Agriculture in Eastern Europe

Good Wives and Unfaithful Men: Gender Negotiations and Sexual Conflicts in the Chilean Agrarian Reform, 1964 –1973

The purpose of the article – to reveal that P. Wrangel's agrarian reform was widely understood as a system of measures that influenced the socio-economic situation in the countryside, the socio-political activity of the peasantry. The research methodology is based on such principles of historical knowledge as scientificity, historicism, objectivity, system analysis, etc., as well as on the application of general scientific, special historical study methods. The scientific novelty consists in the following: it has been justified that P. Wrangel did not limit his agrarian reform by the redistribution of land among peasants. He considered as its cornerstone the intensification of agriculture as an industry, improving the material wealth of peasants, transforming the peasantry into a leading social class. Being aware of the need for quality changes aimed at intensifying agriculture as a sector of the economy, P. Wrangel worked in this direction. In our estimation of efficiency of this work, in our opinion it is necessary to consider the conditions under which it was carried out. Despite the adverse circumstances, P. Wrangel's agrarian reform in southern Ukraine was fruitful. Its conduct, firstly, testifies that the Commander-in-Chief took care of improvement of land management, improvement of agro-technical cultivation of land, provision of peasant farms with agricultural machinery, seed fund, working cattle, etc. Secondly, the measures taken by the government officials did not seek to exacerbate the authorities' relations with the peasantry. On the contrary, every effort was made to minimize confrontation in the countryside. Thirdly, the agrarian reform was based on the principles of state protectionism of the peasantry. The Conclusions. Among the clear achievements of P. Wrangel's agrarian reform there were the following results: 1) the pro-peasant character of agrarian legislation and agrarian reform in general, aimed at preserving livestock, including breeding stock, providing peasant farms with agricultural machinery and equipment, seeds etc.; 2) the complimentary attitude of the peasantry of the South of Ukraine to the activities of the White civil authorities during the sowing, harvesting, normalization of lease relations, intensification of the agrarian sector as an economic sector; 3) during the time of implementation of agrarian reform in the South of Ukraine, 3145 peasants became the real owners of the land, which was confirmed by the relevant legal documents, according to which 66 725 des. of land were secured into a private ownership. None of the governments that took part in the Ukrainian Revolution of 1917 – 1921 achieved this.

Prior to the Revolution three systems of farming were practised in the U. S S. R.: (1) large estates; (2) small peasant farms; (3) peasant land farmed by the peasants under the Mir, the village council or commune of very ancient origin. Some of the large estates were run on good modern lines, some were put into the hands of managers whose business it was to extract all they could for the owner, others were moderately well managed. The peasant farms were smali holdings owned by the individual farmers, which had resulted from the various agrarian reforms, the most important of the later ones being those of Stolypin (1905), who had a Danish adviser and was aiming at the Danish model. The peasant land under the commune (nadiel land) belonged to the body of peasants but not to any individuals, it was parcelled out into many strips which were periodically distributed by the Mir among the peasants in accordance with the size of femily, etc. These strips were scattered over the whole area so that each man should have his share of good and of bad soil. In the time of the Revo- lution it was estimated that about 45 per cent of the cultivated land was in the hands of the pessants

The redistribution of land has profound implications for women and for gender relations; however, gender issues have been marginalised from both theoretical and policy discussions of agrarian reform. This book presents an overview of gender and agrarian reform experiences globally. Jacobs highlights case studies from Latin America, Asia, Africa and eastern Europe and also compares agrarian and land reforms organised along collective lines as well as along individual household lines. This volume will be of interest to scholars in Geography, Women's Studies, and Economics.

Massive economic and political changes in Eastern Europe are not unique to today. Eastern Europe also underwent profound transformation after both World Wars. As a result of the peace process following World War I, the Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman Empires were dismantled, new countries were created (Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Yugoslavia), and borders of preexisting countries were redefined (Germany, Austria, Hungary, Rumania, and Bulgaria). A major issue after World War I was the organization of agriculture and the future of the peasantry in Eastern Europe. The majority of the population of Eastern Europe at the end of the war was agricultural. According to Seton-Watson (p. 75), the peasant proportions of the populations in 1918 were as follows: Rumania 78%, Bulgaria 80%, Yugoslavia 75%, Poland 63%, Hungary 55%, and Czechoslovakia 34%. Rural population density was also very high. At the turn of the century, man-land ratios ranged between four and seven hectares per man (Dovring, 1965, pp. 63-64). Seton-Watson (p. 97) reports the following population densities per square kilometer of cultivable land during the interwar period: Hungary 80.6, Rumania 116.3, Bulgaria 119, and Yugoslavia 157.4. In contrast, the figure for Denmark during the same period was 36.6. Roszkowski also reports that rural overpopulation and underemployment were severe in Poland.

