Abstract
Despite new research on agricultural intensification, we still have limited knowledge of the determinants of technology adoption in low-density, limited-market regions, particularly in humid tropical forests. This lacuna has led to divergent opinions about the impacts of intensification on land use in the Brazilian Amazon, well-known for deforestation of fragile tropical ecosystems. This paper takes up the case of the Amazon to address two questions concerning the adoption of agricultural technologies: 1) what are its social determinants, and 2) what are its land use correlates. Empirical data come from a recent survey of smallholders along the Transamazon highway. The first part of the analysis, consisting of models of eight agricultural technologies, shows that households with more labor and capital are more likely to adopt technologies. The second part shows that for all technologies, adopters have more land cleared than do non-adopters. These findings raise questions for further research on intensification while also suggesting policy prescriptions to mitigate deforestation.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Adesina, A. A., Mbila, D., Nkamleu, G. B., and Endamana, D. (2000). Econometric analysis of the determinants of adoption of alley farming by farmers in the forest zone of southwest Cameroon. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 80: 255–265.
Almeida, O. T., de Veríssimo, A., Toniolo, A., Uhl, C., Mattos, M. M., Barreto, P., and Tarifa, R. (1996). A Evolução da Fronteira Amazônica, IMAZON, Belém, Brazil.
Alston, L. J., Libecap, G. D., and Mueller, B. (1999). Titles, Conflict, and Land Use: The Development of Property Rights and Land Reform on the Brazilian Amazon Frontier, University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor.
Alves, D. S., Pereira, J. L. G., de Sousa, C. L., Soares, J. V., and Yamaguchi, F. (1999). Characterizing landscape changes in central Rondônia using landsat TM imagery. Human Ecology 20(4): 2877–2882.
Angelsen, A., and Kaimowitz, D. (2001a). Introduction: The role of agricultural technologies in tropical deforestation. In Angelsen, A., and Kaimowitz, D. (eds.), Agricultural Technologies and Tropical Deforestation, CABI/CIFOR, New York, pp. 1–18.
Angelsen, A., and Kaimowitz, D. (2001b). Policy recommendations. In Angelsen, A., and Kaimowitz, D. (eds.), Agricultural Technologies and Tropical Deforestation, CABI/CIFOR, New York, pp. 403–412.
Angelsen, A., van Soest, D., Kaimowitz, D., and Bulte, E. (2001). Technological change and deforestation: A theoretical overview. In Angelsen, A., and Kaimowitz, D. (eds.), Agricultural Technologies and Tropical Deforestation, CABI/CIFOR, New York, pp. 19–34.
Binswanger, H. P. (1986). Evaluating research system performance and targeting research in land-abundant areas of Sub-Saharan Africa. World Development 14(4): 469–475.
Binswanger, H. P., and McIntyre, J. (1987). Behavioral and material determinants of production relations in land-abundant tropical agriculture. Economic Development and Cultural Change 36(1): 73–99.
Binswanger, H. P., and Ruttan, V. W. (1978). Induced Innovation, Technology, Institutions and Development, Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.
Boserup, E. (1965). The Conditions of Agricultural Growth, Aldine, Chicago.
Browder, J. O., and Pedlowski, M. A. (2000). Agroforestry performance on small farms in Amazonia: Findings from the Rondonia Agroforestry Project. Agroforestry Systems 49: 63–83.
Carletto, C., de Janvry, A., and Sadoulet, E. (1999). Sustainability in the diffusion of innovations: Smallholder nontraditional agro-exports in Guatemala. Economic Development and Cultural Change 47(2): 345–369.
Carvalho, G. O. (1999). Hydroelectric development and road paving in Brazil's transamazon area. Journal of Environment and Development 8(4): 397–406.
Cattaneo, A. (2001). A general equilibrium analysis of technology, migration and deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon. In Angelsen, A., and Kaimowitz, D. (eds.), Agricultural Technologies and Tropical Deforestation, CABI/CIFOR, New York, pp. 69–90.
