Small farmers and new rurality in Honduras: case study in Cane, La Paz (2019)

Abstract

The current study inquired the perceptions that small husbandmen have in Cane, La Paz, Honduras, respect to economic activities. As it was a case study, which stressed the perspective of the actors themselves, to collect information were used: the technique of semi-structured interview, discussion group and non-participant observation. The results of the study make known the following: 1) agricultural production in the town of Cane has diversified, cultivating, in addition to basic grains, plantain, papaya, taro, and also some other non-traditional crops; 2) small farmers perceive changes in their productive and social conditions to respect to past decades, which have been boosted by the boom that banana production has had in recent years, 3) in addition to agricultural production, farmers carry out non-agricultural activities, such as livestock, teaching and commerce; 4) people interviewed do not identify themselves as peasants, but as small agricultural producers. So, from the analysis of these results, it is concluded that in Cane, there are elements to consider the existence of a new rurality.