Abstract

BAYONA R., Nubia Milena  and  MUNOZ P., Giovanni. Study of agricultural activity as a basis for understanding the socioeconomic dynamics of a rural community in Fomeque, Cundinamarca. Agron. colomb. [online]. 2009, vol.27, n.2, pp.273-281. ISSN 0120-9965.

The following study, conducted in the municipality of Fomeque (Cundinamarca, Colombia), analyzes the social and economic characteristics of the agricultural activities among the primary agricultural commodities in Fomeque. The study was conducted by observing the socio-economic relations of the value chain, identifying the characteristics and distribution of the workforce, the means of production, and the relations between production and distribution. The research was performed by working directly with smallholder farming communities in the studied region, under the premise that such an analysis can help in the formation of public policies as well as assist in addressing public and private sector projects which focus on smallholder farmer economies. The study found that the mode of production is based mainly upon the smallholder economy, although with a significant change in their rationality since production is not to supply the nutritional needs of the family but for commercialization in the markets of Bogotá and Villavicencio. Additionally, the study found that there is an apparent imbalance between rural and urban areas as companies are faced with two different rationalities, worldviews and interests among actors in the value chain: first, there is the perspective of the producer (for whom marketing is relatively unknown and its activities are far removed from the production site), secondly there is the perspective of the intermediaries who primarily focus on managing cash flow, acting as financial managers of the production chain, and thus having an increased awareness of the impact of cash flow on the system.

Keywords : smallholder economics; means of production; production relationships; rural development; sharecropping; value chains.

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