that the
Emergency Decree of 21 December 1939 (No. 36), which amended
the Idle Lands (Settlement) Act of 1936, stipulated that holdings of
less than 50 hectares need not be surveyed or valued. As might be
expected, this amendment has led to disputes over boundaries " resulting
in open conflict between the farmers and sometimes even leading to
bloodshed ". J To deal with these disputes a special office was recently
set up by the Department of Idle Lands and Settlement.
The Survey by the Economic Commission for Latin America of
economic development in Ecuador quotes a statement by the Ministry
of Economics in one of its annual reports to the effect that 80 per cent.
of the administrative work in the Department of Idle Lands and
Settlement consists in settling disputes between occupants or owners
and provisional or permanent settlers in one part of the country or
another.2
Uruguay
In Uruguay, Section 7 of Act No. 11029 of 1948, which set up the
National Settlement Institute, allows a variety of systems to be used
by that body in settling farmers on public land. It may grant land
to be farmed by co-operatives, partnerships, owners, tenants, sharefarmers under the enfiteusis system or even by squatters, the only
limitation being that no holding may exceed 1,000 hectares. It should
be added that the Act of 10 May 1929 allowed land to be given to
settlers on lease provided they gave an undertaking to buy it, while
the Act of 27 April 1947 permitted cash or share tenancy as the
permanent method of farming settlement lands.
Venezuela
In Venezuela the National Agrarian Institute recently started a chain
of " peasant resettlement centres " for squatters (conuqueros) estab1
Rodrigo VILLEGAS: " La legislación agraria en el Ecuador ", in Boletín de la
Sección de Investigaciones de Derecho Comparado de la Universidad Central del Ecuador
(Quito), Second Year, No. 2, Dec. 1952, p. 120.
2
United Nations, Economic Commission for Latin America: El desarrollo económico del Ecuador, op. cit., p. 79.
92
THE LANDLESS FARMER IN LATIN AMERICA
lished on idle land or on other persons' property in the Andean uplands,
in the immediate vicinity of the pan-American highway or on the upper
reaches of the rivers. Under the programme drawn up by this Institute,
three centres have been opened in the state of Barinas and work is in
progress on the Unidad Agropecuaria de ¡os Andes and the El Cenizo
centre. So far the Institute has concentrated on making outright sales
of land to Venzuelan and immigrant farm families, and between 1 July
1949 and 31 December 1953 it distributed 4,415 holdings with an area of
35,169 hectares. When land is sold in this way the price of the holdings
and housing provided by the Institute is repayable in 25 annual instalments with effect from the third year of entry into possession.1
AGRICULTURAL CREDIT
The availability of adequate and suitable sources of credit is an
important factor in providing opportunities of land ownership. The
following examples show how the problem of credit is being approached
in some Latin American countries.
Argentina
Credit facilities to enable tenants and share-farmers to acquire the
freehold of land in Argentina and to carry out or continue the improvements needed for production were also dealt with in the Act of 1948
concerning rural tenancies and share-farming contracts. Decrees
Nos. 30654 of 1949 and 21260 of 1950 containing regulations to
implement the credit provisions embodied in Sections 13 and 56 of the
Act, empowered the National Bank to make development loans to these
classes of farmers. During the last decade the land settlement activities
have been concentrated on assisting tenants to finance the purchase of the
land they hold under lease. Thus the second five-year plan, referring
to the creation of opportunities of owning farmland, stated that the
conversion of leaseholds into freeholds would be given priority in the
Government's programme to encourage orderly progress towards land
ownership. Under this plan the process will be carried out by means
of the ordinary lending machinery of the official banking system and
by a policy of differential taxation of land farmed directly and land
farmed by third parties.2
1
Instituto Agrario Nacional: Aspectos de la reforma agraria en Venezuela (Caracas,
Mar. 1954), p. 42.
2
Presidencia de la Nación, Subsecretaría de Información: Segundo plan quinquenal
(Buenos Aires), 1 Dec. 1952, p. 137.
ACCESS TO LAND OWNERSHIP
93
Brazil
In Brazil the regulations of the agrarian credit department of the
Bank of Brazil empower it to grant loans for the purchase, survey and
demarcation of small land holdings, and for the construction of housing
and other useful improvements. The regulations state that tenants or
squatters who are already on a given holding must be given preferential
treatment in the department's credit programme. Loans for the above
purposes are repayable over a period of up to 15 years. The Bank is
also empowered to grant short-term loans for periods of between one
and eight years to finance various types of crops.
Private credit is mainly provided by privately owned settlement
agencies, e.g. the Companhia de Terras Norte do Paraná, whose head
office is in Londrina. This concern was founded in 1930 when it bought
1,236,000 hectares of idle, mostly virgin land from the state of Paraná
in the area of Paranapanema, Tibagí, Pirapó and Ivai; after opening up
the area by building railway spurs to the lines serving the ports of
Santos and Paranaguá, together with over 2,000 km. of roads, it split
up the land into building or farming lots. For farming purposes the
land may be sold as small farms of up to 12 hectares, chacras, in which case
the company requires a down payment of 40 per cent, of the price,
the balance being paid in two annual instalments of 30 per cent., or it
may be sold as sitios, i.e. holdings of more than 12 hectares, with a
30 per cent, down payment followed by four annual instalments, the
first of 10 per cent, and the last three of 20 per cent. With each instalment interest of 8 per cent, is collected on the amount outstanding. The
buyer receives his holding duly marked out, surveyed and free of encumbrance. The title deeds are handed over when the sale price has
been paid in full, while the buyer has to bear any legal and registration
expenses incurred. According to a pamphlet published in 1948 by the
Company up to 31 December 1947, i.e. 17 years after the start of operations, the firm had sold 625,000 hectares in this way in holdings of an
average area of 38.4 hectares.
Cuba
In Cuba, Act No. 5 of 1950, which set up the Agricultural and Industrial Development Bank, authorised it to make mortgage loans for periods
of up to 25 years for the purchase of farm holdings and agricultural equipment, the construction and repair of useful improvements, the establishment of permanent plantations and similar purposes. When the loan
is for not more than five years, collateral is accepted, but if livestock are
94
THE LANDLESS FARMER IN LATIN AMERICA
offered as security the loan may not be for more than two years. Loans
to cover ordinary expenses for non-permanent crops may be made for
18 months, and a lien on seed, produce, livestock and other chattels
may be accepted as security.
