Smallholders' agricultural practices trajectories in Amazonia

The large body of research on land use and land cover changes in the Brazilian Amazon generally shows the significant effect of smallholder production systems. However, it is still unclear how far the specific social and economic characteristics of smallholders influence on land use and land cover changes. To shed more lighton this aspect, the effects of selected socio-economic variables on land uses at the household level were investigated in a case study on the “Palmares-2” settlement in the Brazilian Amazon. Using LANDSAT TM and SPOT images available for 1986, 1992, 2001 and 2007, land use changes were analyzed on the scale of individual farms. The GIS (Geographic Information System) data were then combined with information from a survey of 44 farmers. Analysis showed that levels of income positively influenced deforestation rates over the period, and that the expansion of pastures and farmlands was significantly greater among households with a higher level of education. The availability of non- refundable credits correlated with an increase in forest fallows. Areas of bare and/or burned lands were larger among family holdings with lower capital stock that were less permanently established in the area. The findings of this study suggest that income levels and education are highly relevant factors in accounting for land-use and land cover changes among Amazonian smallholders.

Bibliographic Details

Main Authors:	Billard, Cécile, Gond, Valéry, Oszwald, Johan, Arnauld de Sartre, Xavier, Pokorny, Benno
Format:	article biblioteca
Language:	eng
Subjects:	K01 - Foresterie - Considérations générales, E90 - Structure agraire, P31 - Levés et cartographie des sols, F01 - Culture des plantes, U30 - Méthodes de recherche, E80 - Économie familiale et artisanale, forêt tropicale, couverture du sol, utilisation des terres, déboisement, enquête sur les exploitations agricoles, télédétection, système d'information géographique, cartographie, exploitation agricole familiale, petite exploitation agricole, revenu de l'exploitation, éducation, image spot, imagerie par satellite, Landsat, http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_24904, http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_37897, http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_4182, http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_15590, http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_28693, http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_6498, http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_35131, http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_1344, http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_2787, http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_7113, http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_10746, http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_2488, http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_16343, http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_36761, http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_36766, http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_1070, http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_32372,
Online Access:	http://agritrop.cirad.fr/573474/ http://agritrop.cirad.fr/573474/1/document_573474.pdf
Tags:	Add Tag No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!