Agricultural Expansion and Tropical Deforestation Poverty, International Trade and Land Use by Barraclough, Solon Ghimire, Kléber Bertrand

Solon L Barradough and Krishna B Ghimire
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RGRICULTURDL
EXPANSION
and Tropical Deforestarion
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AGRICULTURAL
EXPANSION
and Tropical Deforestation
Poverty, International Trade and Land Use
Solon L Barradough and Krishna B Ghimire
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London • New York
First published in the U K and USA in 2000 by
Earthscan Publications Ltd
Copyright © United Nations Research Institute for Social Development, 2000

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C o n ten ts
List o f Maps, Tables a n d Boxes vii

A bout the Cooperating O rganizations ix
List o f A cronym s a n d A bbreviations xi
Study Countries: Maps x iii
1 Introduction: Social D eterm inants o f D eforestation 1

A com plex issue 3
P rin cip a l questions guiding the research 5
The case study countries 8
2 The Extent o f Tropical D eforestation and

A gricultural Expansion in D evelop ing Countries 15
Recent land use changes 19
3 Tropical D eforestation and Agricultural Expansion

in the Case Study Countries 31
P u b lic policy-induced deforestation in B ra z il 32
D eforestation and ag ricu ltu ral expansion in G uatem ala 50
C h in a 69
C am ero o n 81
M alaysia 90
4 Linkages w ith International Trade 99

In tro d u c tio n 99
Braz il 101
G uatem ala 104
C h in a 107
M alaysia 109
C am ero o n 112
D iverse and changing linkages 114
yj A g r ic u l t u r a l E x p a n s io n and T r o p i c a l D e f o r e s t a t io n
5 Towards More Sustainable U se o f Tropical

Agricultural and Forest R esources 117
Causes and im pacts o f tro p ical deforestation
in the case study countries 117
Local-level constraints and opportunities 124
T he cru cial role o f natio nal p o licies and institutions 127
In te rn a tio n a l reform s 134
Bibliography 141
In d e x 145
L is t o f M a p s , T a b l e s a n d B o x e s
M a ps
Brazil xm
C am eroon xiv
China XV
Guatem ala XVI
Malaysia X V ll
T a bles
1.1 A g ricu ltu ral Expansion and D eforestation

in Case Study Countries 9
2.1 D istribution o f the W orld ’s Forest Lands
(in m illions o f hectares) 16
2.2 Prelim in ary Estim ates o f T rop ical Forest Area
and Rates o f D eforestation for 87 Countries
in the Trop ical Region 17
2.3 Net C onversion o f Land to Crops by Region, 1700-1980 19
2.4 Land Use Changes in A frica, Asia and Latin Am erica
(1977-1992) 21
2.5 Land Use Changes in D eveloping Countries, 1950-1992 23
2.6 D iverse Trends o f A g ricu ltu ral Expansion and
D eforestation in 110 D evelo ping Countries,
1950-1992 26
3.1 Forest Area and Forest C over o f C h in a’s Provin ces, 1985 70
B o xes
2.1 Concepts and D efinitions o f D ifferent Types o f Forests

Used in the Tropical Forest Resources Assessment
by the FAO 15
A b o u t t h e C o o p e r a t in g O r g a n iz a t io n s
UN RISD
The U nited N ations Research Institute for So cial D evelopm ent
(U N R IS D ) is an autonom ous agency engaging in m ulti-disciplinary
research on the social dim ensions o f contem porary problem s af
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standing o f the social and p o litical context is crucial. U N R ISD at
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roots organizations and scholars w ith a better understanding o f
how developm ent p o licie s and processes o f econom ic, social
and environm ental change affect differen t social groups. W o rk
ing through an extensive netw ork o f national research centres,
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search capacity in developing countries.
Current research program m es include: C ivil Society and Social
M ovem ents; D em ocracy and Hum an Rights; Identities, Conflict and
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W W F - I n t e r n a t io n a l
In just over three decades, the W orld W id e Fu n d Fo r N ature

(W W F ), form erly know n as the W orld W ild life Fund, has becom e
the w o rld ’s largest and most respected in d ep en d en t co n serva
tio n organization. W ith alm ost 5 m illio n supporters distribu ted
X A g r ic u l t u r a l E x p a n s io n and T r o p ic a l D e f o r e s t a t io n
throughout five continents, 24 national organizations, five asso

ciates and 26 program m es, W W F can safely claim to have played
a m ajor role in the evo lu tio n o f the international conservation
m ovem ent.
Since 1985, W W F has invested over U S$1,165 m illio n in m ore
than 11,000 projects in 130 countries. A ll these p lay a part in the
cam paign to stop the accelerating degradation o f Earth’s environ
m ent, and to help its hum an inhabitants live in greater harm ony
w ith nature.
Fo r m ore inform ation W W F-In tern ation al can be contacted at
Avenue du M ont Blan c, CH-1196, G land, Sw itzerland; Tel (41 22)
364 9111; Fax (41 22) 364 5358; W ebsite: http://w w w .panda.org.
L is t o f A c r o n y m s a n d A b b r e v ia t io n s
CDC Cam eroon D evelopm ent C orporation

C EPA L Com ision Econom ica para Am erica Latina y el Caribe
CONAP N ational C ouncil for Protected Areas (B ra z il)
D IG E P O S N ational Forest Service (B ra z il)
EU European U nio n
FAO Food and A griculture O rganization
o f the U nited Nations
FD N La Fundacion Defensores de la Naturaleza
(G u atem ala)
FELD A Federal Land D evelopm ent A uthority (M alaysia)
FU N A I N ational Ind ian Foundation (B ra z il)
FYD EP Em presa de Fom ento y D esarrollo de Peten (Agency
for D evelopm ent Prom otion in Peten ) (G uatem ala)
GDP gross dom estic product
G V IA O gross value o f industrial and agricultural output
IN C R A N ational Institute for Colonization
and Agrarian Reform (B ra z il)
IN P E Instituto N acional de Pesquisas Espaciais
(N ational Institute for Space Research, B raz il)
IN TA N ational Agrarian Transform ation Institute
(G u atem ala)
IT T O International T ropical Tim ber O rganization
KPD Rural D evelopm ent C orporation (M alaysia)
M AB M an and Biosp here Program m e (U N E S C O )
MAIs m ultinational agreem ents on investm ents
M IA M issao Anchieta (B ra z il)
M ID EN O North-W est D evelopm ent A u th o rity (C am eroon)
MOA M inistry o f Agriculture (C h in a)
NGOs non-governm ental organizations
O EC D O rganisation fo r Econom ic Co-operation and
D evelo p m ent
x jj A g r ic u l t u r a l E x p a n s io n and T r o p ic a l D e f o r e s t a t io n
Q G L Y T JH B Q uanguo Lin ye Tongji H u ib ian (N atio n al

Com pendium o f Forestry Statistics) (C h in a)
UNDP U nited N ations D evelopm ent Program m e
U N ESC O U nited N ations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural
O rganization
U SA ID U nited States Agency for International D evelopm ent
W RI W orld Resources Institute
W TO W orld Trade O rganization
WWF W orld W id e Fund For N ature International
Z G T JN J Zhongguo Tongji N ianjian (C hina Statistical
Y earb ook)
S t u d y C o u n t r ie s : M a p s
X jy A g r ic u l t u r a l E x p a n s i o n a n d T r o p ic a l D e f o r e s t a t io n
S t u d y C o u n t r ie s : M a p s
A g r ic u l t u r a l E x p a n s io n a n d T r o p ic a l D e f o r e s t a t io n
S t u d y C o u n t r ie s : M a p s ^ y jj
I n t r o d u c t io n : S o c ia l D e t e r m in a n t s
of D e f o r e s t a t io n
A ccelerated tro p ical deforestation during recent decades has re

sulted in the conversion o f hundreds o f m illio n s o f hectares o f
tropical forests to other land uses such as grow ing crops, pastures,
roads, m ines, reservoirs, ind ustrial, residential o r adm inistrative
areas and w astelands. In 1980, about one-tenth o f the w o rld ’s
n early 2 b illio n hectares o f rem aining tro p ical forests w ere esti
m ated to have been converted to other land uses during the sub
sequent decade alone. Even vaster areas o f tro p ical forests have
been bad ly degraded b y logging, excessive fuelw ood extraction,
industrial pollution, overgrazing, destructive man-made fires and
m any other deforestation processes caused by hum ans.
This version o f the deforestation narrative is, how ever, essen
tia lly tautological. It m erely view s volatile com binations o f several
long-recognized deforestation processes as being the proxim ate
causes o f tropical deforestation. This suggests little in the w ay o f
cures other than to attem pt to stop such processes.
At a m ore general le vel, by d efin itio n , hum an-induced (a n
thropog enic) deforestation is u ltim ately caused b y people and
th eir activities. The im p licit rem edies em bodied in the defin itio n
are to halt or reverse population grow th and to elim inate activi
ties stim ulating tro pical deforestation. Popu lation stabilization or
reduction is at best a long-term proposition. M ost people enter
ing the lab our force and reaching reproductive age during the
com ing tw o decades are already w ith us. Excluding a m assive de
m ographic catastrophe, the w orld population w ill increase by be
tw een one-fourth to one-half by the year 2025, w ith the m ajor
ity o f this p o p u latio n g row th takin g place in po or countries.
M o d ifyin g hum an a ctivitie s to becom e m ore en viro n m en tally
2 A g r ic u l t u r a l E x p a n s io n and T r o p ic a l D e f o r e s t a t io n
frien d ly appears m ore prom ising in term s o f stopping destructive

deforestation during the foreseeable future, unless one b elieves
that it is beyond hum an control. Solutions have to be sought to
change hum ankind’s values, so cial relations and activities. T his
im plies the reform o f institutions and policies at sub-national, na
tional and international levels. Research can help to indicate how
they m ight be reform ed to encourage the so cially and eco log i
ca lly sustainable use o f natural resources in tro p ical forest re
gions.
D eforestation ‘stories’ that ind icate feasible rem edies have to
include the social origins o f deforestation processes and their so
cial im pacts. These social determ inants are p rim arily institutions
(re la tiv e ly stable rules and custom s regulating social relatio n s),
p o licies (p urp oseful courses o f action b y diverse social actors),
and technologies (the applications o f science and experience for
so cially defin ed p ractical ends). D eforestation narratives have to
confront issues o f p o w er relations at a ll levels from the local to
the global. T h ey need to deal w ith the p erceived id entities and
goals o f diverse social actors as w ell as w ith the frequently unan
ticipated and unintended outcom es o f co n flictin g p o licies p u r
sued in a context o f interacting dynam ic social and ecological sys
tem s and sub-systems. In other w ords, deforestation stories that
could contribute to the m ore sustainable use o f natural resources
in tro pical forest regions have to include the p o litical and socio
econom ic dim ensions as w ell as the ecological ones.
This is w id ely recognized at the conceptual level, but the com
plexities and uncertainties inherent in analyses o f interacting social
and natural systems are frequently forgotten in practice. M any re
searchers are under trem endous pressures to be ‘p o licy relevant’
and to recom m end ‘p ractical’, alb eit sim plistic, solutions. Fo r ex
am ple, agricultural expansion together w ith the plundering o f re
m aining forests is spurred by population grow th and trade. These
are w id e ly view ed as the leading proxim ate and ‘root’ sources o f
recent tro pical deforestation. This m ay som etim es be the case. If
true, w hat does it im p ly in the w ay o f p o licy and institu tional
changes locally, nationally and internationally? Each local and na
tional situation is, to some extent, unique and constantly changing.
W hat reform s could be effective and feasible in different places
and tim es? The international context is also constantly and often
INTRODUCTION: SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF DEFORESTATION ^
d ram atically changing. W h at international reform s could, in the

current context, contribute to m ore sustainable tropical forest re
source m anagem ent?
These questions are not answ erable in any definitive manner,
but they guided our research. This volum e summarizes some o f the
findings. It argues that deforestation is an outcome o f policies pur
sued by diverse social actors w ithin interacting social and ecological
systems at local, national and international levels. In other words,
socially undesirable tropical deforestation is a system ic problem
that requires deep policy and institutional reforms at all levels. The
research shows that agricultural expansion and international trade
are im portant factors but that their roles are varied and frequently
contradictory. T heir im pact on livelihoods and on tropical defor
estation depends largely on the contexts in w hich they occur. In
this book w e try to sort out several o f the com plex linkages be
tween the policies o f governments and o f other social actors on the
one hand, and social structures on the other. Finally, w e look at
public policy and institutional reforms at different levels that could
help to promote more sustainable uses o f tropical forest resources.
A C o m plex I ssu e
T rop ical deforestation has been a m ajor them e in the countless

discussions, reports and publications leading to the 1992 U nited
N ations Conference on Environm ent and D evelopm ent in Rio. It
w ill undoubtedly continue to be a central international en viro n
m ental issue during com ing years. H ow ever, there is m uch disa
greem ent, even am ong specialists, about the dynam ics o f defor
estation and its socioeconom ic and ecological im plications if the
w id ely conflicting claim s about its causes, extent, impacts and rem
edies can be taken as evidence. This is p articu larly true o f the role
o f agricultu ral expansion that is freq u en tly blam ed for som e 60
per cent o f the current rap id deforestation in the tro pics o f up
to 20 m illio n hectares an n u ally (W o rld Bank, 1992).
The reasons w h y shrinking areas o f tropical forests arouse in
creasing anxiety are now w id e ly know n. The livelih ood s o f over
200 m illio n forest dw ellers and poor settlers depend d irectly on
food, fibre, fodder, fuel and other resources taken from the for
est or produced on recen tly cleared forest soils. M any m illions
m ore live from em ploym ent in forest based crafts, industries and
related activities. N um erous indigenous groups are threatened
w ith genocide induced by alienation or destruction o f their source
o f life support. D egradation o f forest habitats is accom panied by
the extinction o f m any species o f flo ra and fauna. This loss o f
bio d iversity poses fundam ental ethical questions as w e ll as more
m aterial ones about lost options for the future. Ecosystem s upon
w h ich hum ans u ltim a tely depend m ay co llap se. S o il erosion,
salin ization and com paction m ay p rove irreversib le, as m ay ad
verse changes in local and regional clim ates. D eforestation is fre
q u ently accom panied by m ore devastating floods dow nstream
and the d ep letion o f w ater reserves in underground aquifers,
lakes and reservo irs. T ro p ica l d eforestation con trib u tes to the
build-up o f greenhouse gases that m ay ind uce g lo b al clim ate
change w ith in calcu lab le consequences. Future supplies o f food,
fuel and tim ber to m eet the needs generated by econom ic grow th
and increasing populations could be im p erilled or becom e m ore
costly. R a p id ly expanding mass tourism in m any poor countries
poses both new threats and opportunities fo r m ore sustainable
uses o f tropical forests. Conflicts o f interests between transnational
corporations m ostly based in the N orth and those o f m any rural
poor in developing countries are intensifying, as are conflicts be
tw een rich and poor country governm ents about the proper m an
agem ent o f ‘the heritage o f a ll m ankind’.
N ot a ll deforestation is incom patible w ith sustainable develop
ment. The w o rld ’s tem perate forests have been reduced b y over
one-third in recent centuries. M any o f these form erly forested ar
eas w ere cleared for agricultural and other hum an uses. M uch o f
this form er forest land now supports large and relatively prosper
ous populations w ith h ig h ly productive farm s, industries and cit
ies. D eforestation has apparently stabilized in industrialized coun
tries. There are also large once-forested areas in the tropics that
have supported dense populations fo r centuries.
People denied other alternatives than w resting a bare livin g by
clearing forest w ill try to su rvive even w here conditions render
continuous cu ltivatio n unsustainable. At the sam e tim e, lucrative
short-term profits can freq uently be reaped b y po w erful elites in
both ind ustrialized and developing countries. N orthern investors
and consum ers com m only benefit disp ro p o rtio n ately from cash
I n t r o d u c t i o n : S o c ia l D e te r m in a n t s o f D e f o r e s t a t io n 5
crop and tim ber exports from the tropics at the expense o f fo r
est-dependent poor peop le in the South and a sustainable e n vi
ronm ent.
M any interrelated processes contribute to tro p ical deforesta
tion. Agricultural expansion is prom inent among them, but this in
turn includes num erous sub-processes responding to d ifferen t
dynam ics. M oreover, lo cal le vel d eforestation processes d iffe r
g reatly from place to place and over tim e. Sim p listic generaliza
tions based on global or regional and national data are not very
helpful in understanding the com plex causes and social and eco
logical im pacts o f deforestation, or in suggesting rem edial actions,
in specific localities. An analytical case study approach is m ore ap
p ropriate. This w as show n by the authors’ e a rlie r research into
the social dynam ics o f deforestation (Barraclo u g h and G him ire,
1995).
P r in c ip a l Q u e s t io n s G u id in g t h e R e s e a r c h
The research first review ed estim ates by the Food and A g ricu l
ture O rganization (FA O ) o f the U nited N ations and a num ber o f
other international sources o f recent land use changes and defor
estation trends in developing countries. Case studies w ere then
com m issioned in five countries - B raz il, G uatem ala, Cam eroon,
M alaysia and China. The objective o f the case studies w as to ex
plore c ritic a lly the dynam ics o f tro pical deforestation in specific
socioeconom ic, p o litical and ecological contexts. Special em pha
sis w as placed on the roles o f agricultural expansion and interna
tio n al trade in stim ulating deforestation processes.
The research fo llo w ed a p o litical econom y approach. It at
tem pted to identify the nature and im portance o f diverse socioeco
nom ic processes leading to tro pical deforestation in specific sub
national regions and lo calities. It gave e x p licit attention to the
social actors involved and on how they m ay have benefited or been
negatively affected by the clearance or degradation of tropical forests
and by the expansion o f agriculture into forest areas. The im plica
tions o f these processes for the livelihoods of low-income groups di
rectly or ind irectly affected w as another principal focus o f the case
studies. This identification and analysis o f deforestation processes
constituted the first set o f research issues and questions.
A g r ic u l t u r a l E x p a n s io n and T r o p ic a l D e f o r e s t a t io n
The second set o f issues related to the roles o f p o licies in

