Abstract
Most palms used in agroforestry systems are exploited from wild stands or are only occasionally cultivated, while only a few palms have been domesticated. In this study we investigated how socio-economic factors and people's perceptions of changes in palm use and availability, influenced palm cultivation among indigenous Shuar and mestizo settlers in south-eastern Ecuador. We also looked at how different uses of palms influenced which species they cultivated. Our results showed that perceptions of declining palm availability in combination with heavy reliance on palm products was positively related to palm cultivation. Hence, cultivation was more common in more remote villages where alternative products were hard to get. In addition, palm cultivation was more common among wealthier people and among indigenous people than among recent settlers. This points to a limiting role of assets such as land and to the importance of history and culture with regard to cultivation. It was not possible to identify any single palm use as the primary reason for cultivating a species, but the more uses a species had, the more likely it was to be cultivated. These findings have important implications for development projects that promote cultivation of palms and other long-lived tree crops. They illustrate how market access and lack of necessary assets may undermine cultivation of native species even though these are regarded as important resources.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
S. Atran D. Medin N. Ross E. Lynch V. Vapnarsky E. Ucan Ek’ J. Coley C. Timura M. Baran (2002) ArticleTitleFolkecology, cultural epidemiology, and the spirit of the commons Curr. Anthropol. 43 421–450 Occurrence Handle10.1086/339528
H. Balslev A. Barfod (1987) ArticleTitleEcuadorean palms – an overview Opera Botanica 92 17–35
D.M. Bates (1988) ArticleTitleUtilization pools: a framework for comparing and evaluating the economic importance of palms Adv. Econ. Bot. 6 56–64
J.M. Belsky (1993) ArticleTitleHousehold food security, farm trees, and agroforestry: a comparative study in Indonesia and the Philippines Human Org. 52 130–141
H. Borgtoft Pedersen H. Balslev (1990) Ecuadorean Palms for Agroforestry Aarhus University Press Aarhus, Denmark 122
A. Byg (2002) Las palmas útiles de Nangaritza Z. Aguirre J.E. Madsen E. Cotton H. Balslev (Eds) Botánico Austroecuatoriana Ediciones Abya-Yala Quito, Ecuador 375–384
A. Byg H. Balslev (2004) ArticleTitleFactors affecting local knowledge of palms in Nangaritza valley in south-eastern Ecuador J. Ethnobiol. 24 255–278
O.T. Coomes (1996) ArticleTitleIncome formation among Amazonian peasant households in Northeastern Peru: empirical observations and implications for market-oriented conservation Yearbook, Conference of Latin Americanist Geographers 22 51–64
O.T. Coomes (2004) ArticleTitleRain forest ‘conservation-through-use’? Chambira palm fibre extraction and handicraft production in a land-constraint community, Peruvian Amazon Biodiv. Conserv. 13 351–360 Occurrence Handle10.1023/B:BIOC.0000006503.90980.e8
L. Coradin E. Lleras (1988) ArticleTitleOverview of palm domestication in Latin America Adv. Econ. Bot. 6 175–189
P. Descola (1996) The Spears of Twilight – Death and Life in the Amazon Harper Collins Publishers London 459
N.L. Etkin (1994) The cull of the wild N.L. Etkin (Eds) Eating on the Wild Side Arizona University Press Tucson 1–21
A. Fischer L. Vasseur (2002) ArticleTitleSmallholder perceptions of agroforestry projects in Panama Agroforest. Syst. 54 103–113 Occurrence Handle10.1023/A:1015047404867
L.P. Kvist L.B. Holm-Nielsen (1987) ArticleTitleEthnobotanical aspects of lowland Ecuador Opera Botanica 92 83–107
A.H. Ladio (2001) ArticleTitleThe maintenance of wild edible plant gathering in a Mapuche community of Patagonia Econ. Bot. 55 243–253
D.A. Neill P.M. Jørgensen (1999) Climates P.M. Jørgensen S. Léon-Yánez (Eds) Catalogue of the Vascular Plants of Ecuador Missouri Botanical Garden Press St. Louis 8–13
C. Padoch W. Jong Particlede (1995) Subsistence- and market-oriented agroforestry in the Peruvian Amazon T. Nishizawa J.I. Uitto (Eds) America United Nations University Press Tokyo 226–237
S.G. Perz R.T. Walker (2002) ArticleTitleHousehold life cycles and secondary forest cover among small farm colonists in the Amazon World Develop. 30 1009–1027 Occurrence Handle10.1016/S0305-750X(02)00024-4
L. Putsche (2000) ArticleTitleA reassessment of resource depletion, market dependency, and culture change on a Shipibo reserve in the Peruvian Amazon Human Ecol. 28 131–140 Occurrence Handle10.1023/A:1007083822824
N. Ross (2002) ArticleTitleCognitive aspects of intergenerational change: mental models, cultural changeand environmental behavior among the Lacandon Maya of southern Mexico Human Org. 61 125–138
C.S. Simmons R.T. Walker C.H. Wood (2002) ArticleTitleTree planting by small producers in the tropics: a comparative study of Brazil and Panama Agroforest. Syst. 56 89–105 Occurrence Handle10.1023/A:1021377231402
P.M. Summers J.O. Browder M.A. Pedlowski (2004) ArticleTitleTropical forest management and silvicultural practices by small farmers in the Brazilian Amazon: recent farm-level evidence from Rondônia Forest Ecol. Manage. 192 161–177 Occurrence Handle10.1016/j.foreco.2003.12.016
Y. Takasaki B.L. Barham O.T. Coomes (2001) ArticleTitleAmazonian peasants, rain forest useand income generation: the role of wealth and geographical factors Soc. Nat. Resour. 14 291–308 Occurrence Handle10.1080/08941920151080237
K.F. Wiersum (1997) ArticleTitleIndigenous exploitation and management of tropical forest resources: an evolutionary continuum in forest-people interactions Agric. Ecosyst. Environ. 63 1–16 Occurrence Handle10.1016/S0167-8809(96)01124-3
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Byg, A., Balslev, H. Palms in Indigenous and Settler Communities in Southeastern Ecuador: Farmers’ Perceptions and Cultivation Practices. Agroforest Syst 67, 147–158 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10457-005-1704-1
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10457-005-1704-1