A Cooperative Farming Project in Chile: A Case Study

This article analyzes the first several years of a small cooperatively operated agrarian-reform project in Chile. It is predicated on the idea that in a more inclusive reform, technicians will be aided by studies of how small-scale reform has worked. The study concludes that a lower level of consumption would have helped colonists in making land and capital payments. Alternatives which involve less sacrifice, however, are to use available family labor more efficiently, thus lowering operating costs, and to raise production by more intensive farming. By comparing the farm under reform with a well-managed but traditionally operated unit with similar soil resources, we have demonstrated that a margin of unexploited productivity exists on the colonized farm. This margin can be realized only if proper technical assistance is provided to help settlers—who have had little experience as entrepreneurs—arrive at a more nearly optimum combination of factors.