stim ulating, directing or checking deforestation as w ell as in mag
nifying or attenuating its social and ecological im pact. Pu b lic p o li
cies at national levels are alw ays crucial, but sub-national and in
ternational policies o f the state and o f other social actors, such as
corporate bodies and N G O s, can also be extrem ely im portant.
G o vernm ents are o n ly one com ponent o f the in stitu tio n al
fram ew ork that defines and regulates any society. P o lic y a n a ly
sis is rather m eaningless, e sp e cia lly fo r com parative purposes,
unless it is care fu lly lin ked w ith a so ciety’s broader institutional
fram ew ork in w h ich governm ent p o licies are generated and car
ried out. The institutional determ inants o f deforestation processes
constitute, a third cluster o f issues and questions. The research
considered both p o licies and institutions, em phasizing th eir lin k
ages and dynam ic interactions.
In the p o licy field, land use and agricultural and forest policies
should ob viously receive attention. Po licies regarding land settle
m ent, ru ral developm ent and forest protection re a d ily com e to
m ind. M any p o licies that m ay appear rem ote from deforestation
processes can often be crucial. Price and trade policies, fiscal p o li
cies and those affecting em ploym ent and w elfare frequently con
tribute to accelerating tropical deforestation, as do consum ption
and production patterns in both rich industrial countries and poor
agrarian ones.
The po litical institutions o f governm ent at all levels, as w ell as
econom ic institutions organizing and regulating production, trade
and consum ption, m ediate p o licies and m arket forces. Logging,
m ining, infrastructure construction and agricultural expansion of
ten d ire ctly d rive deforestation processes. Bo th land tenure and
farm ing system s are clo sely related institutions that w ere central
everyw h ere in this research. In certain circum stances, how ever,
p o p ulation m ovem ents and environm ental dynam ics have also
played an im portant role.
Land tenure
Land tenure institu tions determ ine the rights and oblig ations o f
different social actors, such as ind ivid uals, clans, local com m uni
ties, corporate bodies and the state in access to land, w ater, for
ests and other natural resources and in the distribu tion o f th eir
In t r o d u c t i o n : S o c ia i. D e te r m in a n ts o f D e f o r e s t a t io n ~j
benefits. In agrarian societies land tenure also defines the obliga

tions o f those w ho w ork the land in relation to those w ho accum u
late its surplus. Analyses o f land tenure systems are central for un
derstanding the nature o f tropical deforestation processes, w ho
benefits from them and w ho is prejudiced. Land tenure relation
ships are a good ind icator o f social relationships in the broader
society. T hey reflect the relative pow er o f different social classes
and diverse ethnic groups. Land tenure system s in distant non
forested areas m ay frequently be a p rincip al factor in forcing lan
dless w orkers and peasants to invade tropical forests.
Fanning system s
Farm ing system s constitute distinctive com binations o f social re
lations (fo r exam ple, land tenure), farm ing practices and tech
nologies, land use and cropping patterns, consum ption standards,
access to m arkets and so on, that tend to go together and repro
duce them selves. They reflect both social relations and econom ic
structures o f the broader so ciety as w e ll as the constraints im
posed on agriculture by clim ate, soils, w ater ava ila b ility and bio
lo g ical endow m ents. V ery different farm ing system s can coexist
in the same ecological context. Low external input systems aim ed
prim arily at self-provisioning and high external input systems pro
ducing for national or international m arkets are often found side
by side. W ith in each broad type o f farm ing system there can be
num erous sub-systems w ith d istinctive social relations, land use
and production patterns.
Demographic issues
D em ographic issues raise a further cluster o f com plex research
questions. In-m igration, out-m igration, birth rates and m ortality
rates a ll interact am ong them selves as w e ll as w ith p o litical, so
cioeconom ic and environm ental factors. T h e ir im pact on agricul
tural expansion and tro pical deforestation has to be analysed in
each unique context, as broad generalizations can be very m islead
ing.
N atural environm ent

The same is true o f the constraints im posed b y the n atural en
viro nm ent. So ils, clim ate, w ater a v a ila b ility and the b io lo g ica l
g A g r ic u l t u r a l E x p a n s io n and T r o p ic a l D e f o r e s t a t io n
dynam ics o f each ecosystem have to be taken into account. O ne

does not cu ltivate w ater-dem anding crops in areas o f sem i-arid
savannah tro p ical forests w ithout encountering great d ifficu lties,
w h ile d ryland crop production in areas o f hum id tropical forests
is seldom an attractive proposition. These constraints in fluence
both agricultu ral expansion and possible alternatives.
A lternatives
Fin a lly, w hat are the alternatives to tro p ical forest clearance fo r
peop le depending upon agricultu re fo r th eir livelih o o d s? M uch
depends upon the le ve l o f analysis. A ltern atives fo r residents o f
a local ecosystem such as a p articular rive r basin, plateau or com
m unity m ay app ear ve ry lim ited, but th ey becom e m uch less
con strain ed if b road er e co lo g ica l and p o litic a l b o undaries are
assum ed. W e have attem pted to lo o k at som e o f the in itiative s
to ch eck ag ricu ltu ral expansion into tro p ical forests at various
levels from lo ca l com m unities to the nation state and beyond.
T h e C a s e S t u d y C o u n t r ie s
Brazil
B ra z il includes a m ajor p o rtio n o f the Am azon ra in forests that
are threatened b y agricultu ral expansion and other deforestation
processes as w e ll as several other tro p ical forest areas that have
alread y been larg ely cleared. A ccordin g to the FA O , 36,780 m il
lio n hectares o f new land w ere brought into agricultural produc
tion betw een 1973 and 1992 (Table 1.1), but w ith a dram atic re
du ction in forest and w ood lan d areas, am ounting to o ver 100
m illio n hectares. This w as n early three tim es the area apparently
lost to agricultu ral expansion. M uch o f the land cleared o f forests
and w oodlands becam e w asteland o r w ent into other uses. ‘O ther
lan d ’ had increased by some 65,000 hectares. D uring this period
Braz il experienced a rap id increase in road bu ild ing , dam con
struction, m ining and urbanization. Indeed, the urban proportion
o f the co u n try’s po pulation increased from 50 per cent o f the
total population to 75 p er cent betw een 1965 and 1990, w h ile its
ru ral p o p u lation dim inished in absolute num bers (U N D P, 1994).
Recent national level estim ates o f deforestation, based on sat
e llite im ages, ind icate that during the 1980s deforestation in the
IN TR O D U C T IO N : SO CIA L D E TERM INA NTS O F D E FO R ESTA TIO N C)
T able 1.1 Agricultural Expansion a n d DeforesUition in Case Study

Countries
Difference between
1973-1992
1973 1979 1989 1992 (in lOOOha) (in °A
Brazil
Total area 851,197 851,197 851,197 851,197 - -
Land area 845,651 845,651 845,651 845,651 - -
Arable-permanent 57,820 68,970 78,650 59,000 1180 2

crops
Permanent pasture 151,200 160,000 170,000 186,800 35,600 24
Forest-woodland 589,850 577,430 553,130 488,000 -101,850 -17
Other land 46,781 39,251 43,871 111,851 65,070 139
G uatem ala
Total area 10,889 10,889 10,889 10,889 - -
Land area 10,843 10,843 10,843 10,843 - -
Arable-permanent 1613 1726 1875 1885 272 17

crops
Permanent pasture 1230 1290 1390 1420 190 15
Fonest-woodland 5010 4630 3830 3590 -1420 -28
Other land 2990 3197 3748 3948 958 32
Cam eroon
Total area 47,544 47,544 47,544 47,544 - -
Land area 46,540 46,540 46,540 46,540 - -

crops
Permanent pasture 8300 8300 8300 8300 _
Forest-woodland 26,400 25,750 24,650 24,330 -2070 -8
Other land 5680 5578 6582 6870 1190 21
Malaysia
Total area 32,975 32,975 32,975 32,975 - -
Land area 32,855 32,855 32,855 32,855 - -

crops
Permanent pasture 26 27 27 27 1 4
Forest-woodland 22,940 21,500 19,100 19,352 -3588 -16
Other land 5309 6563 8848 8596 3287 62
China
Total area 959,696 959,696 959,696 959,696 - -
Land area 932,641 932,641 932,641 932,641 - -
Arable-permanent 101,376 100,415 96,115 96,302 -5074 -5

crops
Forest-wood land 113,624 136,365 126,465 130,495 16,871 15
Other land 398,561 376,781 390,981 305,844 -92,717 -23
Source: FAO Yearbooks, 1973-1993
20 A g r i c u l t u r a l E x p a n s io n and T r o p i c a l D e f o r e s t a t io n
country w as taking place at a rate o f nearly 3 m illion hectares annu

ally. M uch o f the forest clearance w as concentrated in southern and
south-eastern peripheral sub-regions such as M ato Grosso, Goias,
Rondonia and Para. Rapid agricultural m odernization in the south
in the 1970s had left m any farm w orkers and peasants w ithout
jobs o r land. The governm ent’s policies w ere to settle as m any as
possible o f these and other land-seeking people in the ‘em pty’
forested areas o f the Am azon. The state also provided tax credits
and other fiscal incentives for large-scale agriculture, cattle ranch
ing, logging and m ining. These policies can be view ed as princip al
causes o f extensive deforestation.
In order to analyse relations betw een patterns o f agricultu ral
expansion, p u blic p o licies and the destruction o f forests, as w ell
as associated im pacts on the livelihoods o f local populations, five
local-level case studies w ere carried out. Fo ur o f these studies
w ere undertaken insid e or w ith in the p erip h ery o f the Am azon
region, and the rem aining one was conducted in a south-eastern
forest area that included rem nants o f its once extensive A tlantic
coastal forests (M ata Atlantica).
O ne study area w as the B ico de Papagaio region in the state
o f M aranhao. T h is area has been subject to im m igration by suc
cessive w aves o f poor settlers, and also to intense land specula
tio n , since the op en in g o f the B e le m - B ra silia h ig h w ay in the
1960s. A second study w as carried out in the M irassolzinho area
o f w estern M ato G rosso w h ere squatters, cattle ranchers and
governm ent-supported ag ricu ltu ral co rp o ratio n s have been ac
tive in forest clearance. A th ird focused on K ilak ta In d ia n s’ use
o f natural resources and th eir conflicts w ith outsiders in tw o In
dian reserve areas in north-western M ato Grosso. A fourth study
area w as the Sao Felix do A raguaia area o f north-eastern M ato
G ro sso , w h ere g overnm ent-fin anced co rp o ra tio n s and larg e
lan d h o ld ers have been active in clearin g extensive forest areas
fo r pasture and beef production. The fifth study w as on the v a l
le y o f R io R ib eira de Ig u ap e (in south-eastern Sao P au lo state
bordering the state o f P aran a) w here n early h a lf o f the rem ain
ing A tla n tic co astal rain forests are found ; these forests are
threatened b y vario u s d eforestation processes and are also the
focus o f num erous N G O and governm ent con servatio n in itia
tives.
I n t r o d u c t io n : S o c ia l D e t e r m in a n t s of D e f o r e s t a t io n
Guatemala
D eforestation in Guatem ala over the last 20 years has been par
ticu la rly rapid. The FAO estim ates a decline in forest and w ood
land coverage betw een 1973 and 1992 from 5010 m illio n hectares
to 3590 m illio n hectares, or by nearly one-third (Table 1.1). A g ri
cultural area has also expanded, but much less than the decline in
forest area. The rem aining loss o f the forest area w as accounted
for by the increase in ‘other land’, in part for urbanization and in
part for non-agricultural uses including barren lands.
The study in Guatem ala focused on the im pact o f local-level
production system s on deforestation and the linkages betw een
agricultu ral expansion and forest clearance in tw o o f the coun
try ’s m ajor forest regions. It also sought to exam ine, based m ainly
on the re vie w o f the availab le literature, the im pact o f interna
tional com m odity m arkets, trade and foreign aid on agricultural
and deforestation processes. It attem pted to show how govern
ment agricultural policies since the mid-1950s have been based on
the econom ic logic o f profit m axim ization, w ith little attention
given to the protection o f forests or the livelihood o f the peasants.
O ne case study w as carried out in the north-eastern Peten.
This region includes nearly h alf the country’s rem aining forests. It
has been a p rin cip al focus o f governm ent road construction and
colonization program m es since the 1960s. It w as also the site o f
several recent environm ental in itiatives. The second region was
the little-studied north-eastern La Sierra de la M inas region. It in
cludes a w id e variety o f ecological conditions and o f In d ian and
ladino (people o f mixed European and indigenous descent) sm all
holder settlem ents as w e ll as large estates know n as latifundia.
The rem aining forested areas in this region are in im m inent dan
ger o f destruction and it has been a site o f num erous conflicts.
M alaysia
Forests and w oodlands dw indled most rap id ly in M alaysia during
the 1950s and 1960s. Betw een 1973 and 1992, forested area de
clin ed m ore slo w ly from 22,940 m illio n hectares to 19,352 m il
lio n hectares (T ab le 1.1). About one-third o f this area w ent to
agriculture, but the rem aining two-thirds w ent to other uses. This
suggests that the forest areas that w ere cleared w ere either turned
into barren lands or w ere used fo r urbanization and infrastruc
[2 A g r i c u l t u r a l Ex p a n sio n a n d T r o p ic a l D e f o r e s t a t io n
ture. The urban population nearly doubled betw een I960 and
1993 (U N D P, 1994). D eforestation associated w ith agricultural ex
pansion has v irtu a lly ceased in Pen in su lar M alaysia. In Saraw ak
and Sabah com m ercial logging for export, esp ecially to Jap an , has
been a prim ary process d ire ctly generating deforestation in re
cent years.
The M alaysian case study covered the cou n try’s three p rin ci
pal regions: Pen in su lar M alaysia, Sabah and Saraw ak. The study
a p p ro ach ed the them es o f a g ricu ltu ra l ex pansion and forest
clearan ce at three levels b y p ro vid in g a m acro o verview , three
regional surveys and several local-level case studies. The m acro
o verview looked at trends in forest clearance, exam ined eco log i
cal constraints, id en tified linkages w ith the w o rld econom y and
explored availab le alternatives. T he regional surveys considered
the situation in Peninsular M alaysia, Sabah and Saraw ak separately,
because each region differs significantly in term s o f history, land
use, socioeconom ic pressures and in stitu tio n al organization. The
m icro case studies exam ined the ag ricu ltu re-fo rest in terface at
com m unity le vel.
The governm ent’s in itia l land developm ent program m e after
independence w as aim ed, in part, at reducing rural p o verty and,
in part, at in creasin g export earnings. It in clu d e d the d e velo p
m ent o f large plantations to produce rubber and o il palm . These
w ere resp o n sib le fo r m uch o f the deforestation that took place
in Pen in su lar M alaysia. Logging and m ining activities have been
much m ore im portant in the deforestation o f Sabah and Saraw ak.
The developm ent o f tourism and aquaculture has also adversely
affected forests, e sp e cia lly m angroves, in recent years, in som e
areas. T he country has in d ustrialized rap id ly. Prim ary com m odi
ties such as petroleum , tim ber, o il palm and rub ber s till rem ain
im p ortant export earners although in d u stria l exports have re
cen tly becom e dom inant. Fo r Saraw ak and Sabah, how ever, ex
ports o f tim ber are cru cial. T h is has ram ifications for deforesta
tion in these states that include most o f the co u n try’s rem aining
forests.
Cameroon
Cam eroon in the 1980s is believed by some independent scholars
to have had the highest rates o f deforestation in Central A frica. The
INTRODUCTION: SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF DEFORESTATION
FA O ’s estim ate o f forest clearance betw een 1973-1992 indicates

