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Household production and forest clearing: the role of farming in the development of the Amazon

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  • CAVIGLIA-HARRIS, JILL L.

Abstract

Global tropical deforestation continues to be a critical environmental issue and nowhere in the world is the issue more pronounced than in Brazil. This paper examines the land-use choices of small-scale farmers in Ouro Preto do Oeste, Rondônia, Brazil and investigates how agricultural production impacts deforestation levels. The data used to explore these issues consist of a panel collected from 152 households in 1996 and 2000. Overall, the empirical models indicate that access to credit, wealth, lot size, product markets, and off-farm labor opportunities, largely influence deforestation and production decisions. Among other things, the results suggest that more sustainable production methods are unlikely to be adopted by a majority of households under current conditions because the production of milk has rapidly advanced due to its moderate labor requirements and existing market infrastructure. Households with greater levels of wealth have focused on milk while those with access to credit have focused on crops. Since the production of crops is largely influenced by access to credit, similar incentives may be proposed to support more sustainable production activities to help reduce deforestation.

Suggested Citation

  • Caviglia-Harris, Jill L., 2004. "Household production and forest clearing: the role of farming in the development of the Amazon," Environment and Development Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 9(2), pages 181-202, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:endeec:v:9:y:2004:i:02:p:181-202_00
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Schneider, Laura & Geoghegan, Jacqueline, 2006. "Land Abandonment in an Agricultural Frontier After a Plant Invasion: The Case of Bracken Fern in Southern Yucatán, Mexico," Agricultural and Resource Economics Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 35(1), pages 167-177, April.
    2. Amacher, Gregory S. & Merry, Frank D. & Bowman, Maria S., 2009. "Smallholder timber sale decisions on the Amazon frontier," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(6), pages 1787-1796, April.
    3. Babigumira, Ronnie & Angelsen, Arild & Buis, Maarten & Bauch, Simone & Sunderland, Terry & Wunder, Sven, 2014. "Forest Clearing in Rural Livelihoods: Household-Level Global-Comparative Evidence," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 64(S1), pages 67-79.
    4. Makate, Clifton & Angelsen, Arild & Holden, Stein Terje & Westengen, Ola Tveitereid, 2023. "Evolution of farm-level crop diversification and response to rainfall shocks in smallholder farming: Evidence from Malawi and Tanzania," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 205(C).
    5. Muhammad Tufail & Ather Maqsood Ahmed & Shahzad Alvi, 2021. "Conservation of forest through provision of alternative sources of income; evidence from rural households in Northern Pakistan," Journal of Forest Science, Czech Academy of Agricultural Sciences, vol. 67(1), pages 36-50.
    6. Shone, Bryan M. & Caviglia-Harris, Jill L., 2006. "Quantifying and comparing the value of non-timber forest products in the Amazon," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(2), pages 249-267, June.
    7. Shinde, Nilesh N. & Do Valle, Stella Z. Schons & Maia, Alexandre Gori & Amacher, Gregory S., 2022. "Can an environmental policy contribute to the reduction of land conflict? Evidence from the Rural Environmental Registry (CAR) in the Brazilian Amazon," 2022 Annual Meeting, July 31-August 2, Anaheim, California 322584, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    8. Schons, Stella Zucchetti & Amacher, Gregory & Cobourn, Kelly & Arantes, Caroline, 2020. "Benefits of community fisheries management to individual households in the floodplains of the Amazon River in Brazil," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).
    9. Santiago, Thaís Muniz Ottoni & Caviglia-Harris, Jill & Pereira de Rezende, José Luiz, 2018. "Carrots, Sticks and the Brazilian Forest Code: the promising response of small landowners in the Amazon," Journal of Forest Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 38-51.
    10. Xiaoqing Dai & Lijie Pu & Fangping Rao, 2017. "Assessing the Effect of a Crop-Tree Intercropping Program on Smallholders’ Incomes in Rural Xinjiang, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(9), pages 1-19, August.
    11. Bowman, Maria S., 2016. "Impact of foot-and-mouth disease status on deforestation in Brazilian Amazon and cerrado municipalities between 2000 and 2010," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 25-40.
    12. repec:rre:publsh:v:35:y:2005:i:2:p:187-205 is not listed on IDEAS
    13. Porro, Roberto & Lopez-Feldman, Alejandro & Vela-Alvarado, Jorge W., 2015. "Forest use and agriculture in Ucayali, Peru: Livelihood strategies, poverty and wealth in an Amazon frontier," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 47-56.
    14. Klemick, Heather, 2011. "Constraints or Cooperation? Determinants of Secondary Forest Cover Under Shifting Cultivation," Agricultural and Resource Economics Review, Northeastern Agricultural and Resource Economics Association, vol. 40(3), pages 1-17, December.
    15. Elisabeth Hettig & Jann Lay & Kacana Sipangule, 2016. "Drivers of Households’ Land-Use Decisions: A Critical Review of Micro-Level Studies in Tropical Regions," Land, MDPI, vol. 5(4), pages 1-32, October.
    16. Bowman, Maria S. & Amacher, Gregory S. & Merry, Frank D., 2008. "Fire use and prevention by traditional households in the Brazilian Amazon," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(1), pages 117-130, August.
    17. Pokorny, Benno & Robiglio, Valentina & Reyes, Martin & Vargas, Ricardo & Patiño Carrera, Cesar Francesco, 2021. "The potential of agroforestry concessions to stabilize Amazonian forest frontiers: a case study on the economic and environmental robustness of informally settled small-scale cocoa farmers in Peru," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    18. Edward B. Barbier & Ramón E. López & Jacob P. Hochard, 2016. "Debt, Poverty and Resource Management in a Rural Smallholder Economy," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 63(2), pages 411-427, February.
    19. Francisco Fontes & Charles Palmer, 2017. "Was von Thünen right? Cattle intensification and deforestation in Brazil," GRI Working Papers 261, Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment.
    20. Barbier, Edward B., 2012. "Natural capital, ecological scarcity and rural poverty," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6232, The World Bank.
    21. Barbier,Edward B., 2007. "Natural Resources and Economic Development," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521706513.
    22. West, Thales A.P. & Grogan, Kelly A. & Swisher, Marilyn E. & Caviglia-Harris, Jill L. & Sills, Erin O. & Roberts, Dar A. & Harris, Daniel & Putz, Francis E., 2018. "Impacts of REDD+ payments on a coupled human-natural system in Amazonia," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 33(PA), pages 68-76.
    23. Katrina Mullan & Erin Sills & Subhrendu K. Pattanayak & Jill Caviglia-Harris, 2018. "Converting Forests to Farms: The Economic Benefits of Clearing Forests in Agricultural Settlements in the Amazon," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 71(2), pages 427-455, October.

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