RESUMEN
This paper draws upon a detailed longitudinal survey of households living on agricultural plots in the northern three provinces of the Ecuadorian Amazon, the principal region of colonization by migrants in Ecuador since the 1970s. Following the discovery of petroleum in 1967 near what has subsequently come to be the provincial capital and largest Amazonian city of Lago Agrio, oil companies built roads to lay pipelines to extract and pump oil across the Andes for export. As a result, for the past 30 years over half of both Ecuador's export earnings and government revenues have come from petroleum extracted from this region. But the roads also facilitated massive spontaneous in-migration of families from origin areas in the Ecuadorian Sierra, characterized by minifundia and rural poverty. This paper is about those migrants and their effects on the Amazonian landscape. We discuss the data collection methodology and summarize key results on settler characteristics and changes in population, land use, land ownership, technology, labor allocation, and living conditions, as well as the relationships between changes in population and changes in land use over time. The population in the study region has been growing rapidly due to both natural population growth (high fertility) and in-migration. This has led to a dramatic process of subdivision and fragmentation of plots in the 1990's, which contrasts with the consolidation of plots that has occurred in most of the mature frontier areas of the Brazilian Amazon. This fragmentation has led to important changes in land tenure and land use, deforestation, cattle raising, labor allocation, and settler welfare.
Este artigo baseia-se em uma pesquisa longitudinal sobre assentamentos agrícolas em três províncias no norte da Amazônia equatoriana, a principal região de colonização agrícola no país desde 1970. A partir da descoberta de reservas de petróleo em áreas próximas a Lago Agrio, capital provincial e maior cidade da Amazônia Equatoriana, empresas petrolíferas iniciaram a abertura de estradas e construção de oleodutos visando a extração, transporte através dos Andes e exportação de petróleo. A exploração petrolífera na Amazônia Equatoriana tem respondido, nos últimos trinta anos, por cerca da metade dos rendimentos com exportação e na arrecadação governamental. As estradas abertas na Amazônia facilitaram a imigração maciça e espontânea de famílias dos Andes equatorianos, uma região tradicionalmente caracterizada pela presença de minifúndios e pobreza rural. Este artigo discute a metodologia de coleta de dados e sumariza os principais resultados de pesquisas sobre esses imigrantes na Amazônia Equatoriana, especificamente em termos de mudanças nas características populacionais, uso e propriedade da terra, tecnologia, trabalho e padrão de vida, assim como relações entre características populacionais e uso da terra ao longo dos anos 90. O elevado crescimento populacional devido ao crescimento natural (alta fecundidade) e contínua imigração tem engendrado a subdivisão e fragmentação de lotes rurais desde 1990, em contraste ao processo de concentração de terra em diversas partes da Amazônia brasileira.
Asunto(s)
Población , Ecosistema Amazónico , Migración Animal , AgriculturaRESUMEN
This paper presents details from the field test of two rapid surveys in Ecuador in 1995. It focuses on how the surveys were designed and implemented, including descriptions of the sampling procedures, the preparation and use of preprogrammed palmtop computers for data entry, the selection criteria for the interviewing team, and how the training was designed. Lessons are drawn that will assist health professionals plan and carry out better rapid data collection in the future. The objective of the study was to evaluate the reliability and validity of data gathered during the rapid surveys as compared with a recent "gold standard" national survey. A two-way factorial design was used to control for differences in sampling (probability versus quasi-probability) and methods of data collection (paper versus palmtop computer). Few differences were detected between the surveys done on palmtops as compared to paper ones, but urban and rural differentials in contraceptive use were less pronounced in the rapid surveys than in the earlier, national survey. This suggests that caution should be exercised in interpreting the disaggregated data in these rapid surveys. In-depth interviews revealed two features of the rapid surveys that were especially popular: the palmtops for their speed of data entry, and the short questionnaire for its "low impact" on a respondent's time. The common belief that computers would disturb respondents was not found to be the case. Even with no computer experience, the interviewers rapidly mastered the new technology
Este trabajo detalla algunos aspectos de la prueba en el terreno de dos encuestas rápidas efectuadas en el Ecuador en 1995. Examina el diseño y la aplicación de las encuestas; la preparación y el uso de computadoras de bolsillo preprogramadas para la inclusión de los datos; los criterios de selección del equipo de entrevistadores, y el diseño del adiestramiento. Se extraen lecciones que ayudarán a los profesionales de la salud a mejorar en su futuro desempeño la forma de planificar y llevar a cabo sus actividades de recolección rápida de datos. El objetivo del estudio fue evaluar la fiabilidad y validez de los datos recolectados durante las encuestas rápidas, en comparación con las de una encuesta nacional reciente que sirvió de "patrón de oro". Se aplicó un diseño factorial de doble vía para controlar el efecto de las diferencias de muestreo (probabilidad frente a quasi-probabilidad) y de los métodos de recolección de datos (en papel o en computadora de bolsillo). Se detectaron pocas diferencias entre las encuestas efectuadas con computadoras de bolsillo en comparación con las efectuadas en papel, pero hubo menos diferencias entre datos de procedencia urbana y rural respecto al uso de anticonceptivos en las encuestas rápidas que en la encuesta anterior, de alcance nacional. Esto indica que debe observarse precaución a la hora de interpretar los datos desglosados recogidos mediante estas encuestas rápidas. Las entrevistas a fondo revelaron dos rasgos de las encuestas rápidas que gozaron de gran popularidad: las computadoras de bolsillo por la rapidez con la que se incorporan los datos, y el cuestionario corto por su "poco impacto" en el tiempo del encuestado. La creencia general de que los encuestados se sentirían incómodos con las computadoras no se observó en la realidad. Aun sin tener experiencia en el uso de computadoras, los entrevistadores aprendieron a manejar la nueva tecnología sin dificultad.