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Tree Management and Balancing Process Among Panamanian Farmers

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Abstract

Latin American cattle ranchers have long been depicted as one of the major perpetrators of deforestation. A new conceptualization of Chayanov’s Theory of Peasant Economy is employed to understand ranchers’ perceptions of tree management in Panama. Chayanov’s theory proposes that the family farm is governed by a balance of decisions farmers make between the utility of producing one more item, with the drudgery of producing that item. Farm visits and interviews with 54 Panamanian farmers indicates that trees are actively maintained as part of the utility–drudgery balancing process. These findings suggest that rather than seeing cattle ranchers as perpetrators of deforestation, more research that considers the benefits and tradeoffs farmers confront with tree management could promote productive partnerships among parties invested in farmers’ livelihoods and forest conservation.

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Notes

  1. At time of research it was called ANAM or the National Authority of the Environment.

  2. IRB approval from the University of Michigan was obtained.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to the farmers that kindly welcomed us into their farm and shared their experiences. We thank the Panamianian Ministry of Agricultural Development for their support during fieldwork and the two anonymous reviewers that helped strengthen this manuscript. Funding was provided by University of Michigan Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Block Grant, University of Michigan International Individual Fellowship, Rackham International Research Fellowship.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Environmental Sustainability, Loyola University Chicago, Office 422, West Sheridan Road, Chicago, IL, 60660, USA

    Mariana Cecilia Valencia Mestre

  2. Urban and Regional Planning Program, University of Michigan, Office 1248A, Art and Architecture Building, 2000 Bonisteel Boulevard, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109-2069, USA

    Lesli Hoey

  3. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan, 3160 Biological Sciences Building, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109-1048, USA

    John Vandermeer

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  1. Mariana Cecilia Valencia Mestre
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Correspondence to Mariana Cecilia Valencia Mestre.

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Valencia Mestre, M.C., Hoey, L. & Vandermeer, J. Tree Management and Balancing Process Among Panamanian Farmers. Small-scale Forestry 19, 541–563 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11842-020-09453-6

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