Chomitz, K., and Thomas, T. S. (2000). Geographic Patterns of Land Use and Land Intensity in the Brazilian Amazon. Unpublished manuscript, World Bank.
Clay, D., Reardon, T., and Kangasniemi, J. (1998). Sustainable intensification in the highland tropics: Rwandan farmers' investments in land conservation and soil fertility. Economic Development and Cultural Change 46(2): 351–377.
De Souza Filho, H. M. (1997). The Adoption of Sustainable Agricultural Technologies: A Case Study in the State of Espírito Santo, Brazil, Ashgate, Aldershot, UK.
Dorsey, B. (1999). Agricultural intensification, diversification, and commercial production among smallholder coffee growers in central Kenya. Economic Geography 75(2): 178–195.
Faminow, M. F. (1998). Cattle, Deforestation, and Development in the Amazon: An Economic, Agronomic, and Environmental Perspective, CAB International, New York.
Fearnside, P. M. (1987). Rethinking continuous cultivation in Amazonia. BioScience 37(3): 209–214.
Fearnside, P. M. (1990). Environmental Destruction in the Brazilian Amazon. In Goodman, D., and Hall, A. (eds.), The Future of Amazonia: Destruction or Sustainable Development?, St. Martin's Press, London, pp. 171–220.
Fearnside, P. M. (1996). Amazonian deforestation and global warming: Carbon stocks in vegetation replacing Brazil's Amazon forest. Forest Ecology and Management 57(4): 531–549.
Fearnside, P. M. (1997). Greenhouse gases from deforestation in Brazilian Amazonia: Net committed emissions. Climatic Change 35(3): 321–360.
Fearnside, P. M. (2002). Can pasture intensification discourage deforestation in the Amazon and Pantanal regions of Brazil? In Wood, C. H., and Porro, R. (eds.), Deforestation and Land Use in the Amazon, Gainesville, University of Florida Press, pp. 299–314.
Feder, G., Just, R. E., and Zilberman, D. (1985). Adoption of agricultural innovations in developing countries: A survey. Economic Development and Cultural Change 33: 255–298.
Foster, E. M. (1997). Instrumental variables for logistic regression: An illustration. Social Science Research 26: 487–504.
FUNDASUR (Fundação para o Desenvolvimento Sustentável de Uruará) (1996). Pré-Seleção das Iniciativas Promissoras de Manejo Florestal na Amazônia, Uruará, Brazil. Unpublished report.
Gash, J. C. H, Nobre, C. A., Roberts, J. M., and Victoria, R. L. (eds.) (1996). Amazonian Deforestation and Climate, Wiley, Chichester, UK.
Godoy, R., Franks, J. R., and Claudio, M. A. (1998). Adoption of modern agricultural technologies by lowland indigenous groups in Bolivia: The role of households, villages, ethnicity, and markets. Human Ecology 26(3): 351–369.
Godoy, R., O'Neill, K., McSweeney, K., Wilkie, D., Flores, V., Bravo, D., Kostishack, P., and Cubas, A. (2000). Human capital, wealth, property rights, and the adoption of new farm technologies: The Tawahka Indians of Honduras. Human Organization 59(2): 222–233.
Goldman, A. C. (1993). Agricultural innovation in three areas of Kenya: Neo-Boserupian theories and regional characterization. Economic Geography 69(1): 44–71.
Goodman, D., and Hall, A. (eds.) (1990). The Future of Amazonia: Destruction or Sustainable Development?, St. Martin's Press, New York.
Greene, W. H. (1997). Econometric Analysis, 3rd edn., Prentice-Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ.
Hall, A. (1989). Developing Amazonia: Deforestation and Social Conflict in Brazil's Carajás Programme, Manchester University Press, Manchester.
Hall, A. (1997). Sustaining Amazonia: Grassroots Action for Productive Conservation, Manchester University Press, Manchester.
Hall, A. (2000). Amazonia at the Crossroads: The Challenge of Sustainable Development, University of London, London.
