The social capital and the private profitability of the rural productive middle class as explanatory variables of the destruction for natural resources. Case of the municipality of Mulukukú

Abstract

The destruction of natural resources in the municipality of Mulukuku and in Nicaragua in general is the principal cause of a crisis without precedent for the economy and the society. The national resources have sustained the principal economic activity, cattle raising, but the immediate interest of farmers is the destruction of forests for acquisition of cheap land. In contradiction with this short-term interest, the long-term interest of the producers is the preservation of natural resources, not only as the basis of their productive activity but also as the medium for the acquisition of ecological certifications that add value to their production. This investigation combines quantitative and qualitative methodology and has an explanatory aim.. The principal result of the investigation is that the low-level social capital of the producers makes them victims of public policies that destroy their profits and favor the cartel of export companies. The informal institutional reaction of the producers is the appropriation of national lands that belongs to the state “de jure” but not “de facto”. The prognostic of the investigation is that the situation will be much worse and the low possibility of solution depends on the rise in profits of producers and the rise of social capital to effect change of public policies, as a necessary condition for the preservation of natural resources.