This article aims to analyse this new struggle by the MST and contribute towards an understanding of the emergence of the struggle for land and food. The MST, recognised as one of the most prominent peasant movements in the struggle for land and agrarian reform in Brazil, has also set up a food movement through participation in the creation of popular and institutional markets, where it sells part of the production from its territory in the construction of a peasant food system. The struggle for land in the third decade of the twenty-first century is very different from the struggle for land in the 1970s/80s, when the MST was founded. The characteristics of the struggle against large estates and agribusiness, including multinational corporations, are analysed. There is a new struggle for land, which is approaching the cities and has appropriated food sovereignty and agroecology. The struggle for land has its roots in other struggles. The struggle for healthy food is inseparable from the struggle for land and agrarian reform. A new direction has been taken. This theoretical essay, based on various studies, including monographs, dissertations, theses, books and research reports, will analyse the ecological production of rice in MST agrarian reform settlements in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, the production of coffee in settlements in Minas Gerais, as well as other foods in settlements in other regions of Brazil. With the struggle for land and foods that have provided peasant farmers with an income, we will show the creation of new peasant food system which is resulting in the sustainable modernisation of agriculture. We will argue that this is an experience not limited to the MST, but rather which forms part of the globalisation of the agrarian question.KeywordsStruggle for landAgrarian reformMSTFood

Food security has been focusing extensively home and aboard in recent years. The core issue of food security was whatever the food production could meet the food demand of resident population in a region. Per capita grain possession directly reflected the relationship of food supply and demand. In order to analyze food security situation and put forward proposals to Chinese sustainable agricultural development, this study aims to determine how the spatial-temporal distribution of per capita grain possession changed in counties of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region from 2011 to 2015. According to Chinese situation and the per capita nutrition standardization published by FAO, 400kg food was the per capita food consumption meeting nutritional requirements per year. According to this standard, if per capita grain possession per year reached 400kg in a region, this region was considered food security region. In this study, the per capita grain possession of counties was calculated in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region from 2011 to 2015, and the map of per capita grain possession of counties from 2011 to 2015 in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei was drawn to show the spatial-temporal changes of food security. Using gravity center method, the spatial gravity center of per capita grain possession from 2011 to 2015 were calculated, and the map of moving path of gravity center was drawn to research the spatial-temporal changes of per capita grain possession. According to research result, policy suggestions of regional agricultural development was put forward.

To assess the fate of the large amounts of nitrogen (N) brought into the environment by human activities, we constructed N budgets for sixteen large watersheds (475 to 70,189 km 2 ) in the northeastern U.S.A. These watersheds are mainly forested (48-87%), but vary widely with respect to land use and population density. We combined published data and empirical and process models to set up a complete N budget for these sixteen watersheds. Atmospheric deposition, fertilizer application, net feed and food inputs, biological fixation, river discharge, wood accumulation and export, changes in soil N, and denitrification losses in the landscape and in rivers were considered for the period 1988 to 1992. For the whole area, on average 3420 kg of N is imported annually per km 2 of land. Atmospheric N deposition, N2 fixation by plants, and N imported in commercial products (fertilizers, food and feed) contributed to the input in roughly equal contributions. We quantified the fate of these inputs by independent estimates of storage and loss terms, except for denitrification from land, which was estimated from the difference between all inputs and all other storage and loss terms. Of the total storage and losses in the watersheds, about half of the N is lost in gaseous form (51%, largely by denitrification). Additional N is lost in riverine export (20%), in food exports (6%), and in wood exports (5%). Change in storage of N in the watersheds in soil organic matter (9%) and wood (9%) accounts for the remainder of the sinks. The presence of appreciable changes in total N storage on land, which we probably under-rather than overestimated, shows that the N budget is not in steady state, so that drainage and denitrification exports of N may well increase further in the future.

