LAND REFORM

CIERA will implement the project with long- and short-term technical assistance and training from the Land Tenure Center of the University of Wisconsin. Under an applied research program, approximately 16 studies will be undertaken in four key areas: (1) the effects of agrarian reform policy on rural credit and marketing programs; (2) seasonal labor markets; (3) the comparative performances of small-farmers, renters, sharecroppers and campesino cooperative members; and (4) reformed and private sector labor-management concerns such as the utility of incentives and conflicts between seasonal and permanent laborers. CIERA will create a comparative information base to improve its data storage and analysis capability. Data from the 1971 census destroyed in the 1972 earthquake is believed available from the University of Missouri for review and will be incorporated into CIERA"s computerized series of agricultural sector changes between 1971-77. A 1980 data base will be established using survey material from the national rural Literacy Campaign. A plan will be developed to improve CIERA"s ability to retrieve, coordinate and analyze cadastral and land-use data generated from other GON agencies. CIERA will also obtain access to the GON computer. USAID will provide four seminars/workshops on the requirements for data system establishment; the results of a CIERA study of the peasant economy; labor-management relations in the public and private sectors; and a global review of the agrarian reform. To improve CIERA"s library facilities, CIERA"s materials collection will be expanded and an exchange system established with foreign research centers and libraries. Training in library sciences will be provided for two staff members. To increase social research skills, training will also be provided to 12 research assistants for 24 months -- 9 months in the U.S. and 15 months researching CIERA-related projects in Nicaragua. Equipment and furniture will also be provided.