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Research Direction

Visiting the agrarian sector in rural Monagas, the purpose of this field research trip was to interview farmers regarding the effects of the Law of Land and Agrarian Development enacted in Venezuela on 2001. Through participant observation, interviews and the study of local government documents this study analyses the effect of the agrarian changes in the local campesino and the sustainability of the government efforts.

Background Information

In an attempt to improve the living conditions of the rural poor, and to diminish dependence on food imports and increase domestic agricultural production, the Venezuelan government under the executive authority of Hugo Chavez Frias has implemented a number of initiatives, called “misiones,” to bring about land redistribution and rural development. Venezuela has been able to invest heavily in development due to the influx of dollars from rising oil prices which have risen from $ $11.91 a barrel in 1998 to $97.98 in 2005. In this period, oil exports have accounted for over 80% of the country’s exports.

Between 2003 and 20007, the Chavez government has redistributed over 2 million hectares of land. This land redistribution has been awarded through “Cartas Agrarias”, state land distributed in usufruct on a permanent basis, or “Prendas Agrarias”, state land distributed on a temporary basis. In pursuit of its goal of food self-sufficiency, the government has established a chain of supermarkets (MERCAL and PDVAL) and production plants, restructured existing agrarian agencies such as INIA (Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Agricolas), INTI (Instituto Nacional de Tierras), and the MAT (Ministerio de Agricultura y Tierra), and fostered the development of enterprises of socialist production (EPS), and agrarian cooperatives.

During my field work I visited one of 89 government created Fundo Zamoranos. These fundos, organized primarily through cooperative production units, are the basis of the “Mision Zamora” and the government’s struggle to promote rural development. The fundo Alejandro de Humboldt funded in 2003 is organized into 17 different production units extending over 4831 hectares. The fundo has struggled in achieving their goals of production and the average cooperative has decrease from an average of 28 members to an average of 8 in the span of 3 years. While infrastructure has been slow to develop, as of February 2008 the government had provided agrarian credits of over four million dollars, and invested heavily on infrastructure development. Despite the initial hardships, continued investment and reorganization efforts are attempting to increase production, consolidate the production units of the fundo zamorano into a second degree cooperative and help develop rural Monagas.

Conclusions

The continuous decrease in membership in most of the original production units is endangering the sustainability of the fundo and the ability of the members to produce in the hectares granted to them under their “carta agraria.”

Substantial improvement in infrastructure is necessary, in particular road construction, to increase the productivity and sustainability of the fundo.

The conflictive relationship between members of the fundo towards other fundo members, towards production units, and towards government workers has led to a low level of crop productivity, increasing coordination problems and a limited communication between technicians and fundo members resulting in poor crop management.

Despite the heavy investment, the program has failed to meet production expectations during its first three years of existence. While it is to early to determine the long run success or failure of the program, continued government funding and an improvement in technical support is pivotal to increase the long run sustainability of this Fundo Zamorano.

Future Research Questions

Comparison of the fundo Alejandro de Humboldt with other Fundo’s across Venezuela.

What impact did the laws enacted in 2008 regarding credit and agrarian development have had on the Fundo Alejandro de Humboldt?

Has the reorientation of the fundo towards animal production improved sustainability?

What quantifiable impact resulted from the improvement of infrastructure, especially road construction?

Field Research Completed By

Alfonso J. SintjagoM.A. Student in Latin American Studies

Graduate Assistant

fastfonz@ufl.edufastfonzsintjago@yahoo.com

Venezuelan

Agrarian Reform:

A Case Study of a

Fundo Zamorano

in the State of Monagas