a d ecline o f total forest area o f 2,070,000 hectares (T ab le 1.1).
M uch o f this land has apparently been used for agricultural pro
duction, although a significant area has also been incorporated
into ‘other lands’. As the country experienced a rap id urbaniza
tion process during this period, the increase in the ‘other lan d ’
category appears credible.
The case study in Cam eroon exam ined a num ber o f sp ecific
crucial processes related to agricultural expansion and deforesta
tion. These included export-oriented cash crop production driven
by the establishm ent o f large para-statal plantations, a rapid rise in
export crop production among m iddle and rich farm ers, and com
m ercial logging. Rural inequalities and poverty increased as a re
sult o f urban-biased and m arket-driven public policies that failed
to recognize custom ary land rights.
To elu cid ate these processes, fo u r case studies w ere und er
taken. The first looked at the im pacts o f the Cam eroon D evelop
m ent C orporation (C D C ) agro-industrial p lantations on d efor
estation and live lih o o d s in South-w estern p rovin ce. The second
focused on changes and trends in the farm ing system s in the
m ontane forest ecosystem s in the K ilu m m assif area in N orth
w est p ro vin ce. T he th ird in vestig ated the processes o f forest
clearance ensuing from com m ercial logging and fam ily farm ing in
the M balm ayo forest reserve area in Central province. The fourth
case study exam ined the social dynam ics o f deforestation m ainly
w ith in the traditional peasant farm ing o f the southern Bankundu
area in Central province.
China
C h in a s till has som e rich tro p ica l forest resources and in the
past decades there has been an im p ressive o ffic ia l d rive fo r
reafforestation. B u t there are also in d icatio n s that logging in the
few rem aining prim ary forests has been rap id ly advancing (W o rld
Ban k, 1992). D eforestation problem s in eco log ically fragile m oun
tains, h ills and high plateaux have been docum ented as contrib
uting to so il erosion, loss o f d ive rsity and w ater shortages (H e ,
1991; Sm il, 1984). R eafforestation efforts have not been as suc
cessful as planned (Ross, 1988). Land tenure problem s associated
w ith C h in a’s recent econom ic reform s have induced w idesp read
14 A g r ic u l t u r a l E x p a n s io n and T r o p i c a l D e f o r e s t a t io n
incidents o f ille g a l tree cutting (M enzies and Peluso, 1991). In

m any areas, there has been continued expansion o f agricultu ral
land into forest reserves (L i et al, 1987; Zuo, 1993).
Poverty and population pressures have com m only been lin ked
w ith the en viro n m en tal deg radation o f C h in a ’s forests (M O A ,
1991). Som e have referred to the past central planning system and
socialist ideology as dam aging to the forests. In recent years, the
im pact o f econom ic liberalization m easures is becom ing visib le for
both the expansion o f rural industrialization and agricultu ral ex
pansion.
The study on C hina focused p rim a rily on local-level ag ricu l
tural and forest use practices and needs. In particular, a case study
w as carried out at H ekou county in tro p ical Yunnan Pro vin ce to
illustrate how problem s are m anifested in term s o f deforestation
trends at the local level. This w as accom panied by an exam ination
o f w ider regional and national past and present agricultural trends,
and changes in the com position and area o f forested land. Recent
developm ent strategies and th eir im pact on the forestry sector
are esp ecially highlighted.
O T h e E x t e n t o f T r o p ic a l D e f o r e st a t io n
and A g r ic u l t u r a l E x p a n s io n
in D e v e l o p in g C o u n t r ie s
Land use changes at global and national levels in developing

countries in the past, as w ell as during recent decades, should
be examined more closely before later looking at evidence from
case studies at sub-national levels. In the mid-1980s about one-
third of the Earth ’s land area was occupied by forests according
to the FAO (see Box 2.1 for FAO ’s forest classifications). A little
over half o f these forests w ere considered to be tropical, al
though they accounted for a slightly low er proportion (about 43
B o x 2 .1 C o n cep ts a n d D e fin itio n s o f D iffe r e n t Types o f Forests

U sed in th e T ro p ic a l F orest R e so u rc es A sse ssm e n t
b y th e FAO
Forest: this is an aggregate to indicate what is normally understood as forest, namely

natural forest and forest plantation.
Closed forest: stands of broad-leaved (hardwood) forests, which when not recently
cleared by shifting agriculture or heavily exploited, cover with their various storeys
and undergrowth a high proportion of the ground and do not have a continuous grass
layer allowing grazing and the spreading of fires. They are often, but not always,
multistoreyed. They may be evergreen, semi-deciduous, or deciduous, wet, moist
or dry. As an indication, for remote sensing purposes the crown coverage is 40 per
cent or more.
Open forest: this refers to mixed broad-leaved forest/grassland formations with a con
tinuous grass layer in which the tree synusia covers more than 10 per cent of the
ground.
The division between closed and open hardwood forests is more of an ecological than
physiognomic type and is not characterized necessarily by the crown cover percentage.
In some woodlands the trees may cover the ground completely, as in closed forests.
The distinction between closed and open forests has not been made for conifers, since
it does not have the same ecological importance and is difficult, if not impossible, to
apply.
Shrubs: any vegetation type where the main woody elements are shrubs (broad-leaved
or coniferous species) of more than 50cm and less than 7m in height. The height limits
between trees and shrubs should be interpreted with flexibility, particularly the
minimum tree and maximum shrub height, which may vary between 5 and 8m, ap
proximately.
Forest fallow: this type stands for all complexes of woody vegetation deriving from
the clearing of forest land for shifting agriculture. It consists of a mosaic of various
reconstitution phases and includes patches of uncleared forests and agriculture fields
that cannot be realistically segregated and accounted for area-wise, especially from
satellite imagery. It excludes areas where site degradation is so severe that a reconsti
tution of the forest is not possible. Such areas should be included under ‘shrubs’ or
outside woody vegetation.
Source: FAO , 1988
per cent) o f the w o rld ’s ‘closed forests’ (Table 2.1). The rem ain
ing two-thirds o f the total land area w as divided n early eq ually
betw een uses for agriculture, including pastures and ‘other uses’.
The latter ranged from deserts and glaciers to roads, m ines and
urban conglom erates. T his broad pictu re helps one appreciate
the relative im portance o f forest areas in the global ecosystem .
Table 2.1 D istribution o f the W orld’s Forest Lands

(areas in m illions o f hectares)
Total forest and Closed forest Other wooded
wooded lands areas
Region Total land Area % oftotal Area % offorest Total Open Fallow
area land area and wooded
land
Temperate 6417 2153 34 1590 74 563 na na
North 1835 734 40 459 63 275 na na

America
Europe 472 181 38 145 80 35 na na
USSR 2227 930 42 792 85 138 na na
Other 1883 309 16 194 62 115 na na
countries
Tropical 4815 2346 49 1202 25 1144 734 410
Africa 2190 869 40 217 25 652 486 166

Asia and 945 410 43 306 10 104 31 73
Pacific
Latin 1680 1067 64 679 63 388 217 170
America
World 13,077 4499 34 2792 62 1707 734 410

na = not available
Source: World Resources Institute (WRI), 1988 (based mostly on FAO data)
T able 2 .2 P relim in ary Estim ates o f Tropical Forest A rea a n d R ate o f D eforestation f o r 8 7 C ountries in the Tropical
Region
Number of Total land area Forest area Forest area Area deforested annually Rate of change
Sub-region countries studied 1980 1990 1981-1990 1981-1990
( % per annum)
T
he
(thousands of hectares)
E xt en t
Latin America: 32 1,675,600 922,900 839,900 8400 -0.9
Central America and 7 245,300 77,000 63,500 1400 -1.8
Mexico
of
Caribbean sub-region 18 69,500 48,800 47,100 200 -0.4
T
r o p ic a l
Tropical South America 7 1,360,800 797.100 729,300 6800 -0.8
Asia: 15 896,600 310,800 274,800 3500 -1.2

South Asia 6 445,600 70,600 66,200 400 -0.6
D e f o r e s t a t io n
Continental South-east 5 192,900 83,200 69,700 1300 -1.6
Asia
Insular South-east Asia 4 258,100 157,000 138,900 1800 -1.2
Africa: 40 2,243,300 650,400 600,100 5100 -0.8

West Sahelian Africa 8 528,000 41,900 38,000 400 -0.9
and
East Sahelian Africa 6 489,600 92,300 85,300 700 -0.8
A g r ic u l t u r a l
West Africa 8 203,200 55,200 43,400 1200 -2.1
Central Africa 7 406,400 230,100 215,400 1500 -0.6
Tropical Southern Africa 10 557,900 217,700 206,300 1100 -0.5
Insular Africa 1 58,200 13,200 11,700 200 -1.2
Total 87 4,815,500 1,884,100 1,714,800 17,000 -0.9
E x p a n s io n
Source: FAO, 1991
]g A g r ic u l t u r a l E x p a n s io n and T r o p i c a l D e f o r e s t a t io n
Keeping in m ind that a little over 70 per cent o f the g lobe’s sur
face consists o f oceans, tropical forests occupied about 5 per cent
o f the total.
D eforestation in tropical regions reached alarm ing rates in the
late-20th century. The FAO estim ated that, on balance, betw een
1980 and 1990 about 17 m illion hectares o f forests in 87 countries
in tro p ical regions had been converted to other land uses each
year. This represented an annual deforestation rate in these coun
tries o f 0.9 per cent (T ab le 2.2). Presum ably, expanding areas o f
crops and pastures had replaced a large portion o f the forests
that had disappeared.
At first glance, global land use data do not seem to lend much
support to this hypothesis. W orld food production increased by 25
per cent betw een 1983 and 1993, but the area in arable land and
perm anent crops expanded by only 1 per cent (FA O , 1995). These
global aggregates, how ever, hid e a num ber o f d ifferen t p ro c
esses. In m any places good agricultural lands w ere being appro
priated for urban, infrastructural or industrial uses and degraded
crop lands w ere being abandoned, w h ile other lands w ere being
brought into farms, often at the expense o f forests. It is not possi
ble to deduce the extent that tropical forests have been displaced
b y cropland and pasture from these global land use estimates.
This assum ption that agricultu ral expansion is the p rin cip al
cu lp rit behind tro p ical deforestation is reinforced b y num erous
anecdotal observations together w ith a few m ore system atic stud
ies. It is also consistent w ith the w id e ly held M althusian notion
that agricultural area expands in tandem w ith (in linear proportion
to ) population grow th. The w o rld population in 1650 w as esti
mated to have been about 0.5 billion and in 1700 about 0.65 billion
people (M eadow s et al, 1972), w h ile in 1980 it w as 4.4 b illion, an
increase o f 680 per cent in 280 years. M eanw hile, the area esti
mated to have been in crops increased b y 466 per cent (Table 2.3),
although most spectacular increases seem to have taken place in
N orth Am erica. Cropland is estim ated to have increased from 2 per
cent o f the Earth’s land area in 1700 to a little over 11 per cent in
1980. Assum ing an average increase in crop yields o f about 45 per
cent, this w as proportional to the increase in population.
From these data, the relationship betw een population grow th
and crop area expansion seems to have been rather close at the
T h e E x t e n t o f T r o p ic a l D e f o r e s t a t io n a n d A g r i c u l t u r a l Ex p a n sio n
T ab le 2.3 Net Conversion o f Land to Crops by Region, 1700-1980

Area (million hectares)
World region 1700 1980 % increase
T ropical Africa 44 222 405

North Africa/Middle East 20 107 435
North America 3 203 6667
Central and South 7 142 1929
America
South and East Asia 86 399 464
Former Soviet Union 33 233 606
Europe (except FSU) 67 137 105
Australia/New Zealand 5 58 1060
Total 265 1501 466
Source: Roberts, 1996, p504.
global level. The w id e differences betw een rates o f cropland in

crease b y regions, how ever, suggest m ore com plex processes.
These regional differences possibly could be explained by d iffer
ential im pacts o f trade and m odem technologies. O ne suspects,
however, that in the absence o f firm data about either populations
or cultivated areas in m uch o f the w orld in 1700, the apparently
close relationship betw een the grow th o f these tw o variables may
have been influenced b y the assum ptions they are purported to
dem onstrate.
R ec en t L a n d U se C h a n g es
The m ore one delves into the data on land use changes at na
tional levels in developing countries, the m ore qualifications one
has to m ake concerning the usefulness o f any sim plistic generali
zations. O bviously, if land use is d ivid ed into o n ly three catego
ries, ‘forests’, ‘crops and pastures’ and ‘other uses’, then each cat
egory includes a great m any w id e ly divergent processes. These
range from in ten sively m anaged forest plantations to severe for
est degradation, high-yielding cropping to extensive grazing, and
urban developm ent to desertification.
M any institutions and scholars believe agricultural expansion to
be the m ajor factor contributing to deforestation in developing
countries. The FAO estim ates that by the early 1980s, 70 per cent
o f the disappearance o f closed forests in A frica, 50 per cent in
Asia and 35 per cent in Latin Am erica w as due to the conversion
o f forest land to agriculture (FA O , 1982). The W orld Ban k asserts

that (during the 1980s) new settlem ents for agriculture accounted
for 60 per cent o f tropical deforestation (W o rld Bank, 1992, p20).
M yers, based on a survey o f 28 tropical countries, concludes that
by the late 1980s, agricultural expansion (exclusive o f cattle ranch
ing) w as responsible for over two-thirds o f the area that w as de
forested (M yers, 1989, p2). The W R I and W W F have also stated
the perm anent conversion o f forest to ag ricu ltu ral land w as the
p rin cip a l cause o f deforestation in d evelo p in g countries (W R I,
1990, pp l06-107; W W F, 1989, p p 9 - H ). T here are m any other
N G O s, research organizations and specialists that have postulated
varying rates o f deforestation and the role o f agricultural expan
sion to tropical forest clearance. H ow ever, most o f these apprais
als are based m ainly on FAO estim ates, supplem ented by lim ited
case study m aterials and d iffering interpretations.
In any case, even if agricultural expansion did account for h alf
o r m ore o f the loss o f tropical forest area in some regions in re
cent years, this w ould tell one little about w h y this w as occurring
o r w hat could be done to h alt it. The social dynam ics o f defor
estation are m uch m ore com plex than is usually adm itted by con
servationists and m any other concerned observers (Barraclo u g h
and G him ire, 1995).
The FAO has played a leading ro le in com pilin g inform ation
on changes in land use in m ajor d evelopin g regions and coun
tries. D ata are availab le fo r som e countries from the 1950s on
w ards, but it is o n ly after 1970 that the details are p rovided fo r
most countries in a m ore consistent m anner. In recent years, the
FA O has pu blished estim ates o f total land use in each country
broken dow n by arable land , perm anent crops, perm anent pas
ture, forest and w oodland and other land uses. These data suggest
a declining trend in forest coverage in most developing countries,
but agricultural expansion does not seem to account for m uch o f
this deforestation at regional or national levels.
The changes in land use in d evelopin g countries at the re
g ional level in A frica, Latin Am erica and Asia betw een 1977 and
1992 are presented in Table 2.4. N o re liab le com parable data are
a va ila b le fo r e a rlie r p erio d s, in p art because o f the freq u en t
changes in the estim ated land areas o f these continents. Table 2.4
suggests that d u ring the p erio d considered, ag ricu ltu ral land in
T h e E x t e n t o f T r o p i c a l D e f o r e s t a t i o n a n d A g r i c u l t u r a l E x p a n s io n 21
Table 2.4 Land Use Changes in Africa, Asia a n d Latin America (1977-1992)
Difference between
1977-1992
1977 1982 1987 1992 (1000 ha) (% )
Africa
Total land 2,996,075 2,996,075 2,996,075 2,996,075 - -
Land area 2,930,454 2,930,454 2,930,454 2,930,454 - -

