Broccoli agribusiness and semi-proletarianization. Corollary of the labor link in an indigenous commune of the central highlands of Ecuador

Abstract

During the last three decades of the twentieth century, Latin America went through a process of restoring the outward development model thanks to which the agro-export sector acquires renewed dynamism. The expansion of agribusiness of non-traditional export crops has brought diverse consequences on the peasantry settled in the rural areas of the region. While in some cases it led to their dispossession, in others they were integrated as semi-proletarians in their productive processes. This last modality is that of broccoli agribusiness expansion in the central highlands of Ecuador. In this article we explore the type of labor link that is built between farmers and broccoli companies, based on a case study: that of the indigenous peasant community of Yacubamba. We examine the repercussions of three dimensions: the dynamics of parcel work, consumption habits and participation in community spaces. We identify that although a strong dependence on this source of employment is configured as a way to reach the subsistence of the family group, semi-proletarianization does not trigger a sharp break with the peasant dynamics of these homes, as occurs in other rural areas of the region. The content of the article recovers the results obtained in the research carried out during the preparation of our master's thesis based on the conduct of surveys, interviews and observations on site during the end of 2018 and early 2019.