Gender, cash cropping, and land purchase programs in Guatemala

The program differs from other land purchase programs, e.g., those of the Instituto Nacional de Transformacion Agraria (INTA) and the Asociacion Nacional de Campesinos Pro-Tierra (ANACAMPRO), in requiring beneficiaries to cultivate a cash crop (usually coffee). This report presents univariate and multivariate analyses of survey data on all three programs in order to show the impact of coffee cultivation on beneficiary households in general and female household heads in particular. Results show that coffee production, which is by nature labor-intensive, appears to increase the extent of the female head"s agricultural labor both absolutely and as a percentage of total family labor supply. By adding one more responsibility for the female head of household, coffee production may cause severe time constraints for many beneficiary women. A key policy implication is that FUNDACEN"s cash cropping requirement may reduce the time women can devote to child care and household maintenance and thereby reduce the quality of life of beneficiary families.