This dissertation will compare five ladino communities of rural Guatemala on the basis of their various agricultural production systems. The objective of the study is to assess the differential impact each of these production systems has on the social mobility (i.e., changing standards of living and access to the means of production over time) of small family farms. The study will use data already collected by the Institute of Nutrition for Central American and Panama and data that will be generated by original fieldwork. Data on the seasonality of production practices, cropping patterns, time allocation of household members, and fluctuations in household income will be collected by interviews with husbands and wives at frequent intervals.
