Crisis of the agricultural sector in Ecuador

Abstract

This article addresses the crisis of the agricultural sector in Ecuador since 1950, focusing on the impact of the expansion of capitalism in the countryside. The research analyzes how the economic boom of the 1950s and the subsequent decomposition of pre-capitalist forms transformed production relations, especially on farms. The expansion of banana production facilitated the generalization of wage relations, altering the nature of rent and the social structure of the countryside. From 1960 onwards, agrarian reform, promoted by reformist governments, sought to modernize the countryside and proletarianize the peasantry, resulting in the fragmentation of smallholdings and the creation of a rural semi-proletariat. The article also examines the crisis of the agro-export model and the shift towards industrialization, highlighting the tensions between agricultural modernization and the persistence of pre-capitalist structures. The lack of access to resources and the low quality of life in the agricultural sector reflect the deep crisis in the sector.