In this largely agrarian society, land distribution continued to lie at the heart of the many problems afflicting the poor. In 1971, which as of 1988 was the date of the latest census, 92 % of farms, some 250,500 in number, covered less than ten hectares each and together constituted only 27 % of total farm area. These farms were the holdings of peasant laborers who planted basic foodstuffs such as corn, beans, rice, and sorghum on 95 % of their holdings. They used rotational methods of agriculture in which individual plots were cultivated for about two years, then left fallow while another plot was tilled.

The 8 % of the farms with an area greater than ten hectares occupied the remaining 73 % of farm area. Within this category, 1,941 farms between 100 and 500 hectares in size, representing 0.8 % of the total number of farms, accounted for 38.7 % of all land under cultivation. Less than 20 % of this land produced basic grains. Farms of more than 500 hectares accounted for more than 15 % of the cultivated land. These farms included the agricultural estates of the elite. The data actually understated the extent of land concentration within the upper sector, since some elite individuals owned more than one farm and some large farms were registered in the names of various family members in an effort to conceal family holdings.

Poverty promoted the additional hardship of broken families, a particularly acute problem among landless laborers who often had to move to find work. By 1980 about 25 % of households were headed by women, partially as a result of men leaving the family unit in search of work. That over 60 % of children were born out of wedlock was another indication of familial instability.