Exposing market-led Agrarian reform: A case study of the land fund in Guatemala

In recent years Market-Led Agrarian Reform has been promoted in the global South as a more effective approach than State-Led Agrarian Reform. This thesis uses in-depth qualitative research to assess the experience of several Guatemalan communities in their quest to obtain land through Guatemala’s market Assisted land distribution program over the past 10 years. Six categories are used to evaluate MLAR in Guatemala: the pace and efficiency of reform; the extent to which complementary reforms have been enacted; accessibility to participants; quality of land; technical assistance available; and access to start-up capital and markets for agricultural production. The findings of this thesis support the conclusions made by a number of researchers assessing other country experiences with MLAR that this type of land distribution program is fairly ineffective at redistributing land or fostering sustainable rural livelihoods in Latin America.