Profitability of small farms in Bolivia

It has been felt that by encouraging people to migrate to the Lowlands, the agricultural base could be expanded with total production increasing more quickly and economically than by increasing productivity in the Highlands. To prompt internal migration, two schemes are utilized. The first involves sponsored colonization. Government sponsored colonization projects in three regions -- Alto Beni, Chapare, and Santa Cruz -- are carefully planned. Each new settler is provided with ten to 30 hectares of virgin land, tools (an ax, machete, hoe, etc.), seed for the first planting, weekly rations of food until after the first harvest, and technical assistance to acquaint him with the cleaning, burning, planting, tilling, and harvesting of crops in the tropical environment. Other services often provided by the government are: suitable clothing for the climate, a makeshift house which will serve the colonist for two or three years until he can construct a more substantial and permanent structure, as much as a hectare of cleared land which is often seeded with rice, corn, bananas, or yuca (also known as mandioca, cassave, or manioc), low interest loans, schools, and medical care without charge. The second has been the spontaneous migration of many peasants, miners and laborers to the Lowlands during the past several decades. A noticeable increase in this movement has occurred since the 1952 Revolution. For most of the spontaneous settlements, the government has done little more than build access roads and make token contributions toward schools and medical attention. This research project was designed to compare the economic success of the colonists in sponsored colonies with those in spontaneous colonies and to compare the Lowland colonists, in general, with peasant farmers on the Highlands.