This report was elaborated by Sinduja Srinivasan, Economic Affairs Officer in the Agricultural Development Unit of the Division of Production, Productivity and Management of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and Milagro Saborío, consultant with the same Division, under the general supervision of Adrián Rodríguez, Chief of the Agricultural Development Unit and Cristian Morales (ESA/FAO), with contributions from Francisco Cerecera, Andrés Mondaini (consultants) and Bernardo Mayorga (intern). The research was funded by the agreement between FAO and ECLAC, "Patterns in the agricultural transformation process in Latin American countries: farm size, diversification and mechanization".The views expressed in this document, which has been reproduced without formal editing, are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Organization.