Land Use Patterns Among Small Farmer Settlers in the Northeastern Ecuadorian Amazon

This descriptive study identifies patterns of land use among small farmer settlers in the Northeastern Ecuadorian Amazon using cross-sectional data collected among approximately 400 households in 1990. A “typology” of land use patterns is built and considered in relation to two household characteristics: duration of settlement and labor. Several variations in land use patterns are identified according to the degree of forest clearing they involve. Findings suggest that most settlers reflect a low cleared area pattern which may be related to a “brake” family-based coffee production cleared and places on the area cultivated. Reducing clearing by settlers already in the region may therefore mean reinforcing what most are already doing. However, since lower welfare may be associated with lower cleared areas patterns, reinforcing their use will involve making them more profitable. Improving the well-being of the human as well as natural resources of the Amazon frontier will inevitably entail policy measures which reconcile the needs of settler households with forest conservation.