land tenure

The relation of a farmer to the land farmed. Farmers may be owner-occupiers, tenants, landless labourers, or state employees.

The Latifundia system is common in Latin America. Land is organized into large, centrally managed estates worked by landless labourers for low wages. Crops are produced for local use. In the 1980s 70% of Brazil's land was owned by 3% of the population.

Peasant farmers may have limited access to land, which they may or own or rent from the local landowner. This type of tenancy takes the form of cash crops, where up to 80% of the farmer's income is given to the landowner as rent, and share crops, where part of the farmer's crop is given directly to the landowner.

The plantation is a variant form of the large estate system and is usually operated commercially, producing crops for the world market rather than for local use. Labourers may be landless and receive a fixed wage.