The Bank was founded with an initial capital of 15 million pesos
and a development fund of 10 million pesos shared equally between the
departments dealing with agriculture and industry. The agricultural
side of the Bank's work is decentralised and is carried out through
rural credit associations which are in fact local co-operatives operating
under the direct supervision of the Bank's agricultural department.
Apart from securing a better distribution of credit facilities, this system
is also designed to provide farmers with a number of additional services
such as processing, storage, transport and marketing facilities.
The functions of the Agricultural and Industrial Development Bank,
as set forth in the 1950 Act, have had the effect of filling a gap in the
country's agricultural structure since Cuba, like other Latin American
countries, had hitherto lacked an efficient credit system designed to
help landless peasants to buy land and finance their crops. This is why
the system of obtaining credit from the notorious " tick shops " (tiendas
de raya) had become so powerful. A recent book on land tenure and
agricultural credit in Cuba states—
The usual practice has been to obtain loans from the owners of bodegas
(village shops) or cantinas (shops opened up in the fields). While the crop is
being grown they [the small farmers] draw their food, clothing, footwear,
tools, etc., from these shops and pay off their debts months later by delivering
their produce at whatever price the shopkeeper may care to fix. The farmer
can also obtain small loans from these moneylenders to cover urgent personal
needs or to pay his labourers' wages.1
The same source states that although the shops appear to charge no
interest this is more than offset by the low prices they pay for the produce
delivered to them or by their practice of cheating with the weights and
measures. This type of " tick shop " is supplied by other tradesmen
who give short-term credit and accept payment in produce, while they
in turn have similar arrangements with other wholesalers. The book
points out that under this system the farmer is virtually outside the
monetary economy and this in turn means that he accumulates debts
which lead to insolvency. Moreover, he can never save up enough
money to buy his holding unless he is given favourable credit terms,
for otherwise his income from farming is barely sufficient to cover his
operating and living expenses and there is nothing left over for capital
formation.
1
A. ROCHAC and M. MONZÓN : " La tenencia de la tierra y el crédito agrícola en
Cuba ", loe. cit., p. 124.
ACCESS TO LAND OWNERSHIP
95
Paraguay
Although relatively new, the system of supervised agricultural credit
has had extremely promising results in a number of countries where
this type of financial and technical assistance has been given to the
classes of farmers dealt with in this report. In Paraguay this was in fact
the main aim of the Legislative Decree of 21 December 1947 (No. 1611)
setting up the Agricultural Development Fund as part of the Paraguay
Agricultural Bank ; Section 1 of the Decree stated that the purpose of
the new agency was " to provide farmers who are unable to satisfy their
requirements through the normal credit channels with the facilities they
need to obtain suitable technical, financial and social assistance ". The
key to this system is the educational nature of the help given in applying
the necessary techniques and in making the best use of the funds provided under this programme. The latter is not only concerned with
purely agricultural aspects but also deals with the social side of rural
family life, e.g. the farmer and his family are taught to improve their
standard of living by means of better diet, housing, sanitation, hygiene,
etc.
The Agricultural Development Fund, which was organised with an
initial capital of 20 million guaranis, was empowered to make various
types of loan, the amount and repayment period depending on the
purpose for which the money is requested. For example, loans of up to
1,500 guaranis repayable in one orfiveyears are made to finance operating costs and the purchase of equipment, while loans of up to 3,000
guaranis may be granted for between 10 and 15 years for building purposes and for the purchase of land adjoining on the borrower's. Although
the Act allows interest of up to 8 per cent, to be charged, in fact the
Fund only charges 6 per cent. It is run by a board and relies on local
advisory councils to select farmers likely to make good use of any development loans. Its major achievements include the establishment and
management of a number of farm settlements in which landless peasants
have been given holdings and provided with assistance in paying for
the land and financing their farming operations.1
#
*
In Latin America, as in other parts of the world where land ownership is concentrated in a few hands, the problem of extending land
ownership largely consists of creating opportunities on a steadily widening
1
Roberto L. PETIT: " El programa de crédito agrícola supervisado en el Paraguay ",
loe. cit.
96
THE LANDLESS FARMER IN LATIN AMERICA
scale for tenants and share-farmers to acquire land of their own or to
hold it under whichever equivalent system of tenure affords the greatest
security in their particular country. The question is complicated by the
existence of large numbers of cultivators who, in exchange for the use
of land, are required to perform work or personal services for the owner,
and of substantial numbers of squatters.
In some countries drastic agrarian reforms have been introduced
to break up the largest estates and distribute the land among landless
cultivators and to do away with onerous tenancy arrangements; examples
are the Mexican reforms leading to the restoration of lands to the ejidos
and the more recent reforms in Bolivia and Guatemala.
More frequently, however, the method adopted has been the resettlement of public land, other idle land and land especially acquired for the
purpose. While all the countries studied have promoted internal land
settlement, the effectiveness of the programmes obviously depend on
the funds available and on the accessibility of the areas used for settlement. In all too many cases the land available lacks communications
and other amenities and facilities needed for its development. In fact,
one of the main reasons why progress thus far has been so slow is the
difficulty and expense of carrying out the detailed surveys required
before land can be developed.
In several countries land has been made available to squatters under
the patrimonio familiar, or similar arrangements, with varying degrees
of success. When a farmer is settled on land which he already occupies,
either by the grant of the title to the land or of a lease for life (which
may also be hereditary), this system has the added attraction that it
amounts to a de jure recognition of something which already exists.
Moreover, the very fact that the squatter remains on the holding means
that the latter is not entirely undeveloped and does not require the
capital investment that would be needed to bring idle land into use.
So far credit does not seem to have been very effective in helping
landless cultivators to acquire land of their own. The predominance of
subsistence agriculture in many countries and the absence of efficient
marketing services even where surpluses are produced has meant that
few cultivators are credit-worthy. Moreover, there is a lack of suitable
facilities capable of providing cultivators with adequate finances and at
the same time of satisfying investors of the soundness of the investment.
An encouraging trend is the development of supervised short-termcredit programmes; but these are costly and need state subsidies. Undoubtedly greater attention must be paid to the credit problems of
small farmers in Latin America.
