Governing for sustainability in agricultural-forest frontiers: A case study of the Brazilian Amazon

The document analyzes the socio-economic complexity of agricultural-forest frontiers, specifically in the Brazilian Amazon, where a diverse mix of actors—from subsistence smallholders to large-scale commercial farms—compete for resources. It argues that 'one-size-fits-all' policies are ineffective and recommends tailored interventions that account for the different capacities and responsibilities of these actors. The brief highlights both the risks of actor diversity, such as land displacement and increased inequality driven by soy expansion, and the opportunities for collective action, citing the success of the zero-deforestation pact in Paragominas.

• Agricultural-forest frontiers in the Brazilian Amazon are characterized by a high diversity of actors and poor development conditions for smallholders compared to post-frontier regions. Smallholders in early-frontier municipalities show significantly lower median values for land titles, primary education, association membership, electricity access, market integration, and credit access.
• The expansion of high-yielding land-uses, particularly soy, in the Brazilian Amazon has contributed to increased inequality and the marginalization or displacement of actors who cannot participate in the new system.
• Blanket deforestation policies in the Brazilian Amazon have seen varying levels of success across different actor groups; while overall deforestation fell by 83% between 2004 and 2011, the decrease was more pronounced for the largest properties (>2500 ha) at 81%, compared to 73% and 65% for small and medium properties.
• Certain environmental regulations are ineffective because they do not account for the specific capabilities of smallholders or the requirements of their farming systems, such as the dependence of fallow-farming on fire.
• Collective action among diverse stakeholders can lead to significant sustainability outcomes, as demonstrated in Paragominas, where a zero-deforestation pact involving the mayor's office, unions, and NGOs allowed the municipality to be the first to exit the federal government's 'Red List' of high-deforestation areas in 2010.
• Brazil has implemented successful actor-tailored development programs, such as the Food Acquisition Programme (PAA) and the National School Feeding Programme (PNAE), which prioritize purchases from smallholder family farms with an annual investment of approximately US$1 billion.

APA

Stockholm Environment Institute (2014). Governing for sustainability in agricultural-forest frontiers: A case study of the Brazilian Amazon. https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/SEI-DB-2014-Agriculture-forest-frontier-landscapes.pdf

Chicago

Stockholm Environment Institute. Governing for sustainability in agricultural-forest frontiers: A case study of the Brazilian Amazon. 2014. https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/SEI-DB-2014-Agriculture-forest-frontier-landscapes.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Stockholm Environment Institute |title=Governing for sustainability in agricultural-forest frontiers: A case study of the Brazilian Amazon |date=2014 |url=https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/SEI-DB-2014-Agriculture-forest-frontier-landscapes.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{stockholmenvironmentinstitute2014governing, author = {{Stockholm Environment Institute}}, title = {{Governing for sustainability in agricultural-forest frontiers: A case study of the Brazilian Amazon}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2014}, url = {https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/SEI-DB-2014-Agriculture-forest-frontier-landscapes.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }