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Land Use and Land Cover Change in Forest Frontiers: The Role of Household Life Cycles

Author

Listed:
  • Robert Walker

    (Department of Geography, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, rwalker@pilot.msu.edu)

  • Stephen Perz

    (Department of Sociology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, sperz@mailhost.soc.ufl.edu)

  • Marcellus Caldas

    (College of Agronomy, Federal University of Bahia, Brazil, mmcaldas@ufba.br)

  • Luiz Guilherme Teixeira Silva

    (EMBRAPA/CPATU, Belém, Brazil, lugui@cpatu.embrapa.br)

Abstract

Tropical deforestation remains a critical issue given its present rate and a widespread consensus regarding its implications for the global carbon cycle and biodiversity. Nowhere is the problem more pronounced than in the Amazon basin, home to the world’s largest intact, tropical forest. This article addresses land cover change processes at household level in the Amazon basin, and to this end adapts a concept of domestic life cycle to the current institutional environment of tropical frontiers. In particular, it poses a risk minimization model that integrates demography with market-based factors such as transportation costs and accessibility. In essence, the article merges the theory of Chayanov with the household economy framework, in which markets exist for inputs (including labor), outputs, and capital. The risk model is specified and estimated, using survey data for 261 small producers along the Transamazon Highway in the eastern sector of the Brazilian Amazon.

Suggested Citation

  • Robert Walker & Stephen Perz & Marcellus Caldas & Luiz Guilherme Teixeira Silva, 2002. "Land Use and Land Cover Change in Forest Frontiers: The Role of Household Life Cycles," International Regional Science Review, , vol. 25(2), pages 169-199, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:inrsre:v:25:y:2002:i:2:p:169-199
    DOI: 10.1177/016001760202500202
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    1. Babigumira, Ronnie & Angelsen, Arild & Buis, Maarten & Bauch, Simone & Sunderland, Terry & Wunder, Sven, 2014. "Forest Clearing in Rural Livelihoods: Household-Level Global-Comparative Evidence," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 64(S1), pages 67-79.
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    3. Min, Shi & Huang, Jikun & Waibel, Hermann & Yang, Xueqing & Cadisch, Georg, 2019. "Rubber Boom, Land Use Change and the Implications for Carbon Balances in Xishuangbanna, Southwest China," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 156(C), pages 57-67.
    4. Christopher B. Busch & Colin Vance, 2011. "The Diffusion of Cattle Ranching and Deforestation: Prospects for a Hollow Frontier in Mexico’s Yucatán," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 87(4), pages 682-698.
    5. Colin Vance & Christopher B. Busch, 2011. "The Diffusion of Cattle Ranching and Deforestation – Prospects for a Hollow Frontier in Mexico’s Yucatán," Ruhr Economic Papers 0242, Rheinisch-Westfälisches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Universität Dortmund, Universität Duisburg-Essen.
    6. Dingde Xu & Zhixing Ma & Xin Deng & Yi Liu & Kai Huang & Wenfeng Zhou & Zhuolin Yong, 2020. "Relationships between Land Management Scale and Livelihood Strategy Selection of Rural Households in China from the Perspective of Family Life Cycle," Land, MDPI, vol. 9(1), pages 1-15, January.
    7. Oestreicher, Jordan Sky & Fatorelli, Leandra & Mertens, Fréderic & Lucotte, Marc & Béliveau, Annie & Tremblay, Stéphane & Saint-Charles, Johanne & Davidson, Robert & Romaña, Christina A., 2018. "Rural livelihood trajectories in the central Brazilian Amazon: Growing inequalities, changing practices, and emerging rural-urban relationships over nearly a decade," World Development Perspectives, Elsevier, vol. 10, pages 34-43.
    8. Porro, Roberto & Lopez-Feldman, Alejandro & Vela-Alvarado, Jorge W., 2015. "Forest use and agriculture in Ucayali, Peru: Livelihood strategies, poverty and wealth in an Amazon frontier," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 47-56.
    9. Elisabeth Hettig & Jann Lay & Kacana Sipangule, 2016. "Drivers of Households’ Land-Use Decisions: A Critical Review of Micro-Level Studies in Tropical Regions," Land, MDPI, vol. 5(4), pages 1-32, October.
    10. Ngoma, Hambulo & Angelsen, Arild, 2018. "Can conservation agriculture save tropical forests? The case of minimum tillage in Zambia," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 153-162.
    11. Hitayezu, Patrick & Wale, Edilegnaw & Ortmann, Gerald, 2015. "Assessing Agricultural Land Use Change in the Midlands Region of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa: Application of Mixed-Multinomial Logit," 2015 Conference, August 9-14, 2015, Milan, Italy 211736, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    12. Sébastien MARCHAND, 2010. "Technical Ef?ciency, Farm Size and Tropical Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazonian Forest," Working Papers 201012, CERDI.

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