Off-farm employment in rural households has been cited in the literature as a potentially ideal alternative to reduce forest clearing and pressure on natural resources, since it provides income while at the same time taking household labor away from the farm. Nonetheless, empirical research on the relationship between off-farm work and natural resource use is still scarce. This paper examines the impact of off-farm work on forest clearing, logging, hunting, and fishing among both migrant colonists and indigenous populations in the Ecuadorian Amazon. In contrast to prior research, we use an instrumental variable approach to control for the potential endogeneity of off-farm work with respect to natural resource use. The results indicate that the higher the number of days worked off-farm at the household level, the lower the forest clearing. On the other hand, the number of days worked off-farm has no effect on logging, hunting, and fishing. The implications of this for sustainable development and conservation are explored in the conclusion section.
Este artículo analiza los patrones de uso de la tierra de poblaciones colono-mestizas e indígenas (Kichwa y Shuar) en la Amazonía ecuatoriana. Con datos de una encuesta de hogar realizada en comunidades colonas, Kichwa y Shuar de la provincia de Pastaza, Ecuador, se determinó que los colonos se dedican principalmente a la agricultura comercial y a la ganadería extensiva. Por otra parte, existen diferencias marcadas en los patrones de uso de la tierra de las dos etnias indígenas estudiadas. Como los colonos, los Shuar se dedican a la producción de cultivos comerciales y la crianza de ganado vacuno, en tanto que los Kichwa se dedican casi exclusivamente a la agricultura de subsistencia. Estas diferencias parecen estar relacionadas con las condiciones locales, trayectorias de migración y asentamiento y el grado de integración a la economía de mercado. Más allá de esto, los resultados de este estudio indican que, contrariamente a la creencia general, las estrategias de supervivencia y los patrones de uso de la tierra de los colonos no necesariamente ni en todos los casos difieren de aquellas adoptadas por las poblaciones indígenas.
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