Hébette, J. (ed.) (1991). O Cerco Está se Fechando: O Impacto do Grande Capital na Amazônia, NAEA/UFPa, Belém, Brazil.
Hemming, J. (ed.) (1985). Change in the Amazon Basin. Vol. II: The Frontier After a Decade of Colonisation, Manchester University Press, Manchester.
Humphries, S. A. (1993). The intensification of traditional agriculture among yucatec Maya farmers: Facing up to the dilemma of livelihood sustainability. Human Ecology 21(1): 87–102.
IBGE (Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística) (1998). Censo Agropecuário 1995/96. Retrieved June from IBGE website, http://www.ibge.org
IDESP (Instituto de Desenvolvimento do Estado do Pará) (1990). Uruará, IDESP, Belém, Brazil.
Jones, D. W., Dale, V. H., Beauchamp, J. J., Pedlowski, M. A., and O'Neill, R. V. (1995). Farming in Rondônia. Resource and Energy Economics 17: 155–188.
Kyle, S. C., and Cunha, A. (1992). National factor markets and the macroeconomic context for environmental destruction in the Brazilian Amazon. Development and Change 23: 7–33.
Laurance, W. F., Cochrane, M. A., Bergen, S., Fearnside, P. M., Delamônica, P., Barber, C., D'Angelo, S., and Fernandes, T. (2001). The future of the Brazilian Amazon. Science 291: 438–439.
Laurance, W. F., Laurance, S. G., Ferreira, L. V., Rankin de Merona, J. M., Gascón, C., and Lovejoy, T. E. (1997). Biomass collapse in amazonian forest fragments. Science 278: 1117–1118.
Lele, U., Viana, V., Veríssimo, A., Vosti, S., Perkins, K., and Husain, S.A. (2000). Brazil—Forests in the Balance: Challenges of Conservation With Development, World Bank, Washington, DC.
Léna, P., and de Oliveira, A. E. (eds.) (1991). Amazônia: A Fronteira Agrícola 20 Anos Depois, SCT/CNPq/Museo Goeldi/Orstom, Belém, Brazil.
Long, J. S. (1997). Regression Models for Categorical and Limited Dependent Variables, Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA.
Mahar, D. J. (2000). Agro-ecological zoning in Rondônia, Brazil: What are the lessons? In Hall, A. (ed.), Amazonia at the Crossroads, University of London, London, pp. 115–128.
Martine, G. (1980). Recent colonization experiences in Brazil: Expectations versus reality. In Barbira-Scazzocchio, F. (ed.), Land, People and Planning in Contemporary Amazonia, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 80–94.
Moran, E. F. (1981). Developing the Amazon, Indiana University Press, Bloomington.
Moran, E. F. (1989). Adaptation and maladaptation in newly settled areas. In Schumann, D., and Partridge, W. (eds.), The Human Ecology of Tropical Land Settlement in Latin America, Westview Press, Boulder, CO, pp. 20–41.
Moran, E. F. (1994). Monitoring fertility degradation of agricultural lands in the lowland tropics. In Arizpe, L., Stone, M. P., and Major, D. C. (eds.), Population and Environment: Rethinking the Debate, Westview Press Boulder, CO.
Nepstad, D. C., Veríssimo, A., Alencar, A., Nobre, C., Lima, E., Lefebvre, P., Schlesinger, P., Potter, C., Moutinho, P., Mendoza, E., Cochrane, M., and Brooks, V. (1999). Large-scale impoverishment of Amazonian forests by logging and fire. Nature 398: 505–508.
Nepstad, D., Uhl, C., and Serrão, E.A.S. (1990). Surmounting barriers to forest regeneration in Abandoned, highly degraded pastures: A case study from Paragominas, Pará, Brazil. In Anderson, A. B. (ed.), Alernatives to Deforestation: Steps Toward Sustainable Use of the Amazon Rain Forest, Columbia University Press, New York, pp. 215–229.
