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Mita was a system of forced labour in Peru. It originally began as a form of labour-as-tribute in the Inca empire, enabling the construction of public infrastructure such as roads, terraces and dry masonry walls (Rowe, 1946).
It was adapted and intensified by Spanish colonisers under the "encomienda" system, which required Peruvian communities to devote one seventh of their male labour force to public works, mines and agriculture. In contrast to the earlier Inca form, the Spanish mita was used to enrich private mining interests and to finance Spanish wars in Europe (Cole, 1985). This system formally endured from 1573 to 1812.
Economic research has shown that the distribution of areas of relative poverty in Peru can be partly explained by the lingering effects of the mita (Dell, 2010). There are systematic and enduring differences between the areas where the mita operated within Peru and other regions. These differences include household consumption being reduced by around 25% and the prevalence of stunted growth in children being 6% higher (Dell, 2010).
Cole, J. A. (1985). The PotosĂ Mita, 1573-1700: Compulsory Indian labor in the Andes. Stanford University Press.
Dell. (2010). The Persistent Effects of Peru’s Mining Mita. Econometrica, 78(6), 1863–1903.
https://doi.org/10.3982/ECTA8121)
Rowe, J. (1946). Inca Culture at the Time of the Spanish Conquest. In Handbook of South American Indians (pp. 183–330).