Arable-permanent 169,293 172,065 177,183 181,878 12,585 7
crops
Forest-woodland 719,583 706,632 692,825 678,105 -41,478 -6
Other land 1,156,702 1,170,362 1,172,992 1,178,212 21,510 2
Latin America
Total land 2,051,257 2,051,257 2,051,257 2,051,257 - -
Land area 2,015,444 2,015,444 2,015,444 2,015,444 - -

crops
Permanent pasture 558,418 569,321 581,608 590,481 32.063 6
Forest-woodland 962,162 935,746 908,339 880,782 -81,380 -8
Other land 363,428 370,038 378,910 393,193 29,765 8
Asia/Oceania
Total land 2,749,626 2,749,626 2,749,626 2,749,626 - -
Land area 2,669,674 2,669,674 2,669,674 2,669,674 - -

crops
Forest-woodland 590,231 570,341 553,228 552,503 -37,728 -6
Other land 961,576 945,453 898,184 863,590 -97,986 -10
Note: Indudes 110 selected countries from African, American and Asian continents. Countries with a
'land area’ less than 500,000 hectares and industrialized countries were not included while Greenland
and Djibouti were excluded due to their lack of 'arable land', and Qatar, Oman, Lesotho and the
Falkland islands were excluded due to their lack of 'forest land'.
Source: FAO Production Yearbook, 1993
Africa, Latin America and Asia increased by 8, 21 and 20 per cent

respectively. Sim ilarly, forest areas decreased by 6, 8 and 6 per
cent respectively. In Africa and Latin Am erica, forests appear to
have been, in part, victims of agricultural expansion. Nearly half of
the deforested areas in Africa and over one-third in Latin America,
however, were accompanied by corresponding increases of areas
w ith land uses other than for crops and pastures. Among these
other uses w ere urbanization, infrastructure and industry as w ell
as the abandonm ent o f degraded barren lands. In Asia, on the
other hand, much more land has been brought into agriculture
22 A g r ic u l t u r a l E x p a n s i o n and T r o p ic a l D e f o r e s t a t io n
than the areas that w ere deforested. It is cle a r that m ost o f the
new agricultu ral area in A sia cam e from ‘other lan d ’ (fo r exam ple,
m arginal areas). T h is is understandable as most o f the ag ricu ltu r
a lly su itab le land as w e ll as e asily accessib le forest areas had a l
read y been ex ploited. In recent decades, how ever, this continent
has also seen a rap id increase in settled areas, cities and the d evel
opm ent o f in frastru ctu re. T h e data do not in d icate w h ere such
‘develop ed ’ areas cam e from , but one suspects m any o f them had
been used fo r agricultu re.
Table 2.5 show s land use changes reported by the FAO betw een
the 1950s and the e arly 1970s and 1992 fo r 110 d evelopin g coun
trie s .1 It can re a d ily be seen that lan d use trends d iffered g reatly
from one co u n try to another. To bring out this diversity, the in d i
vid u a l co u n tries are g roup ed in to seven categ ories in T ab le 2.6.
Each group show s different trends in respect to changes in areas o f
agricultu ral land, forest land and other land.
At n atio n al le vels the data ind icate d iverse trends in d ifferen t
groups o f countries:
• In 14 co u n tries a g ricu ltu ra l area increased w h ile the area o f

forests and w o o d lan d s and area o f o th e r lan d uses both de
creased.
• In 33 countries ag ricu ltu ral area increased, the area o f forests
decreased and the area in o th er uses increased.
• A g ricu ltu ral and forested areas both increased w h ile other land
decreased in 19 countries.
• A g ricu ltu ral and forest areas both decreased w h ile oth er land
areas increased in 21 countries.
• A g ricu ltu ral area decreased but both the forest area and the
area in o th e r uses increased in seven countries.
1 FA O ’s forest resources assessm ent fo r tropica! countries provides estim ates o f forest
areas, changes in forest areas 1981 to 1990, areas logged, forest ecological zones, for
est form ations and the annual deforestation rates for each, for 89 tropical countries
(FA O , 1993). These data are undoubtedly m ore accurate concerning forest areas than
those in Table 2.5 taken from the FAO’s Production Yearbook, but they do not show
changes in agricultural areas nor in land areas devoted to other uses. G iven the focus
o f this book on agricultural expansion and tropical deforestation, the Production Year
book data were used for consistency, but data from the forest assessment are cited in the
text w hen appropriate in discussing country case studies. Tw o books analysing tropical
deforestation issues have been published since the FA O ’s detailed forest assessm ent
data becam e availab le (B ro w n and Pearce, 1994; Palo and M ery, 1996). These include
m any analyses and insights that w ill be referred to in later chapters.
T h e E x t e n t o f T r o p i c a l D e f o r e s t a t io n a n d A g r i c u l t u r a l E x p a n s i o n 23
Table 2.5 L and Use Changes in Developing Countries, 1950-1992

Agricultural land Forest land Other land
1000 ha % 1000 ha % 1000 ha %
Afghanistan (1973-92) 6 0.02 0 0.0 -6 -0.02
Algeria (1957-92) -8605 -18.2 970 31.6 7635 4.1
Angola (1953-92) 2600 8.7 8700 20.1 -11,300 -21.9
Argentina (1973-92) -9050 -5.1 -1500 -2.5 10,550 30.2
Bahamas (1973-92) 2 20.0 0 0.0 -2 -0.3
Bangladesh (1973-92) -72 -0.7 -339 -15.2 411 38.3
Belize (1973-92) 21 25.0 0 0.0 -21 -1.8
Benin (1964-92) -1120 -32.5 1243 57.6 -323 -5.7
Bhutan (1973-92) 39 10.6 80 3.2 -119 -6.4
Bolivia (1973-92) -1341 -4.4 -1950 -3.4 3290 15.8
Botswana (1973-92) -10,506 -23.5 9928 1032.0 578 5.2
Brazil (1973-92) 36,780 17.6 -101,850 -17.3 65,070 139.1
Brunei Darsm -5 -27.8 -205 -50.0 210 212.1
(1973-92)
Burkina Faso* 1190 9.6 -1120 -14.7 -90 -1.2
(1973-92)
Burundi (1967-92) 639 39.1 -31 -26.7 -823 -79.8
Cambodia (1967-92) 836 23.5 -1772 -13.3 484 41.4
Cameroon 880 6.1 -2070 -7.8 1190 21.0
(1973-92)
Central African 160 3.3 -180 -0.5 20 0.1
Republic (1973-92)
Chad (1968-92) -3744 -7.2 -3950 -23.9 5165 8.6
Chile (1965-92) 3244 22.2 -11,886 -57.5 8642 21.8
China (1973-92) 75,846 18.0 16,871 14.8 -92,717 -23.3
Colombia (1973-92) 4715 11.4 -6500 -11.7 1785 25.1
Congo (1963-92) -4760 -31.9 4870 30.0 -160 -5.3
Costa Rica 822 40.1 -710 -30.2 -112 -15.8
(1973-92)
Cote d’Ivoire -149 -0.9 -4920 -41.0 4623 136.5
(1968-92)
Cuba (1973-92) 459 7.8 -60 -2.5 -503 -17.5
Cyprus (1957-92) -368 -69.8 -48 -28.1 415 182.8
Dominican Republic 245 7.4 -39 -6.0 -206 -23.1
(1973-92)
Ecuador (1968-92) 3157 65.8 -4545 -30.6 716 8.2
Egypt (1973-92) -255 -8.9 0 0.0 255 0.3
El Salvador 79 6.3 -70 -40.2 -22 -3.4
(1973-92)
Equatorial Guinea 9 2.8 -994 -43.4 985 515.7
(1963-92)
Ethiopia (1968-92) -20,170 -25.6 18,100 205.7 -10,020 -29.1
Fiji (1973-92) 142 48.5 0 0.0 -142 -40.7
French Guyana 14 200.0 -300 -3.9 286 23.7
(1973-92)
Gabon (1974-92) 10 0.2 -150 -0.8 140 22.7
Gambia (1967-92) -330 -55.0 -158 -52.1 358 157.7
Ghana (1974-92) -210 -2.6 -1260 -13.7 1222 20.8
Table 2.5 Continued

1000 ha % 1000 ha % 1000 ha %
Guatemala (1950-92) 1250 608 -1242 -25.7 -54 -1.3
Guinea (1974-92) -610 -8.9 -1080 -6.9 1676 76.0
Guinea-Bissau 55 4.0 0 0.0 -55 -14.6
(1974-92)
Guyana (1973-92) 350 25.4 -1821 -10.0 1485 1414.2
Haiti (1950-92) 535 61.5 -665 -95 III 9.2
Honduras (1955-92) 1438 48.0 -1716 -35.6 258 7.6
India (1973-92) 1810 1.0 3070 4.7 -4880 -9.3
Indonesia (1973-92) 3040 9.7 -15,627 -12.8 10,587 38.3
Iran (1960-92) 43,836 239.1 6020 50.2 -51,056 -38
Iraq (1973-92) 280 3.1 -60 -3.1 -220 -0.7
Israel (1973-92) 34 6.3 13 11.5 -47 -3.3
Jamaica (1973-92) 1 0.2 -18 -8.9 17 4.2
Jordan (1973-92) 86 7.7 12 20.7 -98 -1.3
Kenya (1974-92) 240 0.6 -360 -13.5 120 0.9
Korea (DPR) -80 -3.7 0 0.0 80 8.7
(1973-92)
Korean (Rep) -109 -4.8 -164 -2.5 273 28.0
(1973-92)
Kuwait (1973-92) 7 5.2 0 0.0 -7 -0.4
Laos(1973-92) -37 -2.3 -1900 -13.2 1937 27.5
Lebanon (1968-92) -10 -3.1 -15 -15.8 8 1.3
Liberia (1977-92) 4 0.06 -400 -19.04 396 26.3
Libya (1959-92) 4403 39.8 238 51.5 -4641 -2.8
Madagascar -1165 -3.0 3450 28.8 -3131 -35.9
(1954-92)
Malawi (1959-92) 17 0.5 1096 47.4 -3553 -59.1
Malaysia (1973-92) 301 6.5 -3588 -15.6 3287 61.9
Mali (1974-92) 403 1.3 -530 -7.1 127 0.2
Mauritania (1974-92) 38 0.1 -180 -3.9 142 0.2
Mexico (1973-92) 1170 1.2 -11,210 -21.5 10,040 24.7
Mongolia (1973-92) -14,482 -10.3 -1085 -7.2 15,567 1609.8
Morocco (1966-92) 15,198 97.7 2541 47.4 -17,764 -74.8
Mozambique 100 0.2 -2150 -13.3 2050 13.5
(1974-92)
Myanmar* (1973-92) 76 0.7 215 0.7 -333 -1.4
Namibia (1974-92) 9 0.02 -600 -3.2 591 2.4
Nepal (1973-92) 461 11.8 3010 128.6 -3471 -46.6
Nicaragua (1963-92) 4980 277.8 -3250 -50.4 -2855 -60
Niger (1974-92) -368 -2.9 -1060 -35.8 1428 1.3
Nigeria (1961-92) 24,790 52.1 -20,292 -64.2 -5798 -44.0
North Caledonia -35 -13.3 0 0.0 35 4.1
(1973-92)
Pakistan (1973-92) 1729 7.1 1197 42.0 -2926 -5.9
Panama (1977-92) 301 16.3 -1060 -24.9 759 56.9
Papua New Guinea 47 10.5 -330 -0.9 283 4.5
(1973-92)
Paraguay (1954-92) 22,748 1861.5 -7150 -35.8 -16,543 -85
Peru (1966-92) 895 3.0 -19,000 -21.8 17,583 152.0
T h e E x t e n t o f T r o p ic a l D e f o r e s t a t io n a n d A g r ic u l t u r a l E x p a n s io n 25
Table 2 .5 C ontinued
1000 ha % 1000 ho % 1000 ha %
Philippines 1079 11.5 -4603 -31.5 3341 55.6
(1967-92)
Puerto Rico (1968-92) -108 -19.1 50 39.4 54 27.4
Rwanda (1963-92) -245 -13.1 394 252.6 -316 -51.5
Saudi Arabia 37,716 43.8 199 12.4 -37,915 -29.8
(1973-92)
Senegal (1973-92) -5149 -48.6 4100 64.6 1049 45.5
Sierra Leone -3124 -53.2 1739 577.7 1373 136.6
(1964-92)
Solomon Islands 7 7.9 0 0.0 -7 -4.7
(1973-92)
Somalia (1960-92) 22,513 104.6 -5361 -37.2 -18,184 -65.3
South Africa (1960-92) -7891 -7.7 410 10.0 7481 48.1
Sri Lanka (1973-92) -II -0.5 300 16.7 -289 -12.5
Sudan (1973-92) 54,975 80.9 -7720 -14.9 -47,255 -40.2
Surinam (1966-92) 37 71.2 -32 -0.2 -732 -50.7
Swaziland (1967-92) -261 -17.1 -11 -8.5 256 301.2
Syria (1968-92) 2659 23.5 215 48.9 -3014 -44.5
Tanzania (1973-92) -1454 -3.6 -3375 -7.7 4584 100.1
Thailand (1973-92) 4850 30.2 -6510 -32.5 1660 II. 1
Togo (1974-92) -746 -23.3 -311 -17.7 1057 223.0
Trinidad & Tobago -8 -5.7 -57 -20.7 65 67.0
(1957-92)
Tunisia (1973-92) 1502 20.2 156 31.8 -1658 -21.7
Turkey (1973-92) 1056 2.7 29 0.1 -1085 -6.0
Uganda (1973-92) -1610 -15.8 -808 -12.8 2482 70.0
United Arab Emirates 26 12.2 1 50.0 -27 -0.3
(1973-92)
Uruguay (1973-92) -232 -1.5 56 9.1 176 9.7
Vanuatu (1973-92) 49 40.8 898 5612.5 -947 -87.4
Venezuela (1973-92) 1509 7.5 -5505 -15.7 3996 12.1
Viet Nam (1973-92) 628 9.8 -4000 -29.3 3172 25.0
Yemen (1973-92) 39 0.2 -1270 -38.8 1231 3.8
Zaire* (1973-92) 500 2.2 -6110 -3.4 5586 22.9
Zambia (1973-92) -4707 -11.8 -1790 -5.9 6497 167.9
Zimbabwe* 378 5.2 -930 A1 570 5.0
(1973-92)
Notes: The same 110 developing countries that were included in Table 1.4.
Agricultural land includes arable land and permanent crops plus permanent pasture.
* Means that in these countries the total area had changed between 1973 and 1992: Burkina Faso
decreased by 20,000 hectares, Zaire decreased by 24,000 hectares, Zimbabwe increased by 18,000
hectares and Myanmar increased by 3000 hectares.
Source: FAO Production Yearbooks, 1958-1961, 1969-70, 1989-90 and 1993.
Table 2.6 Diverse Trends o f Agricultural Expansion a n d Deforestation in