CHAPTER VI
LIVING CONDITIONS
In the foregoing chapters we have examined in some detail the
situation of cash-rental and share-tenants and other types of landless
cultivators in law and practice in the different countries of Latin America.
In this chapter we shall describe in general terms the conditions in which
these people actually live, with special reference to housing, health
and nutrition—three factors of vital importance which are a testimony
to and a cause of the lowness of living standards.
HOUSING
The most conspicuous sign of the peasant's economic and social
status is the place where he lives. Although there are no comprehensive
statistics available on this subject for Latin America it can be stated
without fear of contradiction that the housing standards of the agricultural population in general and of the classes dealt with in this report in
particular are totally unsatisfactory.
Argentina
An analysis of the position in Argentina clearly shows that even in the
countries which are normally considered to be the leaders in agricultural
development in Latin America rural housing is still extremely backward.
Taylor, writing in 1948, discussed the problem of rural housing in
Argentina and stated that " the weakest element in the physical level of
living in Argentine rural life is housing ". 1
As was seen earlier, the short contracts given to tenants and sharefarmers in Argentina, coupled with the fact that they even had to build
the dwelling house themselves, were instrumental in preventing even
the minimum requirements from being met. The dwelling was usually
built with mud walls and floors and a straw or corrugated-iron roof.
Sometimes a tenant would live in such a house with his family for
periods of up to 20 years without being able to do anything to improve
1
Carl C. TAYLOR: Rural Life in Argentina, op. cit., p. 202.
98
THE LANDLESS FARMER IN LATIN AMERICA
it since he could never be sure that his lease would be extended at the
end of each five-yearly period.
At the time when Taylor was writing the situation had become so
bad that it was found necessary to introduce legislation to try to alleviate
the housing problems of tenants and share-farmers. Thus Section 10
of Act No. 13246 of 1948, to which frequent reference has already
been made, required the lessor to provide each holding with a solidly
built, hygienic house comprising not less than three rooms, a kitchen,
a veranda, a water-closet with a shower and a well or pump to provide
the family with water. The Act empowered the tenant to have these
installations made on behalf of the landlord should the latter fail to
carry them out within a prescribed period. Although, generally speaking,
steps have been taken to implement the 1948 Act throughout the country,
no accurate information is available at the present time regarding the
changes brought about by this legislation.
Bolivia and Peru
In the Andean High Plateau, which includes both Bolivia and Peru,
the typical peasant dwelling has been described as a tiny house with
adobe walls, consisting of a single room which houses not only the whole
family but sometimes a number of domestic animals (chiefly rabbits) as
well. It is also used as a store for chuño (potato meal), maize and farm
implements. Usually there are no windows but only little air vents; the
roof is almost always made oí paja brava (a kind of straw which is fairly
common in the region), while the floor simply consists of beaten earth.
In the vicinity of Lake Titicaca, where totora reeds are often used as
roofing material, La Barre states that the one room which is generally
all the house consists of is usually about 6 by 9 or 12 feet.1 In addition,
Leonard, in his regional study of ChuUpas canton in the Cochabamba
valley, states that in this area there are on the average three persons
to a room; this, in view of the generally inadequate ventilation and
shelter, is well below any minimum requirement.2
Housing in the semi-tropical areas of Bolivia and Peru is much the
same except that the materials are somewhat different; for the roof palm
leaves are often used instead of straw, and the walls are sometimes made
of bamboo or palm boards. 3
1
Weston L A BARRE : " The Aymara Indian of the Lake Titicaca Plateau," in
American Anthropologist (Menasha, Wisconsin, George Banta Publishing Co.), Vol. 1,
Part 2, Jan. 1948, p p . 93-94.
2
O. E. LEONARD : Canton ChuUpas : A Socio-economic Study in the Cochabamba
Valley, op. cit., p. 61.
3
United Nations : Report of the Commission of Enquiry on the Coca Leaf, op. cit.,
p. 49. See also O. E. LEONARD : Bolivia : Land, People and Institutions, op. cit., pp. 199201.
LIVING CONDITIONS
99
Brazil
Notable among the types of rural housing found in Brazil is the
pan-a-pique, i.e. the typical bohío hut found in the Caribbean area or the
rancho shack common to all the countries of Central and South America.
Referring to the share-tenants of the Carros area in the Redencäo da
Serra district (Säo Paulo), Schmidt describes in detail certain features of
the construction of these huts which are very similar to those encountered
in other countries. According to this writer, when a farmer has obtained
the resources needed to take on a lease or share-farming contract and
has come to an arrangement with the owner of the land, whether a house
is built depends partly on whether or not he can cultivate the holding
for more than a year at a time and also on the distance of the new holding
from his former home. Once he has decided to build he chooses a suitable spot near a water supply on firm, level ground. He clears the site
of vegetation, cuts some poles in the forest, digs holes for them and
puts up the framework of the house. He then lashes cross-pieces
to the uprights with lianas to serve as backing for the walls; the framework for the roof is put up in the same way. The latter is then covered
with closely woven straw—a task which is carried out with the help
of his wife or sometimes of a fellow-labourer, whom he has to repay
in a similar manner. Once the doors and windows have been fitted the
framework is then faced with mud daub. For this muritäo, or " wallraising ", the farmer calls in the neighbours, and it usually takes a day
of their combined efforts.1 The housing of tenant-labourers in the
coffee-growing areas where the buildings are put up by the estates for
which they work is usually more solidly built of adobe and tiles.
Chile
Poblete Troncoso, discussing the problem of farm housing in Chile,
emphasises the seriousness of the situation and points out that the average
density per room in the countryside is 6.3 persons.2 In order to improve
the situation the Agricultural Settlement Fund has launched a scheme
to build farmhouses on the lands it has settled. Under this scheme the
Fund builds a house for the settler at its own expense or lends him
1
It is quite common in Latin American countries for the community to help in
building all or part of the house. This practice, which is called junta in Panama and
minka in the Andean High Plateau, is in fact quite a social occasion for the peasants,
and the owner of the house to be built provides them all with food, drink and music.
See Carlos B. SCHMIDT: A Vida Rural no Brasil (Säo Paulo, Secretaria da Agricultura,
1951), pp. 53-60.
2
Moisés POBLETE TRONCOSO: La economía agraria de América latina y el trabajo
campesino (Santiago, Universidad de Chile, 1953), p. 213.
