Andrea Siqueira

Urban Forest and Rural Cities: Multi-sited Households, Consumption Patterns, and Forest Resources in Amazonia

In much of the Amazon Basin, approximately 70% of the population lives in urban areas and urbanward migration continues. Based on data collected over more than a decade in two long-settled regions of Amazonia, we find that rural-urban migration in the region is an extended and complex process. Like recent rural-urban migrants worldwide, Amazonian migrants, although they may be counted as urban residents, are often not absent from rural areas but remain members of multi-sited households and continue to participate in rural-urban networks and in rural land-use decisions. Our research indicates that, despite their general poverty, these migrants have affected urban markets for both food and construction materials. We present two cases: that of acai palm fruit in the estuary of the Amazon and of cheap construction timbers in the Peruvian Amazon. We find that many new Amazonian rural-urban migrants have maintained some important rural patterns of both consumption and knowledge. Through their consumer behavior, they are affecting the areal extent of forests; in the two floodplain regions discussed, tree cover is increasing. We also find changes in forest composition, reflecting the persistence of rural consumption patterns in cities resulting in increased demand for and production of acai and cheap timber species.

Household Demographic Structure and Its Relationship to Deforestation in the Amazon Basin

The greatest challenge to theory in human ecology has been how to define the unit of study so that it can be reasonably well studied, while at the same time not losing sight of the larger whole or ecosystem within which human beings interact with their biophysical surroundings. Some relevant theoretical approaches used to address particular questions include those aiming at explaining patterns of agriculture intensification (e.g., Boserupian and Von-Thunenian models), and household development cycles (e.g., Chaianovian models). In this project we ask what the role of household demographic structure on observed rates of deforestation might be. The study of human impacts on land cover can follow any number of approaches. What we have found most useful is to take a multi-scaled approach that examines at each level of aggregation both biophysical and socioeconomic variables. We have used a variety of methods of data collection and mined a variety of data sources: time-series Landsat satellite data; survey research; stratified random sampling of properties; registering property boundaries onto satellite image time series in a geographic information system; carried out soil and vegetation stand sampling with precise coordinates using GPS; examined the reproductive histories of women and their decisions using survey research at the household level; and obtained time series price data and other economic statistical time-series. A key goal of this study was to understand whether trajectories of deforestation could be better understood knowing the age and general structure of households through time, rather than just in aggregate number. We think that our study does show the technical feasibility of examining land use and land cover change at the level of households and properties — and that the insights are worth the effort and investment required to achieve it.

Contraceptive discontinuation and non-use in Santarém, Brazilian Amazon

In this paper we discuss the causes of non-adherence to reversible contraceptives, especially hormonal methods, among women in rural Santarém in the Brazilian Amazon. The analysis is based on questionnaires with 398 women and visits to health centers. We consider the motives reported by women who: never used contraception; used some method in the past; and who at the time of the survey were using a different method from the ones they used in the past. The results indicate a rejection of hormonal contraception and a preference for female sterilization, an option possibly influenced by the characteristics of health services in the region. The side effects of hormonal contraceptive use reported by part of the interviewees contribute to a generalized fear of the side effects even among women who have never used such methods. To improve womens health services in the Amazon, we recommend further studies of the relationship between reported side effects and available services and prescriptions, as well as an analysis of womens discourse and perceptions.

Bread of the Land: The Invisibility of Manioc in the Amazon

A detailed analysis on the Amazonian riverine populations’ diet is presented, based on quantitative data collected by the authors amongst these populations over the last 13 years, with special emphasis on caloric and protein intake. The five communities studied in this article are sited at the estuary (Marajo Island) and Lower Amazon (Ituqui Island) regions. Grounded on almost unique quantitative data on the Amazon region riverine populations, the authors analyse in detail the influence of several local factors in these populations’ food intake variability: ecosystem, micro-environment, seasonality, history and social organisation. In a synthetic way, it can be stated that, in the case of the estuarine flood plain, the main caloric sources are represented by manioc flour and the acai, whereas in the seasonal flood plain, manioc flour, fish and sugar play such role. Fish represents the greatest protein source, independently of the ecosystem considered. All five communities feature protein intake levels above the minimum recommended by FAO. Regarding calories, only one of the communities (one established in the estuary) meets the internationally recommended minimum for energy consumption. At the end of the article, the authors discuss the anthropological implications of the ubiquity and historical longevity of the association between manioc flour and fish as the mainstay of riverine subsistence.

Women, Gender Relations and Decision-Making in Caboclo Households in the Amazon Estuary

This contribution presents an ethnographic report of the social relationships between men and women in five households situated in the region of Ponta de Pedras, Marajo Island, Para, in the beginning of the 1990s. From these reports, Siqueira concludes that the women’s power degrees in influencing household decision making is highly affected by the following factors: type of rights they hold regarding land property, effective economic contribution and education, the latter not necessarily formal. In these arrangements, the decision making process can be centralised on the masculine figure (the ‘head of the household’) or else shared, in a negotiated way, between the spouses. Siqueira stresses that to understand and to valorise woman’s role, as well as understanding the households’ dynamics in detail, is fundamental to the eventual success of projects aiming the improvement of these families’ material life quality.

The Várzea: Old Challenges and New Demands for Integrated Research in the Coming Decade

This concluding chapter highlights the ways the past decade of research on varzea natural and social systems has informed and may inform management and policy decisions related to varzea society and environment. This chapter summarizes and responds to the main points in preceding chapters, examining the socioecological complexities of the varzea, production and conservation goals and strategies, and the evolution of institutional arrangements related to resource management and social welfare of the varzea people. Anticipating the decade ahead, this chapter suggests focused research on the question of what are the current and predicted future drivers of change on the varzea, and what is the suite of predicted outcomes. Adapting to climate change, accessing emerging markets for ecosystem goods and services, and strengthening institutions are some issues that should be explored to help policymakers and residents alike prepare for the decade ahead. The chapter recommends an exploration of a paradigm shift from centralized management, which has traditionally predominated in governmental institutions, to more coordinated policies.