Eva J. Garen

Economic Drivers of Tropical Deforestation for Agriculture

Land use change from deforestation in the tropics is a major source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In order to develop policies that address this significant portion of emissions that contribute to global climate change, it is essential to understand the primary factors driving deforestation in the tropics. This chapter examines the socioeconomic, institutional and economic drivers of tropical deforestation for agriculture in order to gain a better understanding of how incentives to store and sequester carbon in forests may or may not impact deforestation rates. While the circumstances that drive deforestation must be examined within the particular context of each locality and depend upon a variety of factors that include social, political and geographical considerations, there are some general lessons that can be learned from our review of the literature. Government-driven development efforts such as infrastructure development in forested areas, for example, are correlated with deforestation throughout the tropical region. Institutional factors, such as land tenure laws that incentivize forest clearing or macroeconomic policies that provide agricultural subsidies, also influence deforestation rates in a number of tropical countries. In most regions, the factors driving deforestation are complex and interrelated and have significant implications for global climate negotiations where the international community seeks to negotiate a mechanism to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+).