Brazil’s consolidation as an emerging economy is not easily attributed to any political or economic miracle. Brazil has consciously adapted a large part of its commercial and financial strategy to changes in the global arena. As worldwide demand has grown for raw materials—especially for single-…
This paper examines the paradoxes of land governance in Brazil by putting them in their historical context, highlighting in particular the continuing subordination of peasant farmers’ interests to those of large landholders. It traces the development of the country’s regional divisions and…
This paper assesses the prospects of mitigating climate change through emission reductions from forestry and agriculture in the Brazilian Amazon. It uses official statistics, literature and case study material to identify the scope for emission reductions, in terms of potential additionality,…
This paper examines how developing countries have attempted to promote rural development through biofuel production, what social outcomes those strategies have created and what lessons can be learned. This is done by comparing the contexts of Brazil, India and Indonesia; three countries with…
Based on theoretical underpinnings and an empirical review of forest laws and regulations of selected countries throughout the Americas, we examine key components of natural forest management and how they are addressed in the legal frameworks of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Guatemala,…
Um Dossiê sobre a Copa do Mundo 2014, que será sediada por 12 cidades brasileiras, e sobre as Olimpíadas 2016, que se realizarão na cidade do Rio de Janeiro, deveria ter como tema central a prática do esporte, das relações pacíficas, culturais e esportivas entre todos os povos do planeta Terra.…
In the recent past there has been increasing recognition that local knowledge of farmers can yield insight into soil quality. With regard to constraints and possibilities for the production of irrigated rice in the south of Brazil there is no documentation on local soil knowledge. The goals of…
The Cerrado is the second largest Brazilian biome and contains the headwaters of three major hydrological basins in Brazil. In spite of the biological and ecological relevance of this biome, there is little information about how land use changes affect the chemistry of low-order streams in the…
More than 200 scientific publications and Internet sources dealing with trade in palm products in north-western South America are reviewed. We focus on value chains, trade volumes, prices, and recent developments for some of the most important raw materials derived from native palms. Trade in…
The Brazilian production of major food commodities increased fivefold between 1961 and 2008. In the same time, the area cropped with sugar cane increased with high growth rates, currently covering 3% of the area dedicated to agricultural production in Brazil. In order to assess a possible…
The economic and land use consequences of US biofuel programs and their contributions to GHG emissions have been the focal point of many debates and research studies in recent years. However, most of these studies focused on the land use emissions due to the first generation of biofuels such as…
Large-scale land conversion for agriculture in Brazilian Amazonia is occurring at persistently high rates. Basin-wide net land use and land cover changes imply substantially different situations between distinct regions and states due to different agricultural policies. This research used eight…