Conclusions

Land Inequality• During the 1960 Agrarian Reform period Venezuela continued to have

one of the highest levels of land inequality in Latin America, according to the Gini Index

• Since the 2001 Law of Land and Agrarian Development this situation has improved dramatically

• The 2001 measure has benefited around 2 million people and reduced land concentration in Venezuela

• In both the case study and in other Fundos Zamoranos campesinos and impoverished urban workers have obtained access to land previously denied to them under other administrations.

• The limits placed on the re-sale of land and the temporary nature of the Cartas Agrarias represent an attempt by the government to prevent a re-concentration of land in the hands of larger producers in the future.

Problems of Cooperative Membership

• Retention of members – both in the case study and in other cooperatives– Some cooperatives are close to the minimum legal limit– Membership fell due to:

• Administrative breakdown of the fundo• Initial living conditions at the fundo – buildings initially lacked electricity, running water, no basic services. • Lack of infrastructure and remote location meant members found it difficult to retain other occupations outside the Fundo, and

some were forced to leave• Income problems among cooperative members – government was not always timely in awarding credit • Strained family relationships – due to inadequate income and prolonged time away from families

• Vuelvan Caras preparation is inadequate– Leads to administrative breakdown– Members have no previous experience in cooperatives and differing degrees of commitment– Difficulties in decision making– Misallocation of resources by the cooperative’s administrators

• Increasing reliance on hired labor – To compensate for the decline in membership

• Is the decrease in membership numbers linked to the ability of members to continue their pre-reform income generating activities and the proximity of the fundo to an urban center?

• HOWEVER: having only a few members means cooperatives are able to work together better and reach the targets set out in the Plan Emergente

• The shift to cattle production will decrease the number of members needed in the cooperatives• Cooperatives could also benefit by offering membership to some of the more experienced and efficient hired

workers.

Improvement in Living Standards• In Fundos Zamoranos close to Caracas the government has:

– built solid tile roof houses – Provided individual houses with their own personal decorative gardens– Provided electricity, refrigerators, gas kitchens, televisions, furniture, recreation areas and

sometimes even cable television.– Allocated a bus to transport the children to school

• In contrast, at the more productive Fundo Alejandro de Humboldt living conditions remain precarious– The slow improvement in infrastructure has required the constant mobilization of the vocero and

members of the fundo• Some members of Fundos Zamoranos have improved their living conditions as a result of

the agrarian reform whereas others are actually earning less than they did as salaried workers.

• The majority of members of the Fundo Zamorano Alejandro de Humboldt were either unemployed or earned a small salary as a wage worker

• Fundos Zamoranos have provided employment to a substantial sector of the unemployed rural population in an effort to reduce poverty levels in the countryside.

• Sense of brotherhood and camaraderie at most of cooperatives – people work, eat, sleep, hunt and celebrate together as equals

Availability of Credit• Benefited private and public producers• Fundo Alejandro de Humboldt: Credits awarded for both animal and crop production• Governmental credit institutions

– set low interest rates– Are lenient in forgiving farmers if they are unable to repay their loans

• Government has increased rural investment and funding for credit institutions in the past few years• Private producers said access to credit was the greatest improvement in the agricultural sector

since Chávez came to power• Credit has been awarded to small and medium scale producers and allowed them to purchase vital

inputs• HOWEVER, the government’s credit policy has been criticised for being too lenient in its

distribution and follow up of loans– Failures in crop production at the fundo have been excused by the government for an array of different

reasons and loans have been pardoned.– Misuse of government credits for personal enrichment– Producers were confident government was improving accountability and would soon crack down on those

who misused the system• As of 2008, despite billions invested in agriculture there have only been limited returns in terms of

agricultural production

Conflict between Members, Production Units and Technicians

• Conflict between different parties is common, not just in the Fundo Alejandro de Humboldt but in Fundos Zamoranos across the country

• Lack of an extension agronomist living at the Fundo = major cause for mistrust and misunderstanding

• High level of distrust of government officials and strangers due to– intimidation from previous owners– Lack of support from local police– Delays in the implementation of measures promised by the

government

Fear of Expropriation• Chávez’s agrarian reform has increased fear of expropriation among both large and medium

sized producers.• The regime has increasingly moved towards socialism, sparking fears of expropriations

among many medium sized producers who had obtained land under the 1960 reform. – Fears about abolition of private property and the transformation of land titles into temporary usufruct

rights of production.• Many owners face difficulties in proving their legal ownership of land due to

– Fake land titles– Inadequate documentation of their property

• Widespread feeling that government expropriations are arbitrary, and that the government could designate any land titles as illegal

• Uncertainty about land ownership and government price controls has decreased large land owners’ incentive to invest in their property– Also difficulty in finding reliable workers

• Regional agrarian authorities have the final say about what constitutes adequate production levels– Fear that these regional authorities will, in reality, mainly serve the interests of the central

government

Ideas for the Improvement of the Fundo Zamorano Alejandro de Humboldt

• Have an agronomist or other government worker assigned permanently to the fundo.– Some NDE and Fundos Zamoranos have a resident extension agronomist

• Having extensionists diminishes but does not eliminate communication problems between cooperative members and government workers.

• Improving road conditions is imperative for the adequate functioning of the fundo and coordination between cooperatives and government entities.

• A means of communication such as radio transmitters or improve cellphone reception would increase communication and reduce the number of hours lost by production units as they coordinate their efforts.

• A reorganization of the fundo a redistribution of land to active and functioning cooperatives as well as increasing cooperative membership numbers would increase the sustainability of the fundo.– There continues to be a large amount of idle or unproductive land in the fundo,

particularly, within the land originally given to currently inactive production units.– Some cooperatives may be attempting to reconcentrate land at the fundo.

Further Research

• Need for further study of other Fundos Zamoranos

• A continuation and update of this study• A new study of the Venezuela agrarian reform,

taking into account the changes that have taken place since the most recent studies (Wilpert, 2005; Soto 2006).

• An updated study of the sustainability of agrarian production cooperatives in Venezuela.