IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/pra/mprapa/29647.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Soybeans, Poverty and Inequality in the Brazilian Amazon

Author

Listed:
  • Weinhold, Diana
  • Killick, Evan
  • Reis, Eustaquio Jose

Abstract

The recent growth of soybean cultivation in the Brazilian Amazon has been unprecedented, even as the debate continues over its economic and environmental consequences. Based on contemporary datasets as well as our own field studies, this paper examines the social and economic costs and benefits of increases in soybean production for local populations. After presenting some background information on the rise of soybean cultivation in Brazil we examine the relationship between increases in soybean production and local economic indicators. We find that increased soy production raises median rural incomes and may reduce poverty. However, we also note that this increase is associated with increased measures of inequality, and we consider the wider political and social consequences of this connection in our qualitative fieldwork. The mixed-method approach helps shed light not only economic effects of soy cultivation but also on the more complex social and political context that is, arguably, even more policy-relevant.

Suggested Citation

  • Weinhold, Diana & Killick, Evan & Reis, Eustaquio Jose, 2011. "Soybeans, Poverty and Inequality in the Brazilian Amazon," MPRA Paper 29647, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:29647
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/29647/1/MPRA_paper_29647.pdf
    File Function: original version
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Corrina Steward, 2007. "From colonization to “environmental soy”: A case study of environmental and socio-economic valuation in the Amazon soy frontier," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 24(1), pages 107-122, March.
    2. Andersen,Lykke E. & Granger,Clive W. J. & Reis,Eustaquio J. & Weinhold,Diana & Wunder,Sven, 2002. "The Dynamics of Deforestation and Economic Growth in the Brazilian Amazon," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521811972.
    3. Vera-Diaz, Maria del Carmen & Kaufmann, Robert K. & Nepstad, Daniel C. & Schlesinger, Peter, 2008. "An interdisciplinary model of soybean yield in the Amazon Basin: The climatic, edaphic, and economic determinants," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(2), pages 420-431, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Arata, Linda & Hauschild, Sofia & Sckokai, Paolo, 2018. "Economic and social impact of grape growing in Northeastern Brazil," Bio-based and Applied Economics Journal, Italian Association of Agricultural and Applied Economics (AIEAA), vol. 6(3), May.
    2. Luiz Antonio Martinelli & Mateus Batistella & Ramon Felipe Bicudo da Silva & Emilio Moran, 2017. "Soy Expansion and Socioeconomic Development in Municipalities of Brazil," Land, MDPI, vol. 6(3), pages 1-14, September.
    3. Simone Piras & Valdemar João Wesz & Stefano Ghinoi, 2021. "Soy Expansion, Environment, and Human Development: An Analysis across Brazilian Municipalities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(13), pages 1-20, June.
    4. Russo Lopes, Gabriela & Bastos Lima, Mairon G. & Reis, Tiago N.P. dos, 2021. "Maldevelopment revisited: Inclusiveness and social impacts of soy expansion over Brazil’s Cerrado in Matopiba," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    5. Cong, Rong-Gang & Stefaniak, Irena & Madsen, Bjarne & Dalgaard, Tommy & Jensen, Jørgen Dejgård & Nainggolan, Doan & Termansen, Mette, 2017. "Where to implement local biotech innovations? A framework for multi-scale socio-economic and environmental impact assessment of Green Bio-Refineries," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 141-151.
    6. Avery S. Cohn & Juliana Gil & Thomas Berger & Heitor Pellegrina & Chantal Toledo, "undated". "Patterns and Processes of Pasture to Crop Conversion in Brazil: Evidence from Mato Grosso State," Mathematica Policy Research Reports 8ce99775615f42b98ff43f530, Mathematica Policy Research.
