This two volume edited collection presents a diverse and comprehensive examination of the history of Latin American agriculture over the last 150 years. It will fill a major gap in the literature by offering a coherent study of the agricultural sector that both involves all the national economies while revising and updating existing research on the long-run evolution of agriculture across the continent and its links with overall economic development.

The second volume analyses the agricultural sector in eleven Latin American economies – Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Mexico, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela– in terms of agricultural production, use of inputs (land, capital, labour), technological change, institutional factors, the design of agricultural public policies and the consequences in terms of environmental degradation. Through these detailed case studies, the book deals with four core themes to offer an updated, informed perspective on Latin American agriculture, including its major institutions and reforms, the role of the state and public policy design, the impact of globalization and the continent’s engagement with global markets, as well as the still-evolving environmental impacts of the sector. Weaving an awareness of broader regional and global contexts into each chapter, the volume illuminates the diversity of developments and trends in agricultural history across different countries, facilitating stronger understanding of the role of agriculture in economic development and policy implications for the continent today. The book will be a valuable resource for scholars of economic and agricultural history, as well as development economics and Latin American economic policy.

Miguel Martín-Retortillo is Associate Professor of Economic History at the University of Alcala, Spain. His academic interests are related to agriculture and its main transformations in a long term perspective. The focus of his research has been in European and Latin American agriculture. He has also worked at the University of Zaragoza and Pompeu Fabra University. 

Vicente Pinilla is Professor in Economic History at the University of Zaragoza and researcher at the Instituto Agroalimentario de Aragon, in Spain. His research interests are in international trade, agricultural products, long-term agricultural changes, environmental history, wine economics and depopulation processes and policies.

Jackeline Velazco-Portocarrero is an Associate Professor of Economics affiliated with the University of Girona (Spain) and the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú. She holds a Master’s degree in Development Studies, with a specialization in agricultural and rural development, from the International Institute of Social Studies in The Hague. She obtained a PhD in Economics from the University of Manchester and a PhD in Economic History from the University of Barcelona. Her research focuses on the long-term analysis of agrarian productivity from a Latin American perspective, the role of agriculture in economic growth, urban–rural linkages over time, and the importance of non-farm rural activities within family farming systems.

Henry Willebald is a faculty member of Economic Institute (IECON), Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y de Administración (FCEA), Universidad de la República, Uruguay, and Full Professor in Economic History and Economic Development.  His research interests are in modern economic growth in settler economies and Latin American countries, diverse dimensions of economic development at national and regional level, inequality, productive specialization, natural resources and sustainability. His recent books are Tirado-Fabregat, D., Badia-Miró, M. and Willebald, H. (eds.) (2020) Time and Space: Latin American Regional Development in Historical Perspective. Palgrave Studies in Economic History. London: Palgrave Macmillan. ISSN: 2662-6497, and Pinilla, V. and Willebald, H. (eds.) (2018) Agricultural Development in the World Periphery. A Global Economic History Approach.