• Media type: E-Article
  • Title: Population Growth, Public Policy and Resource Degradation: The Case of Guatemala
  • Contributor: Southgate, Douglas
  • imprint: Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, 1992
  • Published in: Ambio
  • Language: English
  • ISSN: 0044-7447; 1654-7209
  • Origination:
  • Footnote:
  • Description: <p>In this paper, the environmental crisis in rural Guatemala is examined. Current agricultural land use is shown to outstrip soil capabilities in many parts of the country. Land redistribution, pure and simple, would not be an adequate response to social and environmental problems. Instead, market forces must be given freer play, resource users' property rights must be strengthened, and formation of human capital and the rural economy's scientific base must accelerate. The factors responsible for environmental degradation in the Guatemalan countryside are representative of those found elsewhere in Latin America.</p>