100
THE LANDLESS FARMER IN LATIN AMERICA
the money needed to build one; these loans are repayable over 20 years.
At the same time Act No. 8 of October 1943 required landowners to
provide inquilinos and medieros with housing appropriate to the number
of persons in their families and laid down minimum standards of construction, amenity and cleanliness. However, the Act gave the landowners twelve-and-a-half years in which to fulfil this requirement. In
order to make it easier for them the 1945 agrarian plan, which was given
statutory approval in the same year, allocated 300 million pesos for
advances to landowners to enable them to undertake this construction
work.
Cuba
In Cuba the bohío, which is the commonest type of housing among
the peasants, is broadly similar to the primitive types already described
except that the walls are more often made of vegetable products (such as
the wood of a palm called yagua or similar material together with planks).
Lowry Nelson, in a special survey of 11 rural communities in 1946 x,
found that approximately half the houses in these communities had
earth floors while the remainder had floors of cement, flagstones or
wood. Otherwise the main difference between the houses was that some
used palm bark for the walls while others used boards. In the tobaccogrowing area of Pinar del Rio 88 per cent, of the houses were made of
boards while in Alto Songo two-thirds of the houses had walls of palm
bark. According to the same source the cost of a typical bohío with
board walls, straw roof and earth floor was approximately 200 pesos
in 1946. The writer gives details of an example taken from the southern
part of Havana province: a total of 221 pesos was spent on building the
hut, of which boards for the walls cost 161 pesos, wood for the roof
framework 48 pesos and straw to cover the roof 12 pesos. Labour was
not counted in the construction cost since it was provided by the neighbours. 1
Ecuador
In Ecuador a survey carried out in the province of Pichincha 2
showed that nearly all the rural houses consisted merely of walls and a
roof while the floor in all of them was of beaten earth. Only a tenth of
the houses had windows. The usual type of house is oblong in shape
and consists of a room and a passage : " In one corner of the room there
is a rough wooden bedstead or simply a platform of poles and reeds ;
1
Lowry NELSON: Rural Cuba, op. cit., pp. 202-208.
A. BUITRÓN and B. Salisbury BUITRÓN: Condiciones de vida y trabajo del
campesino de la provincia de Pichincha, op. cit., pp. 35 and 37.
2
LIVING CONDITIONS
101
sometimes there is not even that, but simply a mat or hide which is
rolled up during the day-time and stretched out on the floor for sleeping
on during the night." After mentioning that this type of housing is
common among the labourers (peones libres) and other workers such as
the huasipungueros the authors add that " the estate owners care little
or nothing about the condition of the houses intended for their huasipungueros ". According to another study of the same area, the Indians
often share their houses with their animals : " suffice it to say that,
on estates where there is pedigree stock, the cattle are better housed
than the workers." However, the same author states that in five parishes
of the same province in the immediate vicinity of Quito 87 per cent.
of the houses had tiled roofs.1
Panama
In Panama the 1950 national census of population and livestock
revealed that of a total of 103,243 rural dwellings 42.1 per cent, had more
than three persons to a room and 12.7 per cent, more than six. Not
counting the housing of the Indian population the census found that, of
the 96,140 remaining dwellings, 67.6 per cent, had walls of straw or
similar material (reeds bound with clay, palm bark, cane-stalks, etc.),
while 25.2 per cent, had timber walls. The roofs of 58.1 per cent, were of
straw, and of the remainder 20.1 per cent, were of tiles and 20.5 per
cent, of corrugated iron. The floors in 69.6 per cent, were of earth, while
boards were used in 17.9 per cent, and cement in 9 per cent.2
Among the measures taken in Panama to solve the problem indicated
by the foregoing statistics mention should be made of the interesting
experiment now being carried out by the Economic Development
Institute. In 1954 this Institute, with the help of the technical co-operation programme of the Organisation of American States, launched a
project involving research into building materials and methods suitable
for rural housing in tropical areas. During its early stages, i.e. in 1955,
the scheme was limited to three central provinces, viz. Coclé, Herrera
and Los Santos. Broadly speaking, under this project loans of up to
150 balboas per dwelling are granted and technical advice is provided in
directing and supervising the actual construction work. The credit must
be used for the purchase of materials which the farmer cannot supply
1
Plutarco NARANJO VARGAS: El campesinado ecuatoriano y el seguro social obligatorio, op. cit., pp. 18 and 25.
2
Contraloría General de la República: " Algunas características importantes de
la vivienda panameña, " in Quinto Censo nacional de población y vivienda del 10 de
diciembre de 1950 (Panama, Jan. 1954).
102
THE LANDLESS FARMER IN LATIN AMERICA
himself (cement, hinges, etc.), but the bulk of the materials must be
obtained locally, and the farmer is expected to make them ready for use.
The labour required must be provided by the farmer and his family, who
may also call in the neighbours to help. The Institute has also issued a
manual1 which sets out clearly and simply a number of practical suggestions for improving rural housing by using the building materials available in each part of the country. The manual gives a number of house
plans suited to the different regions together with illustrations of how to
make furniture and household utensils out of local materials.
Paraguay
A survey of rural housing in Paraguay was carried out in 1946 by
the Institute of Inter-American Affairs. In the district of Piribebuy,
which is in the central agricultural belt, it was found that 70 per cent.
of the rural housing consisted of the ordinary rancho or shack, costing
between 50 and 100 guaranis, although if the farmer built it himself the
cost was lower. In order to give some idea of what this amount represents
for the average farmer, the study stated that it was roughly equal to the
price of a cow at a local market and that in the Piribebuy district it
amounted to between one-and-a-half and three months' pay for an
agricultural labourer.2
Uruguay
The National Settlement Institute in Uruguay recently launched a
series of schemes to enable settlers to build their homes by taking advantage of the credit facilities provided under Section 95 of the Act No. 11029
of 1948. The steps taken by the Institute include the issue of a set of
minimum housing standards designed to ensure that all housing built
with the help of the Institute's funds is of reasonable quality.
Venezuela
In Venezuela a special study carried out in 1948 by the Institute of
Inter-American Affairs in the Lake Valencia area 3 revealed that of a
total of 15,587 rural houses in this area 53 per cent, were primitive shacks,
1
Hugo NAVARRO and Ofelia HOOPER: Manual para el mejoramiento y construcción
de la vivienda rural panameña (Panama, Instituto de Fomento Económico, 1955).
