René Poccard-Chapuis

The Complex Evolution of Cattle Ranching Development Amid Market Integration and Policy Shifts in the Brazilian Amazon

This article provides an integrated analytical framework to explain the factors and trends shaping cattle ranching development in the Brazilian Amazon and its implications for deforestation. The two most important factors currently shaping cattle ranching evolution in this region are gradual market integration and the associated shifting policy contexts. Based on these two broader contextual factors, this article analyzes four main specific trends shaping the production and trade dynamics in the cattle sector. The first trend is growing investment in beef and dairy processing facilities situated closer to production zones. The second trend is gradual improvement in cattle herds and management systems alongside persistently extensive cattle ranching. The third is simultaneous fragmentation and concentration of landholdings. The fourth is widespread adoption of ranching by smallholders. These four trends are not isolated from each other; instead, they interact in complex ways to influence the dynamics of cattle expansion and associated land use outcomes. This article also discusses the complexities underlying any policy responses that aim to reduce environmental impacts of cattle ranching without hindering regional development and harming the well-being of the rural poor. This article adopts a three-step methodology that begins by formulating an analytical framework based on literature review and interview data to understand the factors shaping the development of cattle ranching, then it uses secondary data to depict the primary trends of production and trade in the cattle sector and, finally, the previous analysis is linked with observed deforestation trends.

Landscape characterization of integrated crop–livestock systems in three case studies of the tropics

Integrated crop–livestock systems in the tropical region are diverse and not well characterized. To better understand the conditions and potential of these systems, we characterized the spatial and social arrangement of integrated systems within a landscape context. Integrated systems are defined by biomass and nutrient flows, linking crop, livestock and human components of agriculture. The landscape is defined within a spatial framework of these flows. To understand the diversity of integrated systems in the tropics, we characterized three case study areas: Southern Mali, Brazilian Cerrados and Amazon frontier. Methodology was based on historical and descriptive approaches of these cases, mobilizing interdisciplinary knowledge of a large research team. This provided a retrospective view to discuss four key points about the future of integrated systems in the tropics: (i) importance of landscape structure for conception and adaptation of the integrated systems; (ii) key role of local institutions in managing such integrated systems; (iii) trade-offs between external and internal resources; and (iv) role of nitrogen to improve system efficiency. This paper concludes with the relevance of social sciences in the further development of integrated systems.

Spatial relationships between natural resources and land use dynamics in the amazonian agricultural frontier

The objective of this work was to analyze the relationship between the natural resources (soil, topography and hydrography) and the land use dynamics in an area in eastern Amazonia between 2004 and 2013. The spatial variables used were soil texture, topographic wetness index, slope and drainage distance. We used the method of weights of evidence to observe the relations between the transitions of land use and the spatial variables. In mechanized agriculture and large landholding area, the results show that the behavior of deforestation and pasture transformation responds to the soil texture and topography variables. In the smallholding areas, the relationship with natural resources is different and may be more related to the historical development of the expansion of the valleys towards the plateaux.