110 Developing Countries, 1950-1992
Trend Country Years
Increase in agricultural land. Burkina Faso 1973-92
Decrease in forest. Decrease in Burundi 1967-92
other land. Nigeria 1961 -92
Somalia 1960-92
Sudan 1973-92
Costa Rica 1973-92
Cuba 1973-92
Dominican Republic 1973-92
El Salvador 1973-92
Guatemala 1950-92
Nicaragua 1963-92
Paraguay 1954-92
Surinam6 1966-92
Iraq 1973-92
Increase in agricultural land. Cameroon 1973-92

Decrease in forest. Increase Central African Republic6 1973-92
in other land. Equatorial Guinea 1963-92
Gabon3b 1974-92
Kenya3 1974-92
Liberia1 1977-92
Mali3 1974-92
Mauritania3 1974-92
Mozambique3 1974-92
Namibia3 1974-92
Zaire 1973-92
Zimbabwe 1973-92
Brazil 1973-92
Colombia 1973-92
Chile 1965-92
Ecuador 1968-92
French Guyana 1973-92
Guyana 1973-92
Haiti 1950-92
Honduras 1955-92
Jamaica3 1973-92
Mexico3 1973-92
Panama 1977-92
Peru 1966-92
T he Exten t of T r o p ic a l D e f o r e s t a t io n and A g r ic u l t u r a l E x p a n s io n 27
Table 2.6 Continued

Venezuela 1973-92
Cambodia 1967-92
Indonesia 1973-92
Malaysia 1973-92
Philippines 1967-92
Thailand 1973-92
Viet Nam 1973-92
Yemena 1973-92
Papua New Guinea 1973-92
Increase in agricultural land. Angola 1953-92

Increase in forest. Decrease Libya 1959-92
in other land. Malawi3 1959-92
Morocco 1966-92
Tunisia 1973-92
Bhutan 1973-92
China 1973-92
India3 1973-92
Iran 1960-92
Israel 1973-92
Jordan 1973-92
Myanmar36 1973-92
Nepal 1973-92
Pakistan 1973-92
Saudi Arabia 1973-92
Syria 1968-92
Turkeyb 1973-92
United Arab Emirates 1973-92
Vanuatu 1973-92
Decrease in agricultural land. Cote d'Ivoire3 1968-92

Decrease in forest. Increase Chad 1968-92
in other land. Gambia 1967-92
Ghana 1974-92
Guinea 1974-92
Niger 1974-92
Swaziland 1967-92
Tanzania 1973-92
Togo 1974-92
Uganda 1973-92
Zambia 1973-92
2g A g r i c u l t u r a l Ex p a n s io n a n d T r o p i c a l D e f o r e s t a t io n
Table 2.6 Continued

Argentina 1973-92
Bolivia 1973-92
Trinidad & Tobago 1957-92
Bangladesha 1973-92
Brunei Darsm 1973-92
Cyprus 1957-92
Korean Republic 1973-92
Laos 1973-92
Lebanon 1968-92
Mongolia 1973-92
Decrease in agricultural land. Algeria 1957-92

Increase in forest. Increase Botswana 1973-92
in other land. Senegal 1973-92
Sierra Leone 1964-92
South Africa 1960-92
Puerto Rico 1968-92
Uruguay2 1973-92
Increase/Decrease in agricultural Egypt 1973-92

land. No variation in forest. Guinea-Bissau 1974-92
Increase/decrease in other land. Bahamas 1973-92
Belize 1973-92
Afghanistan8 1973-92
Korea (DPR) 1973-92
Kuwait 1973-92
Fiji 1973-92
New Caledonia 1973-92
Solomon islands 1973-92
Decrease in agricultural land. Benin 1964-92

Increase in forest. Decrease Congo 1963-92
in other land. Ethiopia 1968-92
Madagascar 1954-92
Rwanda 1963-92
Sri Lankaa 1973-92
a A variation of less than 2 per cent in Agricultural land'
b A less than 2 per cent variation in ‘Forest land’
Source: Table 1.5
T h e E x t e n t o f T r o p ic a l D e f o r e s t a t io n a n d A g r i c u l t u r a l Ex p a n sio n 29
• In 10 countries, forest area rem ained stable, accom panied by

increases and decreases in agricultu ral area and other land
uses.
• In six countries agricultural and other land uses both decreased
w h ile forest area expanded.
A g ricu ltu ral expansion appears to have been a significant factor

in explaining deforestation in some countries but not in others.
C learly, detailed analyses at national and sub-national levels are
req u ired in o rd er to understand better the so cial dynam ics o f
a g ricu ltu ral expansion and tro p ical deforestation.
^ T r o p ic a l D e f o r e s t a t io n a n d
A g r ic u l t u r a l E x p a n s io n in t h e C a s e
S t u d y C o u n t r ie s
In four o f the five case study countries (th e exception w as C h in a)

there had been a sig n ifican t decrease reported in forested areas
betw een 1973 and 1992.1 Table 1.1 suggested that in B ra z il, for
est area had decreased b y 17 p e r cent, acco m panied b y an in
crease in crop land and pasture equal to 36 p er cent o f the defor
ested area and in other lands equal to 64 per cent o f the m issing
forests. In G uatem ala, forest area decreased b y 28 p er cent, w ith 67
per cent o f this loss accounted fo r b y an increase in other lands and
33 p er cent b y expansion o f ag ricu ltu ral areas (cro p s and pastures).
T he loss o f forest area in Cam eroon w as 8 per cent, w ith 57 per
cent o f the lost forest area going to ‘oth er la n d ’ and 43 p er cent
to a g ricu ltu ra l uses. Lost fo rest areas in M a la ysia d u rin g these
tw o decades acco unted fo r 16 p er cen t o f the 1973 forest area
w ith alm ost all o f it (92 p er cen t) accounted fo r b y an increase in
‘oth er la n d ’ and 8 p er cent b y a g ricu ltu ral expansion. In C hina,
forest area ap p aren tly expanded b y 15 p er cent w h ile the areas
und er pasture and crops g rew b y 18 p er cent, w ith the increased
areas in both ag ricu ltu re and forests accom panied by an e q u iva
lent d im in u tio n o f ‘oth er la n d ’.
These national level land use estim ates suggest that in the case
study countries losses in forest area w ere for the most part to
‘other land’, w ith a much sm aller portion being cleared for agricul
tural expansion. O n the other hand, as w as seen in Chapter 1, this is
contradicted by the findings o f num erous studies. This chapter ex
am ines the evidence from the case study countries and esp ecially
1 The data in Table 1.1 are from the FAO's Production Yearbooks that com pile their esti
mates on the basis o f reports by governm ents. Hence, they differ som ewhat, and tend to
be less accurate and com parable, than are the regional data reported in Table 2.2 based
on the FAO ’s inventory o f tropical forests. For the purpose o f indicating gross national
level land use trends, these differences are o f m inor significance.
A GRICU LTU RAL EX PA N SIO N ANI> T R O PIC A L D EFORESTATIO N
that from sub-national data and lo cal level studies. T h e case study
in fo rm atio n is an alysed to th e fu rth e r ex tent p o ssib le w ith re fe r
ence to the six clusters o f issues set forth in C hapter l . 2
P ublic P olicy -I n d u c e d D eforestation

in B razil 3
B ra z il in clu d es the largest area o f tro p ic a l fo rest c u rre n tly fo u n d
in a n y in d iv id u a l country. O f a total la n d area o f 846 m illio n h ec
tares, o v e r h a lf (488 m illio n h ectares) w a s estim ated to h ave been
forested in 1992. A b o u t five-sixths o f th is forest area w as in the
co u n try’s A m azon region. N e a rly three-fourths o f these A m azonian
forests w ere classified as m oist tro p ical forests (tro p ica l rainforests).
D eforestation in the A m azonian region d id not becom e sig nificant,
ho w ever, u n til th e m id-20th cen tu ry. T h e B ra z ilia n In s titu te fo r
Space R esearch (IN P E ) estim ates that b etw een 1975 and 1991 som e
30 m illio n hectares o f B ra z il’s A m azonian forests w ere cleared for
o th er land uses. T h is w as e q u ivalen t to an annual deforestation rate
o f a little o ve r 2 m illio n hectares p e r year. A b out one-tenth o f the
co u n try’s A m azonian forest area rep orted in 1950 had been cleared
b y 1991, w ith m ost o f this loss o ccu rrin g after 1975.
W h ile th ere had been little fo rest cle a ra n ce in th e A m azonian
reg io n b efo re 1950, th ere had been a g reat d eal o f e a rlie r d e fo r
2 T he case study sum m aries that fo llo w m ay appear o ve rly d escriptive to readers co n di
tion ed to associate an alyses w ith co rrelatio n m atrices and q uan titative m odels. O ne
should recall that analysis alw ays im plies the description o f relationships am ong a sys
tem ’s com ponent parts at d ifferin g levels o f generality, w h ether these relationship s are
described in sym b o lic o r lite ra ry term s. W e b elie ve that com p arative analyses o f de
forestation processes in w id e ly d iffering and frequently changing socioeconom ic, p o liti
cal and eco log ical contexts can be b etter com m unicated fo r m ost readers through d e
scrip tion s o f the interactions, associations and lin kag es observed than through falsely
p recise statistical o r m athem atical form ulations. T he case studies here attem pt to de
scribe the relationships encountered at different levels am ong deforestation processes,
institutio ns, the p o licies o f d iverse so cial actors, live lih o o d s and the natural en viro n
m ent. If done com petently, this is an alysis in the true sense o f the concept. These
narratives tell us that the roles o f ag ricultural expansion and trade in tropical deforesta
tion cannot be understood, o r feasible rem edies suggested, in sp ecific contexts w ithout
relatin g them to o ther com ponents o f the system s in w h ich these processes are taking
place.
3 The m aterial used in this section is largely based on the case study reports cited below and
sum m arized in English in Angelo-Furland and de Arruda Sam paio, 1995, and Barraclough
and G h im ire, 1995.
T r o p ic a l D e f o r e s t a t i o n a n d A g r i c u l t u r a l E x p a n s io n in t h e C a se S t u d y C o u n t r ie s 7ft
estation in the coastal region south o f the Am azon. In the 16th

cen tu ry the Europeans had found dense sub-tropical forests o f
over 100 m illion hectares extending from B ra z il’s north-east (south
o f its Am azon b a sin ) to w h a t is n o w the fro n tie r w ith U rug uay
and A rgentina. O ve r 90 per cent o f these original A tlantic coastal
forests (th e M ata A tla n tica ) had been cleared b y the mid-20th
century. T h e y had been co n verted to crop land s, pastures, urban
space, roads and o th er in frastru ctu re, to w asteland s and also in
som e places to forest plantations. T h is e a rlie r m assive deforesta
tio n had com m enced w ith the expansion o f sugar-cane p lan ta
tio ns in B ra z il’s north-east that w e re w o rk ed m o stly b y slaves
brou g h t from A fric a from the b e g in n in g o f the 16th cen tu ry.
T he ra p id ex pansion m uch la te r o f o th er ex p ort crop s, such as
coffee and cocoa in the 19th and e a rly 20th cen tu ries, had con
tributed to accelerated clearance o f the rem aining A tlantic coastal
forests.
As in most o f Latin Am erica, the expansion o f com m odity pro
d u ction fo r export had been one o f the p rin cip al processes d riv
ing B ra z il’s eco nom ic and d em og raphic g ro w th since the E u ro
pean conquest. Sugar exports in the l6 th and 17th centuries had
stim ulated m assive deforestation associated w ith forest clearance
for sugar production, as w ell as for feeding and housing the influx
o f European colonists and A frican slaves associated w ith the expan
sion o f this lucrative export crop. Sugar cane expansion slow ed in
the 18th and 19th centuries but agricultural com m odity exports ac
celerated again w ith the expansion o f coffee, cocoa and rubber in
the 19th century. T he rap id expansion o f coffee production, in par
ticu lar after 1870, stim ulated w idesp read deforestation. As slavery’
w as le g a lly ab o lish ed in B ra z il in 1888, w o rk ers had to be in
du ced b y o th er m eans to produce these non-trad itional export
crops. Agro-export expansion after the mid-19th cen tu ry w as ac
com panied by large scale im m igration from Europe, the N ear East
and, to a m uch lesser extent, from Jap an . T his im m igration w as ac
tiv e ly en co u rag ed and often h ig h ly su b sid ized b y the g o ve rn
m ent and b y larg e p riva te ex p o rters. In th is sense, in creasin g
p o p u latio n in m uch o f rural B ra z il w as m ore a resu lt of, than a
cause of, agricultu ral expansion. A lso, fo r the m ost part, production
o f these n ew er export crops, such as sugar early on, w as controlled
by a few large landow ners.
A g r i c u l t u r a l E x p a n s io n and T r o p ic a l D e f o r e s t a t io n
B ra z il’s export-led developm ent strateg y changed to one o f

g reater em phasis on im port substitution and in d u strializatio n
w hen faced w ith the constraints on exports and im ports accom
panying the great depression and the Second W orld War. Im port
substitution and industrialization continued to be a high p rio rity
in subsequent decades although it w as com plem ented by a boom
in soybean exports after the 1950s. The foreign debt crisis o f the
1980s, and several other factors, induced the state to renew efforts
to attract foreign investm ents in a m ore open econom y. Recent
deforestation processes have, o f course, been influenced by such
changes in the state’s dom inant developm ent strategy.
B y 1990 B raz il had becom e an upper-m iddle-incom e country
according to the W orld Ban k ’s classification, w ith a per capita aver
age national incom e sim ilar to the average for all o f Latin Am erica.
T h is w as about the same as fo r M alaysia and three to five tim es
higher than that o f the other three case study countries. M oreover,
it w as b y far the most urbanized, w ith on ly one-fifth o f its w orkforce
engaged in agriculture in the mid-1990s. Its agricultural w orkforce
had actually decreased in absolute num bers after I960, w h ile aver
age p ro d u ctivity per agricultu ral w o rk er had m ore than doubled.
M anufacturing had becom e far m ore im portant than agriculture in
its contribution to GD P, w h ile its export dependence on prim ary
com m odities had decreased from 90 per cent in I960 to about 50
per cent in 1990. In spite o f these im pressive econom ic changes,
the num ber and proportion o f its people living in poverty had in
creased during the 1980s and the w orst poverty w as still to be
found am ong its rural population.
Beginning in the 1940s, and esp ecially after the m ilitary coup
o f 1964, the Brazilian state em barked on a m assive cam paign to
‘occu p y’ the ‘em pty’ Am azon region that in clu d ed o ver h a lf o f
the country. H uge state and p riva te investm ents w ere u nd er
taken. These in clu d ed all-w eather roads from B rasilia to Belem
in Para, from Cuiaba in M ato Grosso to Porto Velho in Rondonia,
from Porto Velho to Manaus, from Manaus w est through the Am a
zon forests tow ards the Andes, and m any others. There w ere also
gigantic investm ents m ade in h yd ro electric projects, m ining, in
dustries, eucalyptus plantations, cattle-ranching and agro-export
initiatives. Private investors received lucrative tax exem ptions and
other state subsidies. Colonists and w orkers w ere encouraged to
T r o p ic a i. D e f o r e s t a t io n and A g r i c u l t u r a l E x p a n s io n in t h e C a s e S t u d y C o u n t r ie s 2<j
leave the poverty-stricken north-east and areas in the south in or

der to fin d new live lih o o d s in the Am azon.
Land tenure rights w e re ch ao tic, w ith countless co n flicts be
tw een land speculators, big investors and poor settlers as w e ll as
w ith long-tim e resid en ts such as in d ig en o u s p eo p les, riv e rin e
peasants and rubber-tappers. T h e la tifu n d ia system that had
dom inated ru ral B ra z il sin ce the Eu ro p ean conquest, en ab lin g a
few large land ow ners to control most ru ral resources and labour,
w as being extended to A m azonia in w h at som e observers called
the biggest land en closu re m ovem ent in a ll h isto ry (H e ch t and
C ockb urn, 1990).
T his b rie f sketch o f national level trends provides the context in
w h ich the ag ricu ltu ral expansion and deforestation review ed be
lo w in the sub-national le vel case studies occurred. Fo u r o f these
case studies w ere in the ‘legal Am azon’ region, w h ere most recent
deforestation has taken place. O ne o f the studies w as in an area o f
south-eastern Sao Pau lo state that includes part o f the rem aining 3
per cent o f the original M ata A tlantica and w here further deforesta
tio n is still a threat.
Sdo Felix do Araguaia in north-eastern M a to G rosso4