    7. Arata, Linda & Hauschild, Sofia & Sckokai, Paolo, 2017. "Socio-economic impact of grape growing in North-eastern Brazil," 2017 Sixth AIEAA Conference, June 15-16, Piacenza, Italy 261264, Italian Association of Agricultural and Applied Economics (AIEAA).
    8. Sujin Choi & Hanho Kim, 2016. "The impact of conglomerate farming on the poor: Empirical evidence from the Brazil soy sector," International Area Studies Review, Center for International Area Studies, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, vol. 19(2), pages 147-164, June.
    9. Baumert, Sophia & Fisher, Janet & Ryan, Casey & Woollen, Emily & Vollmer, Frank & Artur, Luis & Zorrilla-Miras, Pedro & Mahamane, Mansour, 2019. "Forgone opportunities of large-scale agricultural investment: A comparison of three models of soya production in Central Mozambique," World Development Perspectives, Elsevier, vol. 16(C).
    10. Peter Richards, 2018. "It’s not just where you farm; it’s whether your neighbor does too. How agglomeration economies are shaping new agricultural landscapes," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 18(1), pages 87-110.
    11. Léa Crepin, 2022. "Do forest conservation policies undermine the soybean sector in the Brazilian Amazon? Evidence from the blacklisting of municipalities," Working Papers 2022.07, FAERE - French Association of Environmental and Resource Economists.
    12. Ferreira, Susane Cristini Gomes & Azevedo-Ramos, Claudia & Farias, Hilder André Bezerra & Mota, Pedro, 2023. "Spillover effect of the oil palm boom on the growth of surrounding towns in the eastern Amazon," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    13. Peter Richards & Heitor Pellegrina & Leah VanWey & Stephanie Spera, 2015. "Soybean Development: The Impact of a Decade of Agricultural Change on Urban and Economic Growth in Mato Grosso, Brazil," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(4), pages 1-18, April.
    14. Marije Schaafsma & Ilda Dreoni & Lacour Mody Ayompe & Benis Egoh & Dewa Putu Ekayana & Arilson Favareto & Sonny Mumbunan & Louise Nakagawa & Jonas Ngouhouo‐poufoun & Marieke Sassen & Thiago Kanashiro , 2023. "A framework to understand the social impacts of agricultural trade," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(1), pages 138-150, February.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Michael Mann & Robert Kaufmann & Dana Bauer & Sucharita Gopal & James Baldwin & Maria Del Carmen Vera-Diaz, 2012. "Ecosystem Service Value and Agricultural Conversion in the Amazon: Implications for Policy Intervention," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 53(2), pages 279-295, October.
    2. Mann, Michael L. & Kaufmann, Robert K. & Bauer, Dana & Gopal, Sucharita & Vera-Diaz, Maria Del Carmen & Nepstad, Daniel & Merry, Frank & Kallay, Jennifer & Amacher, Gregory S., 2010. "The economics of cropland conversion in Amazonia: The importance of agricultural rent," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(7), pages 1503-1509, May.
    3. May, Peter H. & Soares-Filho, Britaldo Silveira & Strand, Jon, 2013. "How much is the Amazon worth ? the state of knowledge concerning the value of preserving amazon rainforests," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6668, The World Bank.
    4. Vera-Diaz, Maria del Carmen & Kaufmann, Robert K. & Nepstad, Daniel C., 2009. "The Environmental Impacts of Soybean Expansion and Infrastructure Development in Brazil’s Amazon Basin," Working Papers 179072, Tufts University, Global Development and Environment Institute.
    5. Thiemo Fetzer & Samuel Marden, 2017. "Take What You Can: Property Rights, Contestability and Conflict," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 0(601), pages 757-783, May.
    6. Sébastien Marchand, 2011. "Technical Efficiency, Farm Size and Tropical Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazonian Forest," CERDI Working papers halshs-00552981, HAL.
    7. Gregory S. Amacher & Erkki Koskela & Markku Ollikainen, 2004. "Deforestation, Production Intensity and Land Use under Insecure Property Rights," CESifo Working Paper Series 1128, CESifo.
