Land Ownership

• Up to the 1950's most of the land was owned by absentee landlords.
• 70% of the population worked in agriculture yet only 25% of farmers owned their own land.
• There were large estates called Latifundia and small farms known as Minifundia were rented to tenant farmers.
• Some people were labourers or Braccianti.
• Braccianti were the  worst off as they had  no land at all and survived by getting a  day's work here and there.
• This system of land ownership discouraged productive agriculture.
• Minifundia were between 3-5 ha making it  difficult to produce enough to survive and pay rent.
• Farmers often overcropped and overgrazed, reducing soil fertility.
• There was no incentive for farmers to make improvements as they could be thrown off the land at any time. All this combined to make farming subsistence.