2
Censo de agricultura del Paraguay, 1942-43 y 1943-44, op. cit., p. 93.
3
The Lake Valencia Region in Venezuela, op. cit., p. 5.
LIVING CONDITIONS
103
57 per cent, had straw roofs and 60 per cent, had earth floors. At the
present time the National Agrarian Institute is making great efforts to
improve rural housing as part of its settlement schemes. Thus between
1 July 1949 and 31 December 1953 this body erected 1,236 homes at a
cost of 12,187,600 bolivars.1 These houses, together with the holdings
on which they stand, have been made over to the farmers who have
been settled on the centres run by the Institute and the financing of these
transactions forms part of the settlement scheme.
HEALTH AND NUTRITION
Bolivia
All inquiries which have directly or indirectly touched on the living
conditions of the working population of Bolivia agree that the health
standards of the working classes are deplorably low. Overcrowding and
unhygienic housing, and a precarious diet combined with a harsh climate
both on the High Plateau and in the low-lying areas, create a breedingground for epidemics and diseases. According to Weston La Barre 2
there is a very high rate of various skin diseases, scarlatina and tuberculosis in the Lake Titicaca area, while in the uplands snow-blindness
(surumpi) is also common. Tuberculosis appears to be the disease which
causes most deaths. The same author adds that typhus is endemic on the
High Plateau. According to a report issued by the Ministry of Health
in 1941 it was found that, of 5,178 inhabitants of the Oriente district,
99 per cent, suffered from intestinal parasitic diseases, chiefly hookworm. 3
The diet of the Bolivian Indian peasant is inadequate both in quantity
and in quality. Leonard, describing the position on the High Plateau,
states that the Indian eats his fill only when there is a bumper harvest;
when there is a succession of droughts or when the harvest is spoilt
through accidents such as hailstorms he has only just enough to eat
to keep himself from actually starving.4 Potatoes, either fresh or dried,
quinua, barley and beans form the staple diet of the inhabitants of the
High Plateau, but in the valleys and low-lying areas the variety is greater,
since maize, yucca and bananas are also available.
1
Instituto Agrario Nacional: Aspectos de la reforma agraria en Venezuela! op.
cit., p. 49.
2
Weston L A BARRE: " The Aymara Indian of the Lake Titicaca Plateau," op.
cit., pp. 47-48 and 211-226.
3
Bulletin of the Pan-American Sanitary Bureau (Washington, D.C.), 21st Year,
No. 4, Apr. 1947.
4
O. E. LEONARD: Bolivia : Land, People and Institutions, op. cit., p. 237.
104
THE LANDLESS FARMER IN LATIN AMERICA
Colombia
Describing the diet of small farmers in the Cauca valley of Colombia,
Raymond E. Crist paints a picture which is true of many countries
throughout Latin America—
The small farmer rises early and has his tinto or cup of black coffee;
then he goes to his daily task of clearing land, or planting or harvesting his
food crops, according to the season of the year. From time to time he must
cut firewood to be carried on his back, or on the back of his wife or children,
to the village, in order to secure the cash with which to buy cheap cloth, tobacco,
matches, kerosene and other necessities; at mid-morning he breakfasts on
coffee and bread (arepa de maíz), brought to him usually by one of the younger
children. At noon he returns to the house for his big meal of plantains and
beans, occasionally cooked with a soup bone or a cheap piece of meat; then,
after a little rest, to work again on the plot. After his frugal evening meal,
there is very little the campesino can do; generally he is illiterate, and therefore
he does not need much artificial light—which, furthermore, is expensive.1
Cuba
In Cuba the special survey of 11 rural communities carried out by
Lowry Nelson showed that three-quarters of the families covered by
this survey obtained their drinking-water from wells and that 16 per cent.
of them drew it from rivers and streams.2 After pointing out the high
carbohydrate content of the diet of the rural population the author
calculates that the average annual consumption of rice per head in
these communities amounted to 194 lbs., or 90 lbs. more than the average
for the whole country in 1943.3 He states that bananas, either green or
ripe, form one of the most important items in the rural diet, followed by
beans, sweet potatoes (boniatos), yucca and potatoes. As a rule the
average peasant family consumes large quantities of brown sugar, but
during the intervals between harvests, i.e. when both money and stocks
are short, they use the raw sugar cane. The family of a small peasant
rarely eats eggs; if any are produced they are usually sold. Vegetables
with a high vitamin content, such as lettuce, carrots, etc., are almost unknown, at least in the heart of the countryside. Nelson, in his survey
referred to earlier, compiled the following table, which gives some idea of
annual food consumption per head in the 11 communities covered:
1
RAYMOND E. CRIST: The Cauca Valley, op. cit., p. 51.
Lowry NELSON: Rural Cuba, op. cit., p. 208.
3
Dirección General del Censo: Censo del año 1943 (Havana, 1945), p. 403.
2
105
LIVING CONDITIONS
TABLE XV. CUBA: ANNUAL CONSUMPTION PER HEAD OF VARIOUS ITEMS
BY PEASANT FAMILIES
Food
Bananas (plantain)
Vegetables1
Rice
Corn meal
Beans
Pork
Bread
Lard
Total . . .
Amount
(In lbs.)
Percentage of total
456
355
194
93
92
86
86
78
20
31.2
24.3
13.3
6.4
6.3
5.9
5.9
5.3
1.4
1,460
100.0
Source: Lowry NELSON: Rural Cuba, op. cit., p. 211.
1
Mainly sweet potatoes, yucca, arrowroot and potatoes.
Ecuador
The survey carried out under the auspices of the National Welfare
Institute in the province of Pichincha in 1947 devoted a whole
chapter to the question of nutrition in this region.1 It revealed that the
diet in this part of the country was chiefly made up of maize, morocho
(white maize soup) and barley, supplemented by salt, fats and onions.
Any variety in their diet depended largely on whatever happened to be
in season, while the quantity varied in accordance with the area of the
holding or huasipungo assigned to the peasant and on whether or not his
wife had an opportunity of working as a milkmaid or his sons as hired
farm labourers (peones sueltos).
The survey states that this diet appears to cover individual needs for
carbohydrates but that there is an alarming deficiency of protein and fats
since the tiny amounts of meat, cheese and milk which are bought from
time to time at the market do little to offset the glaring shortage of these
items in the diet. The authors add that there is little difference between
the diet of the huasipunguero and that of the wage-earning labourer.