The continuous upward trajectory observed in total grain production serves as a fundamental pillar for guaranteeing food security. Nevertheless, relying solely on the measurement of China’s overall food security status through total grain output is inherently biased and neglects to capture the comprehensive nature of food security. This study adopts a food supply and demand balance perspective and constructs an evaluation indicator system for food security based on indicators such as grain yield per unit area, per capita grain possession, grain inventory, and inventory ratio. The weight of each indicator in the food security system is calculated using the entropy value method, and a comprehensive evaluation of China’s food security level from 1980 to 2017 is conducted. The study revealed that China’s food supply and demand exhibited a discernible upward trajectory in development. Notably, the food supply demonstrated greater volatility, whereas the food demand remained relatively stable but experienced incremental growth. Between approximately 1985 and 1993, China’s food supply and demand subsystem briefly experienced a state of mild imbalance, followed by a state of moderate imbalance around 2003. These imbalances were primarily attributed to insufficient effective food supply. In terms of the equilibrium between supply and demand in the context of food security, China’s food supply and demand exhibit a predominantly balanced condition with a slight surplus, wherein the adequacy of food supply significantly influences food security. Furthermore, the provision of policy support serves as a robust assurance for food security, and China’s existing policy framework for food security demonstrates a constructive impact.

To end the Colombian civil war known as La Violencia (1948–1957), the Conservative and Liberal parties agreed in 1958 to reconcile under the National Front, a 16‐year coalition regime based on administrative power‐sharing and presidential alternation (Kline 1980: 71–72). In 1961 Congress passed an Agrarian Reform Law but, bowing to the landowners' interests, the first two governments of the National Front took no serious steps to redistribute land (Tobón 1972). Determined to implement the reform, the next president, Liberal politician Carlos Lleras (1966–1970), promoted legislation granting land rights to tenants and sharecroppers and boosted the capabilities of INCORA, the Institute of Agrarian Reform. In 1967, he also launched an initiative to establish ANUC, the National Peasant Association of Colombia, as a state‐sponsored organization that would promote peasant involvement in the provision of rural services and in the agrarian reform program (Zamosc 1986: 50–54). From the start, it was clear that Lleras expected that, as a peasant force pushing for land redistribution, ANUC would exert the pressure that was needed to overcome the landowners' opposition and facilitate INCORA's work. In the organizational campaign, promoters from the Ministry of Agriculture scoured the countryside instructing peasants about their rights, forming local and regional peasant associations, and grooming promising activists into a national leadership (Zamosc 1986: 54–60). When ANUC's national congress met in 1970, the number of registered members was about one million. The response had been especially strong in the areas of traditional haciendas (large estates), where tenants and sharecroppers wanted land of their own; and in the piedmont forest frontiers, where peasant colonists demanded infrastructure and services (Zamosc 1986: 61–62).

During the past decade, agrarian reform emerged as a panacea for the problems of Latin America, with a popularity which transcended political and cultural divisions. This apparent accord vanished, however, in the many meanings given to the term and the divergent policies claiming to implement its principles. In Chile where the hacienda system, with its large estates (latijundios) and satellite dwarf holdings (minifundios) has defined for three centuries the rural economic, political and social structure, agrarian reform has been endorsed by successive governments of very different political persuasions and viewed as the key both to rural revolution and its prevention.

To end the Colombian civil war known as La Violencia (1948–1957), the Conservative and Liberal parties agreed in 1958 to reconcile under the National Front, a 16‐year coalition regime based on administrative power‐sharing and presidential alternation. In 1961 Congress passed an Agrarian Reform Law but, bowing to the landowners' interests, the first two governments of the National Front took no serious steps to redistribute land. Determined to implement the reform, the next president, Liberal politician Carlos Lleras (1966–1970), promoted legislation granting land rights to tenants and sharecroppers and boosted the capabilities of INCORA, the Institute of Agrarian Reform. In 1967, he also launched an initiative to establish ANUC, the National Peasant Association of Colombia, as a state‐sponsored organization that would promote peasant involvement in the provision of rural services and in the agrarian reform program. From the start, it was clear that Lleras expected that, as a peasant force pushing for land redistribution, ANUC would exert the pressure that was needed to overcome the landowners' opposition and facilitate INCORA's work. In the organizational campaign, promoters from the Ministry of Agriculture scoured the countryside instructing peasants about their rights, forming local and regional peasant associations, and grooming promising activists into a national leadership. When ANUC's national congress met in 1970, the number of registered members was about one million. The response had been especially strong in the areas of traditional haciendas (large estates), where tenants and sharecroppers wanted land of their own; and in the piedmont forest frontiers, where peasant colonists demanded infrastructure and services.

