SMALL SCALE AGRICULTURE AND ITS IMPLICATIONS ON THE AGROECOLOGICAL TRANSITION IN THE BRAZILIAN AMAZON

Authors

  • Luciano Mattos Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária
  • Eduardo S. Brondizio Indiana University (IU)
  • Ademar Romeiro Universidade Estadual de Campinas (Unicamp)
  • Rodrigo Orair Universidade Estadual de Campinas (Unicamp)

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18542/amazonica.v2i2.399

Abstract

The National Agricultural Census of 2006 presented, for the first time, a portrait of small scale agriculture in Brazil, highlighting its central importance in terms of food production and rural employment. Using the 2006 census as a context, this article discusses the implications of different terms, such as traditional agriculture and family agriculture, used to define small scale agriculture in Brazil. We use data from 2,400 families in seven colonization settlements included as part of the Brazilian pilot public policy program Proambiente to discuss the influence of variables (e.g. socio-demographic, economic, and infrastructure) on the land use in the Brazilian Amazon. The article concludes by stressing the importance of infrastructure and rural credit in promoting different trajectories of agroecological transitions among small scale producers in the Brazilian Amazon.Keywords: land use, ecological economics, agricultural economics, traditional agriculture, family agriculture, agroecological transition, Amazon Basin.

Author Biographies

Luciano Mattos, Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária

Pesquisador da Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária (Embrapa); Pesquisador Colaborador do Anthropological Center for Training and Research on Global Environmental Change (ACT), Indiana University (IU); Professor da Fundação Getúlio Vargas (FGV); Pesquisador Associado do Instituto de Pesquisa Ambiental da Amazônia (IPAM)

Eduardo S. Brondizio, Indiana University (IU)

Professor and Chairman of the Department of Anthropology, Researcher of the Anthropological Center for Training and Research on Global Environmental Change (ACT), Professor of the School of Public and Environmental Affairs (SPEA), esearcher of the Center for the Study of Institutions, Population and Environmental Change (CIPEC), Indiana University (IU)

Ademar Romeiro, Universidade Estadual de Campinas (Unicamp)

Professor do Instituto de Economia (IE); Pesquisador do Núcleo em Economia Agrícola (NEA) e do Grupo de Pesquisa em Economia do Meio Ambiente e dos Recursos Naturais do Instituto de Economia (IE) da Universidade Estadual de Campinas (Unicamp)

Rodrigo Orair, Universidade Estadual de Campinas (Unicamp)

Pesquisador do Instituto de Pesquisa Econômica Aplicada (IPEA); Doutorando em Teoria Econômica do Instituto de Economia (IE) da Universidade Estadual de Campinas (Unicamp)

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Published

2010-12-07

Issue

Vol. 2 No. 2 (2010)

Section

Original Articles