Netting, R. McC. (1993). Smallholders, Householders: Farm Families and the Ecology of Intensive, Sustainable Agriculture, Stanford University Press, Stanford, CA.
Perz, S. G. (2001). From sustainable development to “Productive Conservation”: Forest conservation options and agricultural incomes and assets in the Brazilian Amazon. Rural Sociology 66(3): 93–112.
Perz, S. G. (2002). The changing social contexts of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon. Social Science Quarterly 83(1): 35–53.
Perz, S. G., and Walker, R. T. (2002). Household life cycles and secondary forest growth among smallholders in the Amazon. World Development 30(6): 1009–1027.
Pfaff, A. S. P. (1999). What drives deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon? Journal of Environmental Economics and Management 37: 26–43.
Pichón, F. J. (1996). The forest conversion process: A discussion of the sustainability of predominant land uses associated with frontier expansion in the Amazon. Agriculture and Human Values 13: 32–52.
Pichón, F. J. (1997). Settler households and land-use strategies in the Amazon frontier: Farm-level evidence from Ecuador. World Development 25(1): 67–91.
Pichón, F. J., Marquette, C., Murphy, L., and Bilsborrow, R. (2001). Land use, agricultural technology and deforestation among settlers in the Brazilian Amazon. In Angelsen, A., and Kaimowitz, D. (eds.), Agricultural Technologies and Tropical Deforestation, CABI/CIFOR, New York, pp. 153–166.
Pichón, F. J., Uquillas, J. E., and Frechione, J. (eds.) (1999). Traditional and Modern Natural Resource Management in Latin America, University of Pittburgh Press, Pittsburgh.
Pingali, P., Bigot, Y., and Binswanger, H. P. (1987). Agricultural Mechanization and the Evolution of Farming Systems in Sub-Saharan Africa, Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.
Rudel, T. K. (1995). When do property rights matter? Open access, informal social controls, and deforestation in the Ecuadorian Amazon. Human Organization 54(2): 187–194.
Sanchez, P. (1994). Alternatives to slash-and-burn: A pragmatic approach for mitigating tropical deforestation. In Anderson, J. R. (ed.), Agricultural Technology: Policy Issues for the International Community, CAB International/World Bank, Cambridge, pp. 451–479.
Santos-Granero, F., and Barclay, F. (1998). Selva Central: History, Economy and Land Use in the Peruvian Amazon, Smithsonian Institute Press, Washington, DC.
Schmink, M., and Wood, C. H. (eds.) (1984). Frontier Expansion in Amazonia, University of Florida Press, Gainesville.
Schmink, M., and Wood, C.H. (1992). Contested Frontiers in Amazonia, Columbia University Press, New York.
Schneider, R. R. (1995). Government and the Economy on the Amazon Frontier, World Bank, Washington, DC.
Schneider, R. R., Arima, E., Veríssimo, A., Barreto, P., and Souza, C. (2000). Amazonia sustentavel: Limitantes e oportunidades para o desenvolvimento rural, Banco Mundial, Brasília.
Serrão, E. A. S., and Homma, A. K. O. (1993). Brazil. In Sustainable Agriculture and the Environment in the Humid Tropics, National Academy Press, Washington, DC, pp. 265–351.
Serrão, E. A. S., and Toledo, J. M. (1990). The search for sustainability in Amazonian pastures. In Anderson, A. B. (ed.), Alternatives to Deforestation: Steps Toward Sustainable Use of the Amazon Rain Forest, Columbia University Press, New York, pp. 195–213.
Shriar, A. J. (1999). Agricultural Intensification and Resource Conservation in the Buffer Zone of the Maya Biosphere Reserve, Petén, Guatemala, PhD Dissertation, University of Florida.
Shriar, A. J. (2000). Agricultural intensity and its measurement in frontier regions. Agroforestry Systems 49: 301–318.
Shriar, A. J. (2001) The dynamics of agricultural intensification and resource conservation in the buffer zone of the Maya biosphere reserve, Petén, Guatemala. Human Ecology 29(1): 27–48.