This statement is particularly significant when it is borne in mind that
Professor Pablo A. Suárez of Quito University, in an investigation
carried out in 1941, established that the daily intake of an Indian labourer
was 2,000 calories.2 This should be considered in relation to the statement made by the Buitróns to the effect that " the average expectation
1
A. BUITRÓN and B. Salisbury BUITRÓN: Condiciones de vida y trabajo del
campesino de la provincia de Pichincha, op. cit., pp. 39-53.
2
Pablo A. SUÁREZ: " La situación del indio en el Ecuador ", in América Indigena
(Mexico City), Inter-American Indian Institute, Vol. I, No. 1, Jan. 1941, p . 61.
106
THE LANDLESS FARMER IN LATIN AMERICA
of life for a man in Ecuador is 32 years and infant mortality during
the first five years of life reaches 61 per cent." 1
Peru
In the rural districts of Peru the situation appears to be no better
than in the other countries of the Andean High Plateau. The United
Nations Commission of Enquiry on the Coca Leaf stated that " the
general impression on the Peruvian and Bolivian Altiplano is that
of an undernourished population. They live almost entirely on a vegetable diet of potatoes, beans and quinua. Dried meat is also eaten (according to income level) once a week or more frequently. The diet is deficient
in fat and animal protein and is probably calorically insufficient ".2 Describing the specific deficiencies of the diet in the Peruvian uplands which
lead to a variety of deficiency diseases and gastro-intestinal disorders, a
medico-social survey found that there was a lack of mineral salts, particularly iodine, calcium and iron, and insufficient proteins and vitamins
(A, the B group—especially thiamin and riboflavin—and C).3
Carlos Gutiérrez Noriega, in his study on cocaism and nutrition,
asserts that the average total daily food consumption in the southern
uplands is 767 grammes (compared with 1,096 grammes on the coast);
this figure relates to the whole population of the region. If the better-off
groups are excluded the average for the Indian peasant is only about
500 grammes a day. " The calorie deficiency in the diet of the average
Southern Andean Indian is thus between 1,200 and 2,100, i.e. his diet
only furnishes him with between 50 and 66 per cent, of the calories
necessary to meet his physiological needs." This investigator maintains
that the energy deficiency in the Indian's diet is made up by alcohol
or hidden by excessive use of coca. The Indians take up the coca habit
to dull the pangs of hunger, and after some time the coca causes a complete loss of appetite : " They start chewing coca because they do not
have enough to eat; later they do not have enough to eat because of
addiction to coca." 4
*
*
*
1
A. BUITRÓN and B. Salisbury BUITRÓN : Condiciones de vida y trabajo del
campesino de la provincia de Pichincha, op. cit., p. 52.
2
United Nations: Report of the Commission of Enquiry on the Coca Leaf, op. cit.,
p. 17.
3
Maxime H. KUCZYNSKI-GODARD and Carlos E. P A Z SOLDÁN: Disección del
indigenismo peruano : Un examen sociológico y médico-social (Lima, Instituto de
Medicina Social, 1948), p. 106.
4
Carlos GUTIÉRREZ NORIEGA: El cocaísmo y la alimentación en el Perú (Lima,
Instituto de Farmacología y Terapéutica, 1948), pp. 67 and 75.
LIVING CONDITIONS
107
Generally speaking the standard thatched farmhouse of the preColumbian period—a tumbledown structure with flimsy walls and a
floor of beaten earth, unhealthy and incapable of giving protection
against the rigours of the climate—is still the rule in most Latin American
countries.
Apart from a few exceptions the shortcomings in rural housing are
usually accompanied by very low standards of health and nutrition.
Peasants often have to share their homes with their animals ; this fact,
together with the frequent absence of septic tanks and the resulting
almost inevitable contamination of drinking water and food, have led
to endemic and epidemic diseases being common occurrences in many
parts of Latin America. Lastly, an analysis of the diet of the rural
population in countries which can be considered as typical of various
regions of Latin America shows definitely that both in calorie content
and in protective value it is far from adequate.
The solution of the housing problem does not depend on purely
economic considerations; it is closely bound up with the farmer's
security of tenure of the land he tills. Where he enjoys some measure of
security he can often carry out substantial improvements using local
materials, which require no other investment than the labour needed.
In this connection the fairly general practice of calling on the neighbours
for help when building a house, which results in rapid construction
and keeps labour costs down, deserves mention.
In Panama, for example, the rural housing improvement and building
programme is designed to give technical assistance and advice to farmers
wishing to improve or build their own homes. Financial aid is a minor
part of the programme and consists solely of helping farmers to procure
materials which are not available locally. None the less, the success of
this programme will depend above all on the degree of security of tenure
enjoyed by the farmers it seeks to help.
CONCLUSIONS
What, then, are the prospects of the landless farm worker today ?
The one-sided contractual relationship between the landowner and
the person who cultivates the land is a serious obstacle in the way of
any improvement in the latter's conditions of life and work. As long
as this relationship is not systematically regulated these agricultural
workers will be unable to achieve security of livelihood or a higher
standard of living. These considerations are true even of the most
108
THE LANDLESS FARMER IN LATIN AMERICA
fortunate tenants, who, while not protected by any formal agreement,
enjoy paternal treatment from the landlord.
Since opportunities of acquiring ownership of land are also severely
restricted, the peasant with no land of his own has but two alternatives :
either to remain where he is and give up any hope of improving his lot,
or else to migrate if he can to the towns or industrial areas where better
jobs are available. His move may be either permanent or only for a
short time, but it is always a haphazard process. Since he is and remains
unskilled, he is unaware of the jobs open to him and he has no experience
of anything but farm work. He usually leaves his family in the village,
with which he maintains close contact, and he still clings to the belief
that he belongs to the soil. If he is lucky enough to find work his chief
desire is to return to the land as soon as he has saved up a little money,
as he is convinced that agriculture is the best investment for his tiny
savings.
