Agrarian reform in the Brazilian Amazon: its implications for land distribution and deforestation

This paper examines the interactions between state-led land reform, agrarian structures, and deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon. Land reform tends to promote land redistribution through regularization of smallholder land invasions of large-scale landholdings, and by redistribution of public lands...

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Autor principal: Pacheco, P.
Formato: Journal Article
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: 2009
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/20184
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author Pacheco, P.
author_browse Pacheco, P.
author_facet Pacheco, P.
author_sort Pacheco, P.
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description This paper examines the interactions between state-led land reform, agrarian structures, and deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon. Land reform tends to promote land redistribution through regularization of smallholder land invasions of large-scale landholdings, and by redistribution of public lands to smallholders in existing colonization frontiers. The implications of state-led land reform on deforestation are heterogeneous. I argue that impacts of agrarian reform are strongly related to the pre-existing social and economic configuration of the frontiers where it takes place. While it leads to lower rates of deforestation in landscapes dominated by smallholders with diversified land use, its impact on forest conversion is higher in landscapes where extensive land use, mainly prompted by large-scale cattle ranching, tends to dominate. I provide an assessment for the whole Brazilian Amazon, and examine two research sites in the state of Para´, namely Uruara´ and Redenca˜o. The study is based on informant interviews, secondary information, agricultural census data, and remote sensing data.
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spelling CGSpace201842025-01-24T14:12:36Z Agrarian reform in the Brazilian Amazon: its implications for land distribution and deforestation Pacheco, P. agriculture tenure systems deforestation economics This paper examines the interactions between state-led land reform, agrarian structures, and deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon. Land reform tends to promote land redistribution through regularization of smallholder land invasions of large-scale landholdings, and by redistribution of public lands to smallholders in existing colonization frontiers. The implications of state-led land reform on deforestation are heterogeneous. I argue that impacts of agrarian reform are strongly related to the pre-existing social and economic configuration of the frontiers where it takes place. While it leads to lower rates of deforestation in landscapes dominated by smallholders with diversified land use, its impact on forest conversion is higher in landscapes where extensive land use, mainly prompted by large-scale cattle ranching, tends to dominate. I provide an assessment for the whole Brazilian Amazon, and examine two research sites in the state of Para´, namely Uruara´ and Redenca˜o. The study is based on informant interviews, secondary information, agricultural census data, and remote sensing data. 2009 2012-06-04T09:13:07Z 2012-06-04T09:13:07Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/20184 en Pacheco, P. 2009. Agrarian reform in the Brazilian Amazon: its implications for land distribution and deforestation . World Development 37 (8) :1337–1347. ISSN: 0305-750X.
spellingShingle agriculture
tenure systems
deforestation
economics
Pacheco, P.
Agrarian reform in the Brazilian Amazon: its implications for land distribution and deforestation
title Agrarian reform in the Brazilian Amazon: its implications for land distribution and deforestation
title_full Agrarian reform in the Brazilian Amazon: its implications for land distribution and deforestation
title_fullStr Agrarian reform in the Brazilian Amazon: its implications for land distribution and deforestation
title_full_unstemmed Agrarian reform in the Brazilian Amazon: its implications for land distribution and deforestation
title_short Agrarian reform in the Brazilian Amazon: its implications for land distribution and deforestation
title_sort agrarian reform in the brazilian amazon its implications for land distribution and deforestation
topic agriculture
tenure systems
deforestation
economics
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/20184
work_keys_str_mv AT pachecop agrarianreforminthebrazilianamazonitsimplicationsforlanddistributionanddeforestation