ANALYSIS OF THE VARIABLES THAT AFFECT THE ECONOMIC BEHAVIOR OF FARM - HOUSEHOLDS IN THE SOUTHERN VALLEYS AREA OF BOLIVIA

The survey presents descriptive information on the farm producer and his/her household (e.g., the farm; crop production, consumption, and sale; technology and crop production expenditures; livestock production; processed products; nonfarm income and expenditures; and credit) and provides a basis for establishing causal relations between rural net income and employment and the following independent variables -- agricultural wage rates, relative efficiency of labor and land, size of household, rural nonfarm employment opportunities, size of area operated, prices received by farmers, and the cash outlay on off-farm produced inputs. Most important among the survey"s findings are that: (1) in 1977, the average annual per capita farm household income was $92; (2) off-farm income accounts for 44% of net farm household income; (3) farm households with members employed off-farm have substantially higher incomes than farm households relying on farm income exclusively; (4) substantial mobility of labor between farms exists within the region and between Bolivia and contiguous countries; (5) time to market exerts a significant influence on net farm income yet prices received for basic food crops are not systematically related to it; (6) only l.5% and 3% of the region"s farm households receive technical training/assistance and bank credit, respectively, despite higher net farm incomes for those households that do receive training and credit; (7) cash expenditures on agricultural inputs is approximately 75% of the average farm-household"s cash income; (8) yields per hectare on farms using modern inputs (fertilizer, pesticides) are not systematically higher; and (9) yields per hectare are significantly higher for farms less than l hectare. The author recommends that future studies be focused more on specific agricultural issues and that farm household livestock sectors be analyzed separately from crop sectors. A 14-item reference list (1955-80) is appended.