The Dynamics of Agricultural Intensification and Resource Conservation in the Buffer Zone of the Maya Biosphere Reserve, Petén, Guatemala

Efforts to stimulate more intensive land use must be based on a solid understanding of current farmer strategies and the factors that drive them. This paper discusses the influences on agricultural strategy among farmers in Petén, Guatemala, and more specifically, their adoption of more intensive practices. Existing theoretical frameworks pertaining to agricultural intensification are based on a limited number of explanatory variables and thus provide an incomplete understanding of farmer strategy and of how and why it varies among farmers and communities. A more useful analytical approach is to consider the wide range of factors at both the regional/community scale and the farm/household scale that influence farmers' need, desire, and ability to alter their production strategies. An analysis based on this approach indicates that conservation and development organizations in Petén should place greater emphasis on the rural economy and on fostering the conditions that would stimulate more intensive, sustainable land use.