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The forest conversion process: A discussion of the sustainability of predominant land uses associated with frontier expansion in the Amazon

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  • Francisco Pichón

Abstract

One of the most striking features observed throughout tropical agricultural frontiers is the extreme variability in land-use strategies from one farmer to the next. This article analyzes the forest conversion process and predominant land uses associated with smallholder settlement expansion in the Amazon frontier. The discussion seeks to increase understanding of the micro and macro-level forces that propel land-use decisions in the Amazon and offer insights about how farmers' land-use decisions may be altered to bring about forms of resource use that are consistent with the constraints and opportunities of the frontier environment. Recognizing that no frontier area can be truly representative of the Amazon as a whole, this article also introduces some detailed evidence from another Amazon country (Ecuador) within a topic that has been previously dominated by research mainly in Brazil. The analysis suggests that to be effective, any policy or technology-based effort on the part of governments or researchers to alter colonist land-use systems must begin to look systematically at the production systems of agricultural colonist populations already present in frontier environments. This knowledge is essential to understand the social and economic factors affecting present land use and choice of technology. It is also important for understanding factors influencing farmers' demand for more optimal systems of land use that are consistent with varying agroecological potentials, demographic situations, and the management capacity of the farmer. Copyright Kluwer Academic Publishers 1996

Suggested Citation

  • Francisco Pichón, 1996. "The forest conversion process: A discussion of the sustainability of predominant land uses associated with frontier expansion in the Amazon," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 13(1), pages 32-51, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:agrhuv:v:13:y:1996:i:1:p:32-51
    DOI: 10.1007/BF01530465
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Binswanger, Hans P & McIntire, John, 1987. "Behavioral and Material Determinants of Production Relations in Land-Abundant Tropical Agriculture," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 36(1), pages 73-99, October.
    2. Hecht, Susanna B., 1985. "Environment, development and politics: Capital accumulation and the livestock sector in Eastern Amazonia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 13(6), pages 663-684, June.
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    1. Pichon, Francisco J., 1997. "Settler households and land-use patterns in the Amazon frontier: Farm-level evidence from Ecuador," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 25(1), pages 67-91, January.
    2. Shriar, Avrum J., 2002. "Food security and land use deforestation in northern Guatemala," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 27(4), pages 395-414, August.

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