From Hacienda to Family Farm: Changes in Environment and Society in Pimampiro, Ecuador

Resumen

Environmental change is often a consequence of modifications in local and national society as much as it is of the particular nature of different ecological situations. This assertion is demonstrated to be true in one part of the Ecuadorian Andes in two historical periods: from 1900 until 1960 and from 1960 to 1983. The analysis of the earlier period is based on contemporary accounts and historical analysis. Land use changes are shown to have reflected the evolving attitudes of the landowning class to farming. On the basis of fieldwork on two occasions in the past 25 years, it is demonstrated that the extension of ownership of middle-sized properties to a new social group has created a more profitable area of farming near to the town, while the distant hillsides become less used.