    8. Marcelo Bentes Diniz & Ricardo Bruno Santos do Nascimento & Márcia Jucá Teixeira Diniz & Cláudio Castelo Branco Puty & Sérgio Luiz de Medeiros Rivero, 2007. "A Amazônia (Legal) Brasileira: Evidências De Uma Condição De Armadilha Da Pobreza?," Anais do XXXV Encontro Nacional de Economia [Proceedings of the 35th Brazilian Economics Meeting] 090, ANPEC - Associação Nacional dos Centros de Pós-Graduação em Economia [Brazilian Association of Graduate Programs in Economics].
    9. Silva, Felipe & Fulginiti, Lilyan & Perrin, Richard, 2016. "Trade-off between amazon forest and agriculture in Brazil – shadow price and their substitution estimative for 2006," 2016 Annual Meeting, July 31-August 2, Boston, Massachusetts 235800, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    10. Saraly ANDRADE DE SA & Philippe DELACOTE & Eric Nazindigouba KERE, 2015. "Spatial Interactions in Tropical Deforestation: An application to the Brazilian Amazon," Working Papers 201503, CERDI.
    11. Luiza M Karpavicius & Ariaster Chimeli, 2023. "Forest Protection and Human Health: The Case of Malaria in the Brazilian Amazon," Working Papers, Department of Economics 2023_08, University of São Paulo (FEA-USP), revised 26 Jul 2023.
    12. Coronese, Matteo & Occelli, Martina & Lamperti, Francesco & Roventini, Andrea, 2023. "AgriLOVE: Agriculture, land-use and technical change in an evolutionary, agent-based model," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 208(C).
    13. Hampf, Anna C. & Carauta, Marcelo & Latynskiy, Evgeny & Libera, Affonso A.D. & Monteiro, Leonardo & Sentelhas, Paulo & Troost, Christian & Berger, Thomas & Nendel, Claas, 2018. "The biophysical and socio-economic dimension of yield gaps in the southern Amazon – A bio-economic modelling approach," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 165(C), pages 1-13.
    14. -, 2015. "La economía del cambio climático en América Latina y el Caribe: paradojas y desafíos del desarrollo sostenible," Libros y Documentos Institucionales, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL), number 37310 edited by Cepal.
    15. Winslow D. Hanse & Helen T. Naughton, 2013. "Social and Ecological Determinants of Land Clearing in the Brazilian Amazon: A Spatial Analysis," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 89(4), pages 699-721.
    16. U. Persson & Christian Azar, 2007. "Tropical deforestation in a future international climate policy regime—lessons from the Brazilian Amazon," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 12(7), pages 1277-1304, August.
    17. Marije Schaafsma & Ilda Dreoni & Lacour Mody Ayompe & Benis Egoh & Dewa Putu Ekayana & Arilson Favareto & Sonny Mumbunan & Louise Nakagawa & Jonas Ngouhouo‐poufoun & Marieke Sassen & Thiago Kanashiro , 2023. "A framework to understand the social impacts of agricultural trade," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(1), pages 138-150, February.
    18. Mastrangelo, Joao Paulo S. & Gori Maia, Alexandre, 2021. "Impacts of land tenure security on deforestation: evidence for the Amazon rainforest," 2021 Annual Meeting, August 1-3, Austin, Texas 313918, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    19. Clive W.J. Granger, 2004. "Time Series Analysis, Cointegration, and Applications," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(3), pages 421-425, June.
    20. Alexandre Sauquet & Sébastien Marchand & José Gustavo Feres, 2012. "Ecological Fiscal Incentives and Spatial Strategic Interactions: the Case of the ICMS-E in the Brazilian state of Paraná," CERDI Working papers halshs-00700474, HAL.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    soybeans; land use; brazil; poverty; inequality;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q56 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environment and Development; Environment and Trade; Sustainability; Environmental Accounts and Accounting; Environmental Equity; Population Growth
    • O13 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Agriculture; Natural Resources; Environment; Other Primary Products
    • R11 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Regional Economic Activity: Growth, Development, Environmental Issues, and Changes

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:29647. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Joachim Winter (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/vfmunde.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.