During the past two decades agrarian (‘land and farm’) reforms have been widespread in the transition economies of Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia (EECCA), following earlier ones in Asia (China and Vietnam). However, independent family farms did not become the predominant sector in most of Eastern Europe. A new dual (or bi-modal) agrarian structure emerged, consisting of large farm enterprises (with much less social functions than they had before), and very small peasant farms or subsidiary plots. The paper compares five case studies, looking at agrarian actors, property rights, state influence, and rural poverty. These are Russia, Armenia, Moldova and Uzbekistan in the EECCA region, and China's Xinjiang province in Asia. The paper concludes that state influence is still substantial, property rights regimes are quite diverse and rural poverty remains medium to high. State-led agrarian reform, in particular where a redistributive (or restitution-based) land reform was implemented led in some cases to land-based wealth redistribution, but policies and institutions were lacking to support the individual farm sector. More often the outcome was a rapid transfer of land in the hands of corporate farm enterprises, reversing the initial process of ‘re-peasantization’. It seems that the old ‘Soviet dream’ of mega-farm enterprises in the ‘transition to capitalism’ has regained prominence, with huge agro-holdings ‘calling the shots’, providing an insecure future for agricultural workers, peasants and farmers.

Faustino Torrez summarizes the findings of the Agrarian Reform Commission of La Via Campesina, an international peasant movement that initiated the Global Campaign for Agrarian Reform. The process included a global encounter with the landless peoples in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, the La Via Campesina conferences, and the global fora in Valencia and Porto Alegre. La Via Campesina has been developing a new concept of agrarian reform that recognizes the socio-environmental aspects of land, the sea and natural resources, in the context of food sovereignty. Integral agrarian reform encompasses policies of redistribution, just, equitable access and control of natural, social and productive resources (credit, appropriate technologies, health, education, social security etc.) by peasants and their families, indigenous people, landless workers, artisanal fisherfolk, pastoralists, the unemployed, Dalit communities, Afrodescendents and other rural peoples. He argues that development policies should be based on agro-ecological strategies centred on family and peasant agriculture and artisanal fishing; trade policies that oppose dumping of products in the market and favour peasant and family farm production oriented towards local, national and international markets; and public policies in the areas of education, health and infrastructure for the countryside that complement trade and other policies.

Upon the 1979 victory of revolutionary forces in the Nicaraguan civil war, the Freute Sandinista de Liberation National (FSLN) initiated an agrarian reform program that remains perhaps the most comprehensive of any undertaken in the region. Pursuing poli? cies of land distribution to formerly landless peasantry, and the provision of technical and credit assistance to smallholding farmers, the Nicaraguan Agrarian Reform Institute (INRA) has promoted voluntary association with cooperatives as a means of socializing produc? tion relations in peasant agriculture, more efficiently extending credits and services to the peasant sector, and attaining economies of scale in basic grains production. After three years of the Sandinista agrarian reform pro? gram, approximately 53 percent of all landed Nicaraguan peasantry were reported to be members of agricultural cooperatives [ 1 ]. The voluntary nature of this affiliation, and indeed the widespread participation of peasantry in the insurrection that toppled the Somoza regime, seem at first to defy conven? tional anthropological models of peasant behavior. From the presumed suspicion, inter? personal hostility and passivity attributed to peasant communities by Foster, Erasmus and many others [2], to more sophisticated models concerning the independent and self sufficient domestic organization of peasant economies [3], most anthropological theory would seem to preclude the cooperativization of production relations now developing in Nicaraguan rural areas. The very politicization of peasantry that impelled their participation in the Sandinista revolution may itself seem unlikely, given the generally reform-oriented character of past agrarian rebellions [4]. Yet models that seek to explain peasant be? havior as the consequence of values that are tradition-bound, conservative and individu? alistic, or as a derivation of an ideal-typical autonomous household unit that exists apart from the encompassing process of proletarian? ization in the Third World, overlook the class and historical determinants of social and economic behavior. The material that follows will suggest the utility of considering class membership and political-ideological factors in the determina? tion of peasant consciousness, rather than the static idealist model of value orientations or ahistorical consideration of the peasant house? hold economy. Seen in this light, the organ? ized rebellion of Nicaraguan peasants, and their subsequent affiliation with cooperatives and adoption of collective agriculture in many areas, become not an enigma, but an outcome explicable in terms of the distinctive develop? ment of rural capitalism in Nicaragua and the processes of agitation and education that politically incorporated the peasantry into the FSLN strategy of "prolonged people's war" [5]. Mark A. Moberg is a graduate student in the Department of Anthroplogy, The University of California at Los Angeles.