The level of income of the Latin American peasant necessarily
depends on his opportunity of making efficient use of the resources at
his disposal. In this he is handicapped by reliance on out-dated farming
methods, restrictions on the area cultivated and the lack of development
facilities, such as credit, and is consequently unable to build up a capital
surplus; he cannot achieve a high level of output and suffers from
chronic underemployment, either visible or concealed. Shifting cultivation is a classic example of this state of affairs. Notwithstanding the
great fertility of the virgin soil on which this kind of farming is usually
practised only moderately good yields are obtained, and then only at
the cost of an investment in manpower out of all proportion to the
potential yield under efficient farming methods. A further factor tending
to keep incomes and employment at low levels is the small size of the
holdings in some regions—the result of the growing pressure of the
population on the land.
It would be true to say that any improvements in the conditions of
these farmers depend largely on government action in the form of
legislation or agricultural development schemes, but it is also true that
if individual initiative could be harnessed more effectively it would be
of immense help in improving social and economic conditions. There
seems to be plenty of scope for co-operative action in the various phases
of agricultural development.
A many-sided effort is clearly needed to implement an agricultural
development policy for the benefit of the rural population as a whole.
Of major importance is the introduction and effective application of
legislation regulating contracts between tenant and landlord and defining
their respective rights and obligations.
LIVING CONDITIONS
109
However, this alone is not enough. There needs to be at the same
time general economic development and social investment to build up
rural areas, all within a coherent national plan of social and economic
development.
GLOSSARY
Agregado
Used in Argentina to designate a person who occupies a plot of land
without any form of legal protection. In Brazil and Colombia the term
applies to those who pay their rent in the form of labour or personal
service.
Allegado
System of sub-tenancy in Peru. In exchange for use of a plot of land
provided by a yanacona the allegado is required to perform some of
the personal services the yanacona has undertaken to carry out for the
landowner.
Alqueire
Measurement of area in Brazil. The alqueire in the State of Säo Paulo
is equal to 2.42 hectares, while in Minas Gerais it is twice as large.
Aparcería
System of land tenure whereby the cultivator (aparcero) is required
to deliver a predetermined percentage of the crop in exchange for the
usufruct of his plot of land. In its standard form the greater part or
all of the tools and equipment are supplied by the cultivator, who retains
complete independence in the technical and administrative operation
of the holding.
Arrendamiento
System of land tenure under which the tenant (arrendatario) pays rent
for the usufruct of the landholding in cash or kind. The landlord usually
provides nothing but the land and improvements.
Ayllu
A group of families under the Inca empire, connected by blood or
totemic relations, who joined together to form an economic and social
unit based on co-operative effort. As time went by the word acquired
a connotation of common ownership or cultivation of land ; in this
way the institution became agricultural in character.
Ayuda
Used in some provinces of the Ecuadorean uplands as a synonym for
yanapero.
Caballería
Unit of area, varying from country to country. In Cuba it equals
13.42 hectares while in Guatemala it equals approximately 45 hectares.
112
THE LANDLESS FARMER IN LATIN AMERICA
Calpulli
An Aztec institution, found in Mexico before the Spanish Conquest,
similar to the Inca ayllu. Part of the land was set aside to be farmed
by individuals, part for collective farming and part (pasture land, woods,
etc.) as common land.
Camayo
Term used in certain areas of Peru to designate a form of aparcero
cultivating a small holding. In practice it is a variation of the yanaconaje
system characterised by specified forms of service (caring for livestock,
etc.).
Colonato
See colono.
Colono
Usually refers to a farmer who, under one form of tenancy or another,
settles on new or recently opened-up land. The meaning, however,
varies according to the country or region. In Argentina it means a
farmer, in Costa Rica it is synonymous with a squatter, in Peru it means
a person who, in return for work or personal service, obtains the use
of a plot of land, while in Cuba it means a person who grows sugar
cane under any system of tenancy.
Compañero
Regional word used in Peru in the same sense as camayo.
Comunero
In Guatemala, a cultivator who enjoys certain acquired rights in an
Indian or peasant community.
Concertado
Regional word used in Peru in the same sense as camayo.
Conuco
Word used in the Caribbean area meaning a small farm handed down
from father to son producing the fruit and vegetables and supporting
the animals needed to maintain a small family. After the Conquest it
was applied to the land granted by the owners of large estates to their
slaves who tilled it and enjoyed the usufruct. A squatter is often called
a conuquero.
Cuadrero
A term used in Ecuador. Has the same meaning as huasipunguero.
Cuartario
A type of aparcero encountered in the tobacco-growing districts of Cuba.
Cuentayo
A type of huasipunguero. In Ecuador, a cultivator who pays part of the
rent for the use of his holding by acting as stockman on the owner's
estate.
Desmontero
Form of aparcero. In the coastal areas of Ecuador the word is used
to designate a cultivator who establishes plantations (e.g. cocoa-bushes,
GLOSSARY
113
bananas, etc.). In exchange for planting and caring for the seedlings
the desmontero, who provides only his own and his family's labour, is
given a share in the first crops plus a cash payment for each bush he
hands over.
Diezmos
In the colonial era a share of the crops or mineral wealth, usually a
tenth, paid by the faithful to the Church.
Ejido
Name given during the colonial period to the land set aside for communal
cultivation by the Indians. In Mexico today an ejido contains land for
cultivation and grazing, woodland, etc., a built-up zone and a holding
reserved for the schools. In certain cases the law specifies that all the
land must be cultivated collectively.
Empreteiro
Form of aparcero encountered in Brazil ; looks after new coffee plantations.
Encomienda
System during the colonial period whereby a number of Indians were
assigned to the conquerors for life by royal grant. The conquerors
were given rights to the labour or the products of the labour of the
Indians either in the form of a tribute or in exchange for " protection "
and religious instruction. Although at first merely a means of distributing
labour, it gradually became the basis of a system of vast private landholdings.
Enffiteusis
System of land tenure characterised by a long-term or indefinite contract,
a fixed rent unrelated to the productivity of the holding and frequently
an obligation to carry out certain improvements within a specified time.
From the Greek word emphyteusis, i.e. the action of planting or establishing plantations.
Esquilmo
Term used in Costa Rica to designate a form of arrendamiento with
payment in kind or both in cash and in kind. Generally the esquilmo
contract is restricted to a single harvest.
Finquero
Used in certain regions of Ecuador to denote a desmontero.
Habilitado
Type of share-farmer encountered in Argentina and certain other
countries ; his contract involves a dependent relationship and entitles
him to a share of the crop with or without a fixed cash payment.
Huasicama
Form of personal service in Ecuador ; the cultivator has to serve on
the owner's estate or in his town house as part of his obligations under
the huasipungo system.
