Doctoral Dissertation Research: Migrations and Agricultural Change -- The Case of Smallholder Agriculture in Southern Ecuador

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SBR-9423204 Billie Lee Turner II Brad D. Jokisch Clark University Dissertation Improvement Research: Migrations and Agricultural Change: The Case of Smallholder Agriculture in Southern Ecuador This research investigates the impact of migratory strategies, predominantly male, on land productivity in the highlands of southern Ecuador. Ambiguity exists over the linkages between migrations and agricultural change. This research seeks to clarify these linkages by explicitly connecting migration to land-use outcomes: is household agricultural productivity affected by the type of household migratory activity? The Canar, Ecuador region will serve as the study area. Households that have engaged in long-term international migration as well as those active in more localized migration and circulation will be surveyed. By conducting a community-wide land productivity survey, combined with secondary sources and oral histories of households representing the dominant migratory strategies, the impacts of the migrations can be assessed. Incorporating labor mobility as a factor influencing agricultural use will illuminate the linkages between labor mobility and agricultural change, thus contribute to both the theories of migration and agricultural change. The research is directly relevant to development efforts because it will provide valuable data concerning agricultural change under varying conditions of access to labor and money.