1. Background Petén is largest department (35,000 km2) in Guatemala
A region of lowland rainforest

2. Background
Population has grown from 25,000 in 1965 to about 700,000 today

3. Background
Land cover change

4. Background
Land cover change

5. Background Population growth is likely to continue In order to:
Conserve remaining forest
Help ensure the long-term food security of people in the region a critical need to:
Improve economic conditions
Intensify land use
Improve fertility management in areas already cleared

6. El Petén and the Maya Biosphere Reserve

7. The Farming System Mean holding size = 30 ha
Mean cropping area per season = less than 5 ha
Main crop = maize

8. The Farming System
Also common are beans (69% of households), squashes, rice, and various fruits and vegetables, generally for home consumption only
Very weak market conditions and infrastructure
Very few farmers have cattle

9. The Farming System Mounting pressure to intensify
Pathways to intensification include:
Use of green manure (Mucuna spp.)
Tractor plowing

10. The Farming System Pathways to intensification:
High value cash crops (peanut, sesame, watermelon, some pineapple)
Perennials

11. Key Finding
Intensification being promoted by extensionists but adoption rates vary substantially
Household and regional scale factors influencing adoption

12. Household Scale Factors
Property size and tenure type
Amount of remaining forest on property
Amount of land in fallow
Amount of degraded land on property
Plot locations
Soil quality
Household wealth and labor supply
Farmer experience

13. Community or Regional Scale Factors
Land quality and micro-climate
Market conditions
Physiologic density (people per arable land)
Availability of off-farm employment
Settler origins and colonization history

14. Key Finding
Each study area distinct...

15. Ruta Bethel Area
Better soil and market conditions
Considerable tractor plow usage and cash cropping (wealthier farmers)
Many landless farmers who rent land and practice slash and burn

16. Ruta Naranjo Area
Highest pressure to intensify
Substantial use of mucuna-based green manure system (hardly used in other study areas)

17. Ruta Tikal Area
Relatively high population density but much off-farm employment in urban and tourism sectors
Most households farm only to meet subsistence needs
Little interest in farming and agricultural intensification

18. Key Finding Poorer households place greater emphasis
on intensification strategies oriented
toward household food security, such as:
Perennial crops (citrus, avocado,
mango, plantain, etc.)
Homegarden systems
Use of green manure system

19. Heather McIlvaine-Newsad
In Search of Common Ground: Food Security, Ecotourism and Conservation in the Ecuadorian Tropics
Heather McIlvaine-Newsad