Huasipungo
Similar to the colonato of Peru and the terraje of Colombia ; the cultivator
(huasipunguero) works on the estate in exchange for a wage (usually
nominal) and the use of a plot of land.
114
THE LANDLESS FARMER IN LATIN AMERICA
Inquilino
In Chile refers to an agricultural labourer who lives on the estate and
in addition to food and accommodation is given a plot of land,
sometimes with grazing rights, to supplement the wage paid for work
carried out on behalf of his employer. Broadly similar to the peón
acasillado in Mexico before the Revolution. In the Oriente region of
Bolivia refers to a tenant who pays his rent in kind.
Interesado
Regional term used in Argentina ; equivalent to habilitado.
Intruso
Term used in Brazil to designate a squatter.
Majadero
Term used in Peru to designate a person who sublets natural pasture,
paying a nominal sum for the right to graze each head of cattle, sheep
or swine, and undertaking in exchange to provide a specified amount
of personal service during the year.
Manzana
Unit of area. In Guatemala equals 6,972.25 square metres and in Costa
Rica 6,988.25 square metres.
Mayeques or Maeques
Former owners of land conquered by the Aztecs, who continued to farm
the land and retained certain privileges which they were allowed to
pass on to their descendants.
Medieria
A form of share-farming in which the crop is divided equally. This
system generally implies greater investment in equipment and other
forms of capital by the landowner than under other share-farming
arrangements.
Mejorero
In Peru broadly similar to the Ecuadorean desmontero.
Morador
Squatter in Brazil.
Mozo
Used in Guatemala to describe a cultivator who pays for the use of
his plot of land by performing personal services.
Ocupante
Squatter in Brazil, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras and Uruguay.
Palladora
Woman day-labourer whom a Peruvian tenant-labourer is required to
supply to pick the leaves from the cocoa bushes on the estate when
he pays his rent in the form of services.
Parásito
Squatter in Costa Rica.
GLOSSARY
115
Parcería
Brazilian equivalent of aparcería.
Partidario
Synonym for share-farmer in the tobacco-growing districts of Cuba.
In Ecuador and Peru the word sometimes implies the performance of
personal services.
Pegujal
Term used in Colombia and Guatemala to describe the plot of land
granted to a cultivator (pegujalero) in exchange for personal services
or tasks which he performs on the estate of the owner.
Peón acasillado
Term used in Mexico before the Revolution to describe an agricultural
labourer who lived permanently on the estate and in addition to board
and lodging was given a plot of land in full or part exchange for the work
he did on the estate.
Peón a la rendita
Regional term used in Argentina meaning habilitado.
Pongo
In Bolivia this name used to apply to persons who performed services
similar to those performed by the huasicama in Ecuador.
Posseiro
Squatter in Brazil.
Precarista
Squatter in Chile and Cuba.
Propietario en parte
Farmer in the Bolivian valleys who, because his own holding is too
small, rents more land for which he pays either in cash or in kind or
in some other way.
Puestero
Regional term used in Argentina meaning habilitado.
Quinto
Regional term used in Argentina meaning habilitado.
Rendeiro
Arrendatario in Brazil.
Repartimiento
Land given out to the Spaniards at the time of the Conquest, together
with the Indians living on it. See encomienda.
Roza
Small holding, often on virgin land.
Sayaña
Plot of land belonging to the estate which was granted to cultivators
in the highlands of Bolivia in exchange for work or personal service
under the colonato system.
116
THE LANDLESS FARMER IN LATIN AMERICA
Sembrador
Another term used in Ecuador meaning a desmontero.
Slash-and-burn agriculture
Primitive method of agriculture based on the use of the matchet, the
axe and fire. The land is often in virgin forest which is chopped down
with the axe and cleared with the matchet; once the vegetation has dried
it is burned and the land is then sown.
Socio
Regional term used in Peru meaning a camayo.
Squatter
Term used in this report to designate squatters who farm land which
is not their property without coming to any arrangement with the
landowner or his representative and having no legal protection whatever.
Talaje
In Chile, the fee a landowner charges for grazing rights for other people's
cattle. Also the pasture consumed by cattle.
Tambo
Term used in Argentina and Uruguay for any dairy establishment.
Covers anything from cowsheds or enclosures where cows are milked
to well-equipped dairy farms.
Tantero
Regional term used in Argentina meaning habilitado.
Terciario
Variety of share-farming in Cuba and Venezuela.
Terraje
In Colombia and El Salvador similar to the colonato in Peru and the
Iruasipungo in Ecuador.
Terrazguero
A cultivator working under the terraje system.
TIamalteca, Tlamaite
Broadly correspond to the term mayeque.
Tolerado
Squatter in Bolivia.
Turno
Number of days the yanacona in Peru must work on the owner's estate.
Usufructuario
Squatter in Panama.
Vaqueiro
Livestock share-farmer in Brazil.
GLOSSARY
117
Viviente
Another term for agregado; used in Colombia.
Yanacona
In Peru, particularly in the coastal regions, a cultivator who undertakes
to work on the estate for wages and at the same time farms a piece of
land on a cash-rental or share-rental basis.
Yanapero
Term used in Ecuador to describe an agricultural worker who is required
to work on a farm for an agreed number of days per week or month in
exchange for certain benefits he receives from the landowner. These
benefits usually take the form of the usufruct of pasture and upland
belonging to the estate or the right to take water and wood for the use
of his family.
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Origins and Economic and Social Basis of the Co-operative
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SECOND LESSON
The Co-operative Institution : Its Distinctive Features and
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THIRD LESSON
The Co-operative Movement Throughout the World.
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Administrative Organisation.
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Financial Organisation.
SIXTH LESSON
Problems of Structure and Management.
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Co-operative Federation.
EICHTH LESSON
Inter-Co-operative Relations.
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The Co-operative Movement and Education : The Inseparability of Co-operation and Education—Tuition in Cooperation.
TENTH LESSON
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ELEVENTH LESSON
The Co-operative Movement and Education : The Cooperative Education of Members.
TWELFTH LESSON
The Co-operative Movement and Education : Education and
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THIRTEENTH LESSON
The State and Co-operation.
FOURTEENTH LESSON
Co-operative Action and the Manifold Needs of the Common
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Suggestions for Further Reading.
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