Agricultural intensification by smallholders in the Western Brazilian Amazon: from deforestation to sustainable land use

Despite the importance of tropical moist forests for conserving biodiversity and storing carbon, forests continue to fall, because the private benefits of clearing land for agriculture far outweigh tangible economic gains from retaining forests. This report measures the financial disparity between f...

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Main Authors: Vosti, Stephen A., Witcover, Julie, Carpentier, Chantal Line
Format: Informe técnico
Language:Inglés
Published: International Food Policy Research Institute 2002
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/158054
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author Vosti, Stephen A.
Witcover, Julie
Carpentier, Chantal Line
author_browse Carpentier, Chantal Line
Vosti, Stephen A.
Witcover, Julie
author_facet Vosti, Stephen A.
Witcover, Julie
Carpentier, Chantal Line
author_sort Vosti, Stephen A.
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Despite the importance of tropical moist forests for conserving biodiversity and storing carbon, forests continue to fall, because the private benefits of clearing land for agriculture far outweigh tangible economic gains from retaining forests. This report measures the financial disparity between forested and cleared land for small-scale farmers in two settlements in the western Brazilian Amazon where pastures are expanding and forests receding. Considering smallholder land use decisions—when and how much to deforest and for what purpose—the report weighs the trade-offs and complementarities among three development objectives: economic growth through agriculture, environmental sustainability, and poverty alleviation. Drawing on field data collected in the mid-1990s, it uses multivariate analysis to explore how factors such as soil quality and market access shape deforestation and use of cleared land. It introduces a farm-level bioeconomic linear programming model to illuminate how such factors influence land use over time, taking into account soil fertility shifts and exploring policy and technology options that give farmers incentives to slow deforestation without decreasing farm household income. -- Authors' Abstract
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spelling CGSpace1580542025-01-10T06:42:36Z Agricultural intensification by smallholders in the Western Brazilian Amazon: from deforestation to sustainable land use Vosti, Stephen A. Witcover, Julie Carpentier, Chantal Line agricultural policies small farmers deforestation land use intensive farming sustainability land management small farms smallholders Despite the importance of tropical moist forests for conserving biodiversity and storing carbon, forests continue to fall, because the private benefits of clearing land for agriculture far outweigh tangible economic gains from retaining forests. This report measures the financial disparity between forested and cleared land for small-scale farmers in two settlements in the western Brazilian Amazon where pastures are expanding and forests receding. Considering smallholder land use decisions—when and how much to deforest and for what purpose—the report weighs the trade-offs and complementarities among three development objectives: economic growth through agriculture, environmental sustainability, and poverty alleviation. Drawing on field data collected in the mid-1990s, it uses multivariate analysis to explore how factors such as soil quality and market access shape deforestation and use of cleared land. It introduces a farm-level bioeconomic linear programming model to illuminate how such factors influence land use over time, taking into account soil fertility shifts and exploring policy and technology options that give farmers incentives to slow deforestation without decreasing farm household income. -- Authors' Abstract 2002 2024-10-24T12:53:28Z 2024-10-24T12:53:28Z Report https://hdl.handle.net/10568/158054 en Open Access application/pdf International Food Policy Research Institute Vosti, Stephen A.; Witcover, Julie; Carpentier, Chantal Line. 2002. Agricultural intensification by smallholders in the Western Brazilian Amazon: from deforestation to sustainable land use. Research Report 130. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/158054
spellingShingle agricultural policies
small farmers
deforestation
land use
intensive farming
sustainability
land management
small farms
smallholders
Vosti, Stephen A.
Witcover, Julie
Carpentier, Chantal Line
Agricultural intensification by smallholders in the Western Brazilian Amazon: from deforestation to sustainable land use
title Agricultural intensification by smallholders in the Western Brazilian Amazon: from deforestation to sustainable land use
title_full Agricultural intensification by smallholders in the Western Brazilian Amazon: from deforestation to sustainable land use
title_fullStr Agricultural intensification by smallholders in the Western Brazilian Amazon: from deforestation to sustainable land use
title_full_unstemmed Agricultural intensification by smallholders in the Western Brazilian Amazon: from deforestation to sustainable land use
title_short Agricultural intensification by smallholders in the Western Brazilian Amazon: from deforestation to sustainable land use
title_sort agricultural intensification by smallholders in the western brazilian amazon from deforestation to sustainable land use
topic agricultural policies
small farmers
deforestation
land use
intensive farming
sustainability
land management
small farms
smallholders
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/158054
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