ABSTRACT

The escalation of capitalist agriculture in the south after World War II had far reaching effects on the allocation and the distribution of land, and in a context of population growth, decreased the availability of land for most people in the region. The expansion took place on large holdings and resulted in the reallocation of land from forest, fallow, or growing food crops to production of export crops and livestock. Small farmers continued to produce most food crops but could not keep pace with growing populations and per capita production of food crops dropped drastically, along with a general decline in nutritional status. Through the 1980s, southern Honduras remained distinguished by a high degree of dependence on the agricultural sector, concentrated landholdings which excluded most of the regions farmers, an expanding population despite continued out-migration, extremely low per capita income, and high levels of unemployment and malnutrition.