Determinants of Cattle Expansion in Agrarian Reform Areas in the Brazilian Amazon: A Case Study of South Pará

This research seeks to elucidate the main factors that motivate residents of settlement projects in Pará to invest in cattle rather than agroforestry or subsistence agriculture, as proposed by social movements. Despite the green policy rhetoric, which is reiterated in most settlements in the Brazilian Amazon, field evidence reveals a trend in which residents have focused on livestock. A preliminary study conducted by Simmons et al. in 2006 found that an estimated 74 percent of smallholders residing in settlement projects in the Amazon are engaged in the cattle economy. Our research involved: (i) interviews with settlers who are participants in agrarian reform programs; (ii) interviews with key personnel in local non-governmental and governmental offices; and (iii) regional data collection through current databases. Statistical and context analyses were performed to assess the disconnection between policy and household decisions to invest in cattle rather than environmentally sustainable alternatives. Findings from this study show that despite government guarantees of credits for diversification, more credits are designated for cattle production; this emerges as the main reason for investments in that activity.