From large to small: Reorienting rural development policies in response to climate change, food security and poverty

Benno Pokorny, Wil de Jong, Javier Godar, Pablo Pacheco and James Johnson

Forest Policy and Economics, 2013, vol. 36, issue C, 52-59

Abstract: Discourses regarding the development of the Amazon region highlight the importance of the local cultures, local knowledge and participation of smallholders, such as indigenous people, traditional communities and small-scale colonists. Current policies, however, still pursue a development model that is oriented towards global commodity markets and the capacity of well-qualified entrepreneurs with the capital required for large-scale investments, despite a growing consensus on its ecological incompatibilities, social limitations and economic risks. Decision makers from both governmental and non-governmental organisations widely disregard the possibility that smallholders could more actively contribute to rural development. Instead, the production practices of smallholders and their modes of social organisation are perceived as obsolete and inefficient. By presenting examples from the region, this paper argues that smallholders have the potential to manage production systems that maintain environmental stability while effectively contributing to local well-being. Therefore, the paper advocates to more effectively using local capacities for the development of rural Amazon through the promotion of small-scale production systems.

Keywords: Rural development policies; Amazon; Smallholders; Economic growth; Poverty alleviation; Environmental costs (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1389934113000476
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:forpol:v:36:y:2013:i:c:p:52-59

DOI: 10.1016/j.forpol.2013.02.009

Access Statistics for this article

Forest Policy and Economics is currently edited by M. Krott

More articles in Forest Policy and Economics from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().