Sioli, H. (ed.) (1984). The Amazon: Limnology and Landscape Ecology of a Mighty Tropical River and its Basin, W. Junk, Dordrecht.
Smith, N. J. H. (2000). Agroforestry development and prospects in the Brazilian Amazon. In Hall, A. (ed.), Amazonia at the Crossroads, University of London, London, pp. 150–170.
Smith, N. J. H., Alvim, P. T., Serrão, E. A. S., and Falesi, I. C. (1995). Amazonia. In Kasperson, J. X., Kasperson, R. E., and Turner, B. L., II, (eds.), Regions at Risk: Comparisons of Threatened Environments, United Nations Press, New York, pp. 42–91.
Steininger, M. K. (1996). Tropical secondary forest regrowth in the Amazon: age, area and change estimation with thematic mapper data. International Journal of Remote Sensing 17: 9–27.
Thorner, D., Kerblay, B., and Smith, R. E. F. (Eds.) (1986). A.V. Chayanov on the Theory of Peasant Economy, University of Wisconsin Press, Madison.
Toni, F. (1999). State–Society Relations on the Agricultural Frontier, Doctoral Dissertation, University of Florida. Retrieved June 2000 from http://etd.fcla.edu/etd/uf/1999/amg2051/toni_f.pdf
Tourrand, J.-F., da Veiga, J. B., Simão-Neto, M., Vale, W. G., Ferreira, L. A., Ludovino, R. R., and de Oliveira Mares Guia, O. P. (1996). Animal Husbandry in Agricultural Frontiers of the Brazilian Amazon. EMBRAPA/CPATU, Belém, Brazil. Unpublished manuscript.
Turner, B. L., II and Ali, A. M. S. (1996). Induced intensification: Agricultural change in Bangladesh with implications for Malthus and Boserup. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 93: 14984–14991.
Turner, B. L., II and Brush, S. (1987). Comparative Farming Systems, Guilford, New York.
Turner, B. L. II, Hyden, G., and Kates, R. W. (eds.) (1993). Population Growth and Agricultural Change in Africa, University of Florida Press, Gainesville.
Uhl, C., Buschbacher R., and Serrão, E.A.S. (1988). Abandoned pastures in eastern Amazonia: I. Patterns of plant succession. Journal of Ecology 76: 663–681.
Uhl, C., and Nepstad, D. (2000). Amazonia at the millennium. Interciencia 25(3): 159–164.
Vosti, S. A., Carpentier, C. L., Witcover, J., and Valentim, J. F. (2001). Intensified small-scale livestock systems in the western Brazilian Amazon. In Angelsen, A., and Kaimowitz, D. (eds.), Agricultural Technologies and Tropical Deforestation, CABI/CIFOR, New York, pp. 113–134.
Walker, R. T., and Homma, A. K. O. (1996). Land use and land cover dynamics in the Brazilian Amazon: An Overview. Ecological Economics 18: 67–80.
White, D., Holmann, F., Fujisaka, S., Reategui, K., and Lascano, C. (2001). Will intensifying pasture management in Latin America protect forests—Or is it the other way around? In Angelsen, A., and Kaimowitz, D. (eds.), Agricultural Technologies and Tropical Deforestation, CABI/CIFOR, New York, pp. 91–112.
Wiegers, E. S., Hijmans, R. J., Hervé, D., and Fresco, L. O. (1999). Land use intensification and disintensification in the upper Cañete valley, Peru. Human Ecology 27(2): 319–339.
Wood, C. H., and Porro, R. (eds.) (2002). Deforestation and Land Use in the Amazon, University of Florida Press, Gainesville.
Wood, C. H., and Schmink, M. (1978). Blaming the victim: Small farmer production in an Amazon colonization project. Studies in Third World Societies 7: 77–93.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Perz, S.G. Social Determinants and Land Use Correlates of Agricultural Technology Adoption in a Forest Frontier: A Case Study in the Brazilian Amazon. Human Ecology 31, 133–165 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022838325166
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022838325166