N orth-eastern M ato G ro sso in clu d e s se ve ral m illio n h ectares,
m ost o f w h ich w e re forested u n til recen t decades. T h e m u n ici
p a lity o f Sao F e lix on M ato G ro sso ’s eastern b o rd e r w ith the
state o f T o can tin s covers o ve r h a lf a m illio n h ectares. T h e vast
north-eastern A rag u aia reg io n w as v e ry sp a rsely p o p u lated un
til the mid-20th century. M ost o f it w as o ccu p ied b y ind ig eno us
trib es that in clu d ed several d istin ct lin g u istic groups. B e fo re re
cen t settlem en t o f the area b y B ra z ilia n im m ig ran ts, m an y o f
th ese in d ig e n o u s p e o p le s had h ad little co n ta ct w ith B r a z il’s
Portuguese-sp eaking in h ab itan ts. E c o lo g ic a lly the area is a tran
sitio n zone b etw een m oist tro p ic a l ra in fo re sts and d rie r savan
nah. D ense tro p ica l ‘g a lle ry ’ forests do m inated the ric h e r m oist
so ils o f riv e r va lle ys , w h ile m ore open w ood s, brush and grass
co vered d rie r sites.
D efo restatio n in north-eastern M ato G rosso w as p a rtic u la rly
ra p id d u rin g the 1970s and e a rly 1980s. It a p p a re n tly slo w e d
4 Based on A Um belino de O liveira, 1995

A g r i c u l t u r a l E x p a n s io n and T r o p i c a l D e f o r e s t a t io n
afterw ards, prim arily because there w as little accessible forest left
to clear in the region. Satellite data analysed b y the IN P E in d i
cated that fo r the state o f M ato Grosso as a w hole, the deforested
area had increased from n early a m illio n hectares in 1975 to 2.6
m illio n hectares in 1978, to 6.7 m illio n hectares in 1988 and 8.4
m illio n hectares in 1990. A m ajor part o f this deforestation had
taken place in the north-east region that included Sao Felix de
Araguaia.
Deforestation in the Sao Felix area com m enced on a very sm all
scale in the 1940s w hen the governm ent encouraged the m igra
tion o f settlers from B ra z il’s im p overished north-eastern states
and from M inas G erais to seek im p roved live lih o o d s in M ato
G rosso. T h ey in itia lly cleared sm all plots fo r self-p rovisioning,
causing v e ry lim ited eco lo g ical dam age. As the forested areas
w ere ve ry extensive, this first sm all-scale slash-and-burn peasant
ag ricu ltu re d id not generate m any d ire ct co n flicts w ith in d ig
enous groups, although it did increase th eir exposure to new in
fectious diseases.
In the 1960s the governm ent offered attractive tax incentives
and other subsidies for large-scale investors in the Amazon region.
This induced land speculators, big ranchers and agro-industrialists
to seek control o f the best lands in north-eastern Mato Grosso.
Specialists in the fabrication o f land titles (grileiros) abounded. As
the areas occupied by indigenous peoples w ere considered state
lands, these lands w ere ra p id ly claim ed by outsiders, often in
huge estates o f tens o f thousands o f hectares. T his occurred in
spite o f constitutional provisions p roh ib itin g the sale o f state
lands in lots o f m ore than 10,000 hectares by the 1946 constitu
tion, 3000 hectares in the 1967 constitution and 2500 hectares in
that o f 1988. These lim its w ere easily circum vented by in d ivid u
als o r corporations obtaining titles to adjacent properties under
fraudulent names.
T h is occupation o f the region by land speculators w as sup
plem ented by a m assive state-sponsored colon ization program
me through the natio nal colon ization and land reform institu te
(IN C R A ) in the 1970s. T he lan d w as first cleared o f its in d ig
enous in h ab itan ts and o f peasant sq uatters w h o had been e n
couraged to settle e arlier. It w as then sold to p riva te d e velo p
ers w h o u n d erto o k to p rep are it fo r a g ricu ltu ra l settlem ent
T r o p ic a l D e f o r e s t a t io n and A g r ic u l t u r a l E x p a n s io n in t h e C a s e S t u d y C o u n t r ie s
and su b d ivid e it into ‘fa m ily’ farm s fo r sale to settlers. These

projects w ere often corrupt in execution as w ell as in the land ac
quisition. They seldom made available the technical or other sup
port to the colonists that they had been paid to provide.
State lands for settlem ent projects w ere sold to corporate, in
d ivid ual and cooperative ‘developers’ at very lo w prices (u su ally
for the eq u ivalen t o f $3-$7 per hectare) w ho in turn, after re
m oving tim ber w ith com m ercial valu e, sold lots to settlers. The
new ow ners cleared and burned forests fo r crops and pasture.
The so ils soon lost th e ir fe rtility and m arkets w ere uncertain.
Crops in evitab ly failed and debts could not be paid. The settlers
then sold th eir shares in the land at v e ry lo w prices or sim ply
abandoned it for w ork in new nearby tow ns. The land q u ick ly
becam e concentrated in the hands o f a few large cattle grow ers,
speculators and other big ow ners. It w as usually sown to pasture
but it could not support m ore than about one head o f cattle per
hectare. W ith in four or five years, soil fe rtility had declined rap
idly, often requiring tw o hectares per head o f cattle. Labour re
quirem ents w ere very lo w as o n ly one w o rk er w as required to
care for up to about 2000 cattle. W ith in a few years m uch o f the
once forested land w as v irtu a lly abandoned.
M uch the same happened w ith the m illions o f hectares in the
case study area that w ere never ‘colon ized’ but d ire ctly taken
over by large ranchers or agro-industrial corporations. The steps
of subdivisions and forest clearing by settlers w ere replaced by in
ducing im m igrant w orkers o r share-croppers under inhum anely
harsh conditions to clear the forests and brush to m ake w ay for pas
ture. O nce lavish governm ent subsidies w ere reduced in the mid-
1980s, many o f these areas also became unproductive for their ow n
ers and were often virtually abandoned or sold to speculators. Some
areas o f better soil and w ater resources, however, w ere farmed un
der the management o f large estates for cash crops such as soya and
rice.
Several b lo o d y so cial co n flicts w ere engendered by these
processes. M ost new im m igrants faced hig hly exploitative labour
conditions. A ‘gold ru sh ’ to northern M ato Grosso during the
same period stim ulated additional conflicts. M any thousands of in
digenous inhabitants died from disease o r w ere k illed by thugs
hired by large landow ners. Squatters ousted from the lands they
occu p ied fared little better. M oreover, m ost o f the im m igrant

w orkers and peasant colon ists encountered unbearable cond i
tions that even tu ally drove them to the cities or to new areas in
the Am azon that w ere being deforested.
Bico do Papagaio in Tocantins5

T his case study included six m unicipalities w ith an area o f about
one and a h a lf m illion hectares in the state o f Tocantins, lying north
east o f the Mato Grosso study sum m arized above. As in the Sao Felix
case, the vegetation is transitional betw een m oist tro p ical forest
and savannah. A greater portion o f the soils, how ever, tend on the
w hole to be apt for intensive ag ricu ltu ral uses than in north-east
ern M ato Grosso. A lso, settlem ent by Portuguese-speaking B ra z il
ians began nearly tw o centuries e arlie r here than in M ato Grosso.
Ea rly settlers included run-away slaves w ho arrived from the north
east in the 18th century to practise slash-and-burn agriculture
and the collection o f forest products such as babagu (an oil-yield-
ing palm nut). There w ere m any conflicts w ith indigenous inhab
itants w ho had m ostly disappeared b y the 20th century as a re
sult o f flight, exterm ination and absorption.
The population increased very slo w ly from in-m igration and
natural grow th until the mid-20th century. Peasant farm ers w ere
able to use rotations o f from five to seven years in areas o f slash-and-
burn that w ere sufficient to m aintain fertility. Cash incom es cam e
from the sale o f some rice, beans, m anioc and the like w hen pro
duction exceeded subsistence needs, and from the collection and
sale o f babagu. In some upland areas it came from cotton that was
m ostly produced by share-croppers on traditional large estates. Most
o f the land w as used in sm allholdin gs w ith o u t cle a r boundaries as
th e ir sizes w ere con tin u o u sly adapted to changing fam ily lab our
forces and other needs. The land tenure system w as based on cus
tom but w as apparently effective in defining the rights and respon
sibilities o f ind ivid ual land users as w ell as those o f local com m uni
ties.
The situation began to change in the 1950s w ith increased im
m igration. It changed ve ry ra p id ly in the 1960s and 1970s w hen
the p o licie s o f o ccu p yin g the Am azon d escribed e a rlie r w ere
5 Based on Regina Sader, 1995.

T r o p ic a l D e f o r e s t a t io n a n d a g r ic u l t u r a l E x p a n s io n in t h e C a s e S t u d y C o u n t r ie s
introduced by the m ilitary governm ent. B y 1950, nearly tw o cen

turies after the earliest colonization in the case study region, and
six decades after a few forested areas began to be converted to
cattle ranches and other com m ercial agricultu ral uses, the total
population in the six m unicipalities w as about 16,000 people, o f
whom only 3400 w ere living in towns. Deforestation was restricted
to sm all areas o f slash-and-burn agriculture, a few riverine flood
plains and some pastures in re la tive ly sp arsely forested uplands.
The com pletion o f the Belem -Brasilia h ig h w ay in the 1960s pro
vid ed access to the region fo r po or im m igrants, big corporate
enterprises and land speculators. B y 1970 the population had in
creased to over 130,000, w ith over 50,000 in tow ns and most of
these in the rap id ly grow ing c ity o f Im p eratriz. B y 1991 the re
g io n ’s to ta l p o p u la tio n had re ach ed som e 450,000, o f w hom
o ver 100,000 liv e d in Im p e ra triz and som e 45,000 in o th er
to w n s.
Deforestation has been spectacularly rapid. IN P E satellite infor
m ation shows that in 1973 closed forests covered h alf the region,
forests interspersed w ith clearings another 30 per cent, w h ile the
rem aining 20 per cent of land was in concentrated clearings. Eleven
years later 80 per cent o f the region was in concentrated clearings.
B y 1992 only 6 per cent o f the area rem ained in forests, 4 per cent
in forests interspersed w ith clearings and 90 per cent was in con
centrated clearings. Com paring a soil map and a land capabilities
map for the region w ith the land use maps, one readily sees that
m any o f the areas cleared for pasture and crops w ere ill adapted for
these uses on a sustainable basis.
The processes resulting in this m assive deforestation w ere al
most identical to those described above in the Sao Felix case. Land
speculators rap id ly fabricated titles w ith the cooperation o f some
state officials and agencies. The rights o f earlier occupants w ere
ignored. State subsidies in the form o f tax favours, cheap credits
(often at negative real interest rates), huge subsidized investm ents
and the like made acquiring land titles by w hatever means, and
then deforesting the land, a highly lucrative business. Among sev
eral other large projects, the state subsidized the construction o f
22 saw-mills, of w hich only h alf w ere actually constructed.
M any bloody conflicts ensued betw een sm all farm ers and the
agents o f speculators and large foreign and national corporate
investors. The m ilitary governm ent em barked on a program m e o f

land privatizatio n that reached its height in the 1970s. In 1970,
farm units o f less than 100 hectares each w ere reported to have
accounted for 81 per cent o f the region’s cultivated area (exclud
ing pastures), w h ile they constituted 74 per cent o f the num ber
o f all farms. Tw enty years later in 1990, units o f less than 100 hec
tares constituted 88 per cent o f all farms but included only 17 per
cent o f the cu ltivated area. Peasant farm ing system s had been
larg ely rep laced by in d ustrial large-scale m onocropping and by
ex tensive cattle ranches. T h is is an alm ost in e vita b le outcom e
w here m arkets are little influenced b y the rural poor, but instead
are largely controlled by big producers and their allies.
Pillage o f the R iktb a ktsa in north-eastern M ato Grosso6

U n til the mid-20th century, the Riktbaktsa people occupied a ter
rito ry o f som e 5 m illio n hectares in north-western M ato Grosso.
M ost o f this area w as tropical rainforest. Dense rainforest dom i
nated non-inundated areas in the north, open tro pical forests in
the central zone and deciduous forests in the south. Soils have
little p o tential fo r agricultu re in the south but about h a lf have
lim ited possibilities for crops or pasture in the centre and north
o f the region. V ery little o f the region’s soils have a potential to
support ‘m odern’ agriculture or ranching. T h ey are w e ll adapted,
how ever, fo r the Riktbaktsa people’s hunting, gathering and itin
erant farm ing, essential for th eir social reproduction.
The Riktbaktsas num bered o n ly about 1200 in the 1950s, living
in some three dozen sm all settlem ents. T h eir num bers had already
been reduced b y diseases com m unicated b y contact w ith rubber
tappers, prospectors and m issionaries and possibly b y b rie f con
tact e a rly in the cen tu ry w ith w o rk ers constructing a telegraph
lin e from Cuiaba (cap ital o f M ato G rosso) to the frontier state o f
Acre in the north-west o f Brazil. The first conflicts reported be
tw een the indigenous peoples and settlers occurred in the 1950s,
w ith the advent o f m ore intensive rubber tapping and a few p ri
vate colonization projects.
In 1961 the governm ent created the Ju ru en a Forest Reservation
that included most o f the Riktbaktsa’s territory and prom ised the
6 Based on RSV Arruda, 1995.

T r o p ic a l D e f o r e s t a t io n and A g r ic u l t u r a l E x p a n s io n in t h e C a s e S t u d y C o u n t r ie s ^j
Riktbaktsa use o f the entire area. This forest reserve never be
cam e op erational. A fter the 1964 m ilitary coup the governm ent
created a reserve for the R iktbaktsa, confining them to o n ly 10
per cent o f their territory. In practice this opened up the rem ain
der to land speculation, tim ber exploitation, settlem ent and m in
ing activities w ithout restrictions, w h ile protection o f the sm aller
indigenous reserve itself w as problem atic.
B y 1969 disease, social disruption and vio len ce had reduced
the Riktbaktsa’s num bers to less than 300. Confined to their sm all
reservation, m issionaries (M issao A nchieta - M IA ) brought them
im proved health services that helped to increase their numbers to
about 700 by the late 1980s. The m issionaries, how ever, contrib
uted to the disruption o f traditional Riktbaktsa society, rendering
them dependent on m issionary handouts and on cash incom e
from w ages and the sale o f handicrafts.
M ost o f the R iktb aktsa te rrito ry w as ap p ro p riated for com
m ercial use during the 1980s. A p rin cip al instrum ent in this p il
lage o f their traditional lands w as the ‘Polonoroeste’ program m e.
T his US$1.5 b illio n program m e w as 30 per cent financed b y the
W orld Ban k . The hig hw ay through R iktbaktsa te rrito ry connect
ing C uiaba w ith P o rto Velho w as im p roved and paved, m aking
the region accessible to land speculators and lum ber com panies.
W ith in tw o years o f the paving o f the road, lum ber enterprises
had devastated 2 m illio n hectares. Land speculators q u ickly sold
titles to lands in In d ian territory. The Brazilian governm ent’s N a
tio nal In d ian Foundation (F U N A I) im posed a developm ent m odel
that prom oted settled agricultu re and extensive cattle ranching,
com plem ented by large-scale com m ercial rice and soybean pro
duction, m ining and lum bering. T h is resulted in w idespread for
est clearance and the concentration o f land ow nership in a few
large landow ners.
The means used to expel the Ind ians from their form er lands
w ere sim ilar to those described in the e arlier tw o case studies.
Roads w ere b u ilt to open up the territory for com m ercial exploi
tation. There w ere no prior governm ent m easures, institutions or
agencies to control w ho occupied the land or to protect the rights
o f the o rig in al occupants. Squatters w ere encouraged to clear
subsistence plots and, b y im p lication, to displace the trad itional
indigenous inhabitants. Tim ber enterprises began to ex p loit the
forest. Land speculators (grileiros ) vio le n tly ex pelled the squat

ters and the rem nants o f the indigenous occupants. So cial con
flicts follow ed , ensuring that governm ent agencies had to inter
vene to ‘restore law and order’. Indigenous peoples w ere confined
to sm all reservations w h ile squatters and other trad itional resi
dents w ere forced to m igrate to other areas. A ccording to the
case study report, the governm ent then recognized fraudulent
land titles held by very large enterprises and in d ivid u al ow ners
and protected their interests by using its police and judicial pow
ers (Arruda, 1995). Developm ent agencies granted subsidized cred
its to production and colonization projects o f these big enter
prises that had been approved by the state’s bureaucracy.
Satellite im ages in 1992 show ed nearly one-fourth o f 634,000
hectares im m ediately adjacent to the reduced Riktbaktsa reserves
had been converted to pasture (85 per cent) and large-scale com
m ercial crops such as rice and soybeans (15 per cent). Most o f it
had been cleared since 1985. This does not reveal the extensive
deforestation due to lum bering w here the land had not yet been
cleared for other uses nor does it show the prevalence o f sm aller
clearing s interspersed in rem aining forest areas. In contrast to
the surrounding area, there had been alm ost no forest clearance
w ith in the rem aining h a lf a m illio n hectares o f the Riktbaktsa re
serve area except for a few places w here land grabbers or m iners
had ille g a lly pursued th eir activities. H o w long protection o f the
reduced reserve areas w ill endure, how ever, rem ains an open
question.
The M irassolzinho settlem ent and deforestation in south-w estern

M ato Grosso7
M irassolzinho is a squatter settlem ent in Ja ru ru m unicipality. T his
is a sm all m u n icip ality by M ato G rosso standards, covering o n ly
som e 200,000 hectares. It had been h e a v ily forested u n til the
1960s but is n o w m ostly in big and m edium -sized p ro p erties
la rg e ly cleared o f forests to m ake w ay fo r pastures and som e
large-scale com m ercial m onocultures. T his region lies w ith in the
‘legal Am azon’ but just south o f the Am azon basin. U n lik e the
Riktbaktsa case sum m arized earlier that lies about 700 kilom etres
7 Based on BAC Castro Oliveira, 1995.

to the north w ith in the A m azonian drainage system , Ja ru ru is in

the d rainage system o f the Parag u ay riv e r n ear the d ivid e be
tw een the tw'o riv e r basins.
As south-eastern M ato G rosso is on the fro n tier w ith B o liv ia , it
w as consid ered a strateg ic region first b y the Portu g u ese and
later by the B raz ilian state. H ence, it w as penetrated by occasional
sm all m ilitary expeditions and garrisons since the 17th century as
w e ll as by prospectors seeking g old and precious stones. In the
1920s th ere w as also som e m ovem ent into south-w estern M ato
G rosso by cattle ranchers from the south-east, but these w ere o f
m inor consequence fo r the forests as th ey m ainly occupied savan
nah areas south o f Ja ru ru . Forest clearance in the Ja ru ru area did
not com m ence until the 1950s and did not becom e im portant u ntil
the 1970s and 1980s, w h en it w as stim ulated b y the m ilitary govern
m ent’s program m e to occupy the Am azon region. As w ith the Sao
Fe lix do Araguaia area to the north-east, deforestation w as rapid. In
the 1970s it w as prom oted by subsidies for ‘developm ent projects’.
It accelerated in the 1980s w ith the com p letion o f the C uiaba-
Po rto Velho h ig h w ay and w as also stim ulated b y se veral o th er
com po nents o f the P o lo n o ro e ste program m e. A g o ld rush in
n e arb y areas b ro u g h t m ore im m igrants in the e a rly 1980s. T he
su rvivin g in d ig en o u s p o p u latio n had been co n fin ed to reserva
tions after m any conflicts in the 1960s.
P o o r im m ig ran ts from B r a z il’s east, e s p e c ia lly from M inas
G erais, w ere attracted to Ja ru ru in the 1960s b y land speculators,
ranchers and tim b er en terp rises w h o claim ed the land and w h o
a llo w e d the im m igrants to cu ltiva te p arcels fo r self-p rovisioning
w h ile cutting the virg in forest for tim ber at less than subsistence
w ages, su b seq uently to m ake w a y fo r pastures and com m ercial
crops. O nce valu ab le tim ber w as rem oved and the rem aining for
ests cleared, m ost o f these m igrants had to m ove on to repeat the
process in other still forested regions.
About 200 peasants in the study area, how ever, had continued
to squat on a 2000 hectare holding o f an absentee land speculator
livin g in Sao Pau lo instead o f m oving on. In the e arly 1980s this
o w n er’s h eirs h ired pistoleros (arm ed thugs) to rem ove the squat
ters. T he peasant occupants resisted w ith m achetes and shotguns,
w aging a virtu al guerrilla w ar for several years w ith casualties on both
sides. W ith the return o f a civilian governm ent nationally, the squat
ters w ere prom ised that the land they occupied w ould be expro
priated by IN C R A and redistributed to its occupants. In 1993 they
still lacked legal titles and feared that speculators w ould again at
tem pt to oust them in order to capitalize on rising land prices.
M eanw hile, they had established a via b le com m unity and had
adopted peasant farm ing system s that w ere far m ore sustainable
e co lo g ically and so cia lly than the large ranches and com m ercial
farm s that dom inated most o f the surrounding area.
Actually, land concentration in Jaru ru was not as extrem e as in
m ost o f M ato Grosso or in m uch o f the rest o f Braz il. The 1985
ag ricu ltu ral census show ed 32 properties o f o ver 1000 hectares
each and one o f these w as 27,000 hectares. T h is 2.5 per cent o f
the farm units included 60 per cent o f the land. At the same tim e
n early 83 per cent o f the farm s w ere less than 100 hectares each
and included 16 per cent o f the land in farms. Most larger ow ners
claim ed ‘legal’ titles w hile most sm allholders w ere squatters or ten
ants and hence not elig ib le to receive o fficial subsidized credit.
Land titles had com m only been in itia lly acquired by grileiros, as
in the other case study areas.
T he case study looked p a rticu la rly at the squatter com m uni
ty’s social organization and its farm ing practices. It highlights the
environm entally frien d ly nature o f this peasant farm ing system in
contrast to that o f large com m ercial cattle ranches and big planta
tions o f com m ercial crops such as soybeans and sugarcane. The
peasant farm ers in itia lly grew corn, rice, beans, m anioc and the
lik e for self-provisioning. T h e ir fields and pastures w ere estab
lished on better soils near streams o r other sources o f w ater inter
spersed w ith w oodlands on poorer sites. Farm units w ere com
m only five to ten hectares in size depending largely on the fam ily
lab our force. In the 1980s they m arketed increasing shares o f
th eir production in response both to grow ing dem and in the re
gion and to increasing farm productivity. Large ranches, in con
trast, faced declining soil fe rtility once the soil nutrients left from
the forest w ere depleted. A typical 3000 hectare ranch could m ain
tain o n ly from 2000 to 2500 cattle, and it provided year-round
em ploym ent to about tw o full-tim e w orkers, although part-time
w orkers w ere em ployed seasonally to clear brush from pastures.
In the late 1980s some governm ent agencies and N G O s w ere
able to obtain access to state and W orld Bank funds that becam e
T r o p ic a l D e f o r e s t a t io n a n d A g r i c u l t u r a l E x p a n sio n in t h e Case S t u d y C o u n tr ie s 45
available in M ato Grosso to assist sm all farm ers. This was in part a
p olitical response to the w id ely publicized ecological and social dis
asters associated w ith the original Polonoroeste project. The techni
cal assistance and credits provided to sm all producers, how ever,
w ere freq u en tly w asted, larg ely because o f the lack o f real par
ticipation by the intended beneficiaries. In Jaru ru , a sm all-farm er
cooperative was in practice controlled by state and N G O em ploy
ees. Large NGO-channelled investm ents designed to produce char
coal from babagu nuts and sugar from cane for local use failed.
T h ey w ere soon sw allow ed b y the jungle. A nother cooperative
w as forced to assume large debts for vehicles that w ere later ‘sto
le n ’. A huge m illion-dollar state investm ent in an autom ated fac
to ry to convert m anioc and m aize into flo u r packaged for com
m ercial sale w as abandoned, leaving sm all producers w ith m ore
unpayable debts.
IN C RA ’s project to provide titles to the squatters was resisted by
its intended beneficiaries, w ho had never been consulted. Instead
o f respecting the inform al land divisions already made on the basis
o f ecological conditions and fam ily labour supplies, IN C R A pro
posed to give each fam ily rectangular 25-hectare lots laid out on a
map in its urban office w ith no regard for variable topography, ecol
ogy or fam ily needs.
The evolution o f deforestation in the Ribeira de Iguape river

basin8
The Ribeira de Iguape rive r basin is located in the south-eastern
corner o f the state o f Sao Paulo, w ith a sm all portion extending
south-westwards into the state o f Parana. The Sao Paulo part o f the
basin covers 1.7 m illion hectares. This is about 7 per cent o f the
total area o f the state o f Sao Paulo, but in 1990 it included some
60 per cent o f the entire state’s rem aining forest area. In 1990, the
state as a w hole was only 7 per cent forested, but the Ribeira ba
sin was still 54 per cent under forest cover. In the 16th century,
how ever, 82 p er cent o f the state w as estim ated to have been
forested, w h ile forests had covered 95 per cent o f the Ribeira ba
sin. The R ib eira basin forests now include the largest rem aining
rem nants o f B ra z il’s once extensive Atlantic coastal forests.
8 Based on S Angelo-Furland and FA de Armda Sampaio, 1995.

The Ribeira river drops steeply from the Sao Paulo plateau (at
an elevation o f about 1000 m etres) to sea level near Iguape, only
som e 100 kilom etres to the east. R ain fall is abundant, averaging
nearly 2 m etres annually, and the clim ate is sub-tropical. The re
gion’s geologic history together w ith heavy rainfall and the sharp
drop in elevatio n produced an extrem ely rugged topography.
Most soils are p o o rly suited for m odern agricultu re except in
flood p lains and sm all scattered valleys. These ecolog ical con
straints largely explain the Ribeira basin’s slow deforestation com
pared to that in the rest o f the state. O n ly some 3 per cent o f the
R ib eira basin area had been deforested b y 1962. In Sao Pau lo
state, excluding the Rib eira basin, on the other hand, alm ost 17
m illio n hectares o f forest (o v e r 90 per cent o f its forested area)
had been cleared betw een 1854 and 1962.
D eforestation in the area accelerated sh arp ly after the 1950s.
O ver 40 per cent o f the R ib eira b asin ’s forest cover w as e lim i
nated betw een 1952 and 1985, w h ile m uch o f the rem ainder w as
b a d ly degraded. So ils and top ography in the rest o f the state
w ere m ostly w ell suited to com m ercial farm ing, m aking it profit
able to cle ar the forests to produce cash crops such as coffee,
sugarcane, cattle and other com m ercial activities as soon as do
m estic and export m arkets becam e available after the mid-19th cen
tury. R apid deforestation after 1950 in the Rib eira basin requires
other explanations than agricultural expansion in spite o f its prox
im ity to rap idly industrializing m etropolitan Sao Paulo.
The R ib eira basin’s indigenous population (th e G u aina) had
caused little deforestation. Sixteenth- and 17th-century Portuguese
colonists w ere draw n to the area p rin cip a lly in search o f gold.
G o ld production becam e im portant d u ring the 17th and 18th
centuries. T h is resulted in a sig n ifican t p o p u latio n increase re
q u irin g food. The 19th-century im p erial governm ent vig o ro u sly
prom oted agriculture in the region and it becam e an exporter o f
rice and m anioc to other parts o f Brazil. A canal built in the mid-
19th century to m ake Iguape a deep-water port soon silted, slow
ing cash crop expansion. In any event, agricultural activities had
caused very lim ited deforestation in the region. The arrival of Jap a
nese colonists in the early 20th century stim ulated rice production
and also introd u ced the cu ltiva tio n o f tea and several other
com m ercial crops such as tom atoes. Ban an a production in the
T r o p ic a i . D e f o r e s t a t io n and A g r ic u l t u r a l E x p a n s io n in t h f . C a s e S t u d y C o u n t r ie s 47
valley for the Sao Paulo urban m arket increased rap id ly after the
1920s. Also, there had been some com m ercial logging to meet de
mands from urban Sao Paulo. Nonetheless, by the early 1950s only
41,000 hectares o f the region’s original forest o f over 1.5 m illion
hectares in 1500 had been converted to other uses (2.8 per cent
o f the original forest cover).
Sm all peasant farm ing com m unities producing m ostly for their
ow n self-provisioning had been established in scattered locations
throughout the rive r basin during the colon ial and im perial p eri
ods. For exam ple, slaves abandoned by their ow ners in the 17th
century w hen gold was exhausted in the m iddle valley established
the com m unity o f Ivaporunduva. Its church w as constructed in
1630 and 78 fam ilies, all descendants o f the original slaves, con
tinue to farm the area. They developed sustainable farm ing systems
that require five- to ten-year fallow s w ith second grow th forest veg
etation for m any o f their crops. These peasants have no legal ti
tles to th e ir lands, how ever, even though th e ir foreb ears had
been farm ing it for three centuries. M oreover, new environm en
tal legislation has made them crim inals if they continue w ith their
traditional farm ing and extractive practices. Also, a hydroelectric
project threatens to flood their lands and homes, but as squatters
they m ay not receive com pensation.
M any sim ilar peasant com m unities w ere established later in
various localities throughout the region, especially after the 1920s.
These peasant farm ing system s, how ever, have been responsible
for only a m inute fraction o f the deforestation that occurred after
1950.
In the 1950s urban Sao P a u lo had alread y becom e B ra z il’s
w ealth iest and largest city. A new hig hw ay through the R ib eira
basin lin kin g Sao Paulo w ith Parana contributed to a speculative
rise in land values. M any o f the reg io n ’s p revio u sly inaccessible
forests becam e attractive fo r com m ercial logging. Also, land be
cam e p o tentially valuable for recreational uses as w ell as fo r the
possible developm ent o f hyd roelectric projects and m ore inten
sive uses o f other natural resources. U nder the m ilitary dictator
ship after 1964, the region w as b rie fly a site o f g u errilla activity.
Seco n d ary roads w ere constructed by the arm y, m aking land
sp eculation even m ore attractive.
4g A g r ic u l t u r a l E x p a n s io n and T r o p i c a l D e f o r e s t a t io n
The m ilita ry governm ent im posed no restrictio n s on sp ecu

lato rs (grileiros ) and absentee o w ners acq u irin g titles to large
holdings. Low o r non-existent land taxes, lib e ra l tax credits for
‘land im provem ent’, cheap credits for large landow ners and land
values consistently increasing m ore ra p id ly than in flatio n , m ade
land sp eculation profitab le for those w ho could afford the in itia l
investm ent. As soon as valu a b le tim b er w as sold, m ost large
lan d o w n ers co n verted large p o rtio n s o f th e ir forest areas to
pasture. T h is w as not because cattle-grow ing in the area w as
e co n o m ica lly valu a b le but rath er because forest clearan ce w as
le g a lly con sid ered to constitute ‘land im p rovem ent’. In a situa
tio n w h ere o verla p p in g and co n flictin g lan d title s w ere com
m on, o w n ers had big in ce n tive s to re p la ce forests w ith pas
tures in o rd e r to le g a liz e th e ir p ro p e rty and to o b tain state
su b sid ies eve n if the p astures w ere o f d u b io u s and d e clin in g
p ro d u c tivity .
As m entioned above, most peasant farm ers in the region have
no v a lid legal titles to the lands they occupy even though they
and their ancestors m ay have held it fo r generations. M any m ore
recent settlers w ere given provisional titles upon m aking an in i
tia l paym ent, but w hen th eir lands w ere claim ed by speculators
the authorities frequently found the provisional titles illeg al even
though the sm all landholders had receipts for their purchase and
had been paying annual taxes for m any years. Thousands o f peas
ants have lost th eir lands, w ithout com pensation, to speculators
and to governm ent developm ent o r conservation projects. T hey
have had to m ove on to other forest areas, to city slum s or to
rem ain as illegal and precarious squatters.
In 1990, h alf o f the land holdings w ere o f less than 10 hectares
each, but included only 3.7 per cent o f the land. Large ow ners of
over 100 hectares controlled 70 per cent o f the land but accounted
for o n ly 8 per cent o f the num ber o f farm units reported. Most
sm all units w ere operated by squatters or tenants.
B y the end o f the 1980s, nearly 60 per cent o f the region’s lands
had been legally incorporated into parks or other strictly protected
areas. This has left thousands o f peasant fam ilies as illegal squatters
on w hat m any believed to be th eir ow n lands. C onflicts have been
w id esp read , as have been the loss o f trad itio n al live lih o o d s by
rural people. M eanw hile, land speculation for recreational devel-
T r o p ic a l D e f o r e s t a t io n a n d A g r i c u l t u r a l E x p a n sio n in t h e C ase S t u d y C o u n tr ie s 49
opm ent has becom e a m ajor contributor to deforestation in sev

eral areas.
The rural population in the region during the period o f rapid
deforestation actually decreased from 169,000 in 1970 to 154,000
in 1980. In 1970, nearly 70 per cent o f the region’s total popula
tion was rural but in 1980 only 40 per cent w ere rural residents. B y
1991 the rural population had increased slightly to a little over its
1970 le vel, but the urban population accounted for n early two-
thirds o f the region’s 485,000 inhabitants. The R ib eira basin was
still by far the least densely populated region in the state o f Sao
Paulo.
Deforestation slow ed m arkedly after 1985, in part due to eco
nom ic recession and in part to conservation in itia tive s b y N G O s
and the state as w e ll as the extensive deforestation that had a l
read y tak en p lace in accessib le areas p o ten tially valuable for
other land uses. Recent conservation efforts, how ever, have been
uncoordinated. Their negative im plications for the rural poor were
not adequately taken into account, generating a host o f new social
and ecological issues.
Conclusion9
T he five lo cal le vel case studies just review ed support the h y
pothesis that governm ent p o licies have been the p rin cip al cause
o f recent tro p ical deforestation in B raz il. R ural population pres
sures and careless peasant farm ing practices have at best played
only a very m inor role. Land tenure and related institutions, how
ever, have been m ajor factors both in generating the po licies that
encouraged undesirable deforestation and in determ ining their
negative social and ecological im pacts.
State policies aim ed at integrating ‘unoccupied’ regions into the
national econom y have been p articularly decisive in accelerating
deforestation. Alternative approaches could have been taken w ith
much low er social, ecological and econom ic costs and w ith much
greater potential benefits. These alternatives, however, w ould have
required the m obilization and support o f p o p u larly based social
forces. Land settlem ent policies contributed to undesirable tro pi
cal deforestation as th ey w ere designed to be a substitute for,
9 Based on Plinio Arruda Sampaio and Francisco Arruda Sampaio, in Angelo-Furland and
de Arruda Sampaio, 1995.
50 A g r i c u l t u r a l E x p a n s io n a n d T r o p ic a l D e f o r e s t a t io n
instead o f a com plem ent to, badly needed agrarian reform. M oreo
ver, both econom ic integration and settlem ent policies w ere accom
panied b y w idespread corruption o f all kinds.
P o licie s ostensib ly designed to protect the environm ent as
w ell as those to protect indigenous populations and other groups
o f the ru ral po or have been in e ffe ctive in ap p roaching th e ir
stated ob jectives. O n the contrary, they have freq uently co n trib
uted to the negative social and e n viro n m en tal im pacts asso ci
ated w ith u n d esirab le tro p ica l d efo restatio n . T he in e ffic a c y o f
g overn m en t en viro n m en tal and so cial p ro tectio n p o lic ie s m ay
often be a p u rp o sefu l ‘n o n -p o licy’ designed to p roduce irre
ve rsib le situ atio n s on the g round that con trib u te to short-term
p ro fits b y p o w e rfu l state support groups. O n balance, they ac
celerated tro p ical deforestation. Several aspects o f the B raz ilian
and the o th er co u n try cases w ill be co n sid ered again in co n
clu d in g chapters.
D e f o r e s t a t io n a n d A g r ic u l t u r a l e x p a n s io n
in G u a t e m a l a 10
G uatem ala is a sm all cen tral A m erican co u n try w ith an ex cep

tio n a lly rich b io d iversity. M oun tain ranges extend ing from the
A tla n tic coast in the east to the P a c ific in the w est d ivid e the
country into a re la tive ly d ry southern zone and a hum id region
in the north, w h ile sh arp d ifferen ces in altitu d e ranging from
sea-level to o ver 4000 m etres have resu lted in num erous d is
tin ct ecosystem s in each region. The cou n try w as alm ost e n tirely
forested w h en the Sp an iard s a rrived in 1500, although there
w as som e tran sitio n al forest-savannah veg etation in the south.
Forests now co ver about 40 p er cent o f the country and they
are d isapp earing rap idly.
A dense indigenous population in w hat is now the Peten in
the north had constituted part o f the M aya civilization that flour
ished in M eso Am erica from the 6th century BC to the 10th cen
tury AD. M ayan city-states w ere abandoned some five or six centu
ries before the arrival o f the Europeans. Deforestation o f much o f
the Peten to m ake w ay for maize and bean production to feed
10 Based largely on I Valenzuela, 1996.

T r o p ic a l D e f o r e s t a t io n a n d A g r i c u l t u r a l E x p a n s io n in t h e C ase S t u d y C o u n t r ie s 5]
M ayan urban centres, as w e ll as to su pply them w ith tim ber and

fu el, is b e lieved b y m any au th o rities to have co n trib u ted to this
p recip ito u s d eclin e. T h e Peten w as again h e a v ily forested in the
16th century.
Present-day Guatem ala consists o f 109,000 square kilom etres, 2
per cent the size o f B raz il. Its p o p u latio n o f 10.3 m illio n in 1994,
h o w ever, w as 6.5 p e r cen t that o f B ra z il’s, m aking G u atem ala
ra th e r d e n se ly p o p u late d b y L a tin A m erican stand ard s. M o reo
ver, its p o p u la tio n co n tin u es to be p red o m in an tly ru ral (ab out
60 p er cent in 1994) in spite o f urb an p o p u latio n g ro w th being
tw ice as rap id as in ru ral areas during recent decades. Total popu
lation w as increasing during the 1980s at an annual rate o f n early
3 p er cent.
G u atem ala’s p o p u la tio n is p red o m in an tly in d ig en o u s, espe
c ia lly in m ost rural areas. In a ll the A m ericas, o n ly B o liv ia has a
sim ila rly hig h p ro p o rtio n o f its p eo p le w h o re ta in th e ir in d ig
enous lang uages and m any o f th e ir tra d itio n a l custom s. Som e
tw o-thirds o f G u a te m a la ’s ru ra l p o p u la tio n sp eak one o f over
tw o dozen n ative dialects as th e ir m other-tongue and a b ig p ro
portion o f them have little know led ge o f Spanish. From e arly co
lo n ial tim es the indigenous peoples w ere considered to be ‘w ards’
o f the conquerors, w ith few autonom ous rights. T h e ir forced la
bour fo r large lan d ow ners and ‘p u b lic w o rk s’ w as le g a lly sanc
tio ned u n til the A revelo reform s o f the late 1940s. T h ey w ere the
p rin c ip a l victim s o f the c iv il w a r that resu lted in o ve r 150,000
deaths during the last three decades. Fo r five centuries G uatem a
la ’s ind ig eno us p eop les have been dom inated b y a m ain ly Sp an
ish-speaking o lig a rch y that co n tro lle d m ost p o litic a l, econom ic
and cu ltu ral institutions includ ing the lands and other natural re
sources it deem ed to be com m ercially valu ab le. T he co u n try’s so
cia l structure has becom e in creasin g ly com plex, e sp e cia lly since
the g row th o f m odern co m m ercial agro-exports in the 20th cen
tury. N on eth eless, the w id e ly p e rce ived d ivid e b etw een ‘w h ite s’
( 1c riollos o f Eu ro p ean d escen t) and ladinos (o f m ixed Eu ro p ean
and ind ig enous descent), on the one hand, and indigenous peo
ples, on the other, is a social reality that has to be taken into ac
count in dealing w ith deforestation issues.
C lo sely related to th is eth n ic cleavag e is the co n tro l o f a g ri
cu ltu ra l lan d b y a sm all la n d o w n in g e lite . Land o w n ersh ip in
52 A g r i c u l t u r a l E x p a n sio n a n d T r o p ic a l D e f o r e s t a t io n
G uatem ala is p ro b a b ly the m ost concen trated o f an y country.

Som e 10,000 large landow ning fam ilies and corporations control
led o ver two-thirds o f a ll agricultu ral land in the late 1970s and
this situation continues nearly unchanged. There are estim ated to
be over 800,000 rural households, most o f w hom are nearly land
less o r landless. O f 600,000 farm units recorded in the 1979 cen
sus, 60 per cent w ere o f less than 1.4 hectares each. In other words,
a little over 1 per cent o f the agricultural population controls two-
thirds o f the land w h ile 70 per cent are landless o r n early land
less. The m ajority o f these rural fam ilies w ith inadequate and in
secure access to sufficient land to enable them to have acceptable
live lih o o d s are indigenous peoples. A great m any o f the rural
poor and destitute, how ever, are descendants o f European im m i
grants and consider them selves to be w hites o r ladinos. C ultural
differences reinforced by a long history o f ethnic discrim ination
often im pede these rural poor from uniting w ith their indigenous
neighbours in attem pting to bring about a m ore equitable agrar
ian structure.
Increasing the production o f agro-export crops con trolled by
a few large land ow ners w as a dom inant ob jective o f state p o li
cies since e a rly c o lo n ia l tim es. T he best accessib le farm lands
w ere reserved in itia lly fo r the production o f export crops such
as indigo, cochineal, cocoa and sugar. C offee production fo r ex
port becam e im portant in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
T h is stim ulated the im m igration o f G erm an coffee producers as
w e ll as coffee p ro d u ctio n b y several n ative G uatem alan large
land hold ers. Banana production fo r export near both the A tlan
tic and Pacific coasts also com m enced on a large scale, p rin cip ally
on huge land concessions granted to the U nited Fru it Com pany,
a U n ited States-based transnational enterp rise. W ith in 50 years
after the so-called ‘lib e ra l’ reform s began in the late 19th cen
tury, o ver a m illio n hectares held by the church and by in d ig
enous groups w ere confiscated by the state and granted to large
coffee producers alone. M uch m ore good ag ricu ltu ral land w as
taken from sm allh o ld ers and a llo cate d to large prod ucers o f
oth er agro-exports. M ost o f these expropriated lands w ere soon
deforested, w h ile the displaced peasants had to m ove to less ac
cessible areas w here they cleared forests to m ake w ay for subsist
ence crops.
T r o p ic a l D e f o r e s t a t io n a n d A g r i c u l t u r a l E x p a n sio n in t h e C ase S t u d y C o u n tr ie s 53
Agro-export expansion financed the ‘m odernization’ o f large-

scale com m ercial agriculture together w ith much o f the infrastruc
ture and econom ic activities servicing it. It also produced a sm all
class o f capitalist entrepreneurs and a grow ing m iddle class. P o
litica l and social institutions, how ever, rem ained rig id ly au th o ri
tarian and quasi-feudal. T he Second W o rld W a r cut o ff G u ate
m ala’s G erm an m arket fo r co ffee exports and le ft the coffee-
d ep en d en t sector o f the o lig a rch y in disarray. A m iddle class-
led urban-based p o pular m ovem ent gained m om entum , leading
to the fa ll o f the U b ico d ictato rsh ip and the re ca ll o f A revalo
from ex ile to head an elected reform ist governm ent in 1944.
Im portant social reform s w ere com m enced in the late 1940s.
These culm inated in an im portant agrarian reform in 1952 during
the dem ocratically elected Arbenz adm inistration. About a m illion
hectares from 1000 expropriated large estates w ere distributed to
some 100,000 landless peasants between 1952 and 1954. The reform
was carried out w ith little violence or corruption and peasant ben
eficiaries received credit and technical assistance. Food production
actually increased. This land reform sparked a violent reaction by
the landow ning oligarch y and by foreign investors such as the
United Fru it Com pany. The Arbenz regim e was overthrow n by a
United States-backed m ilitary coup in 1954. A ll the expropriated
lands w ere taken from peasant beneficiaries and returned to form er
large owners. The counter reform w as follow ed b y four decades of
m ilitary repression and costly c iv il conflict. H opefully, the 1996
peace settlem ent w ill help bring this ugly period to an end.
M eanw hile, deforestation and the m odernization o f export-
oriented com m ercial agriculture accelerated. In the 1950s close to
70 per cent o f G uatem ala w as still covered by forests. T h is im
p lie d that about one-fourth o f the co u n try’s forests had been
cleared for agriculture and other uses since the Spanish conquest,
w ith m ost o f this forest clearance taking place during the early
20th century. B y 1990, how ever, o n ly about 40 p er cent w as
forested. M ore forest had been cleared during the last three dec
ades than during the previous five centuries. M uch o f the rem ain
ing forest has been badly degraded by logging and in some cases
by over-exploitation for fuelw ood.
Agricultural expansion after the 1950s continued to be a prin
cipal factor directly leading to deforestation. Forests w ere cleared
both to m ake w ay fo r agro-export crops and to accom m odate

self-provisioning peasants displaced by large export crop produc
ers and other concom itants o f agricultural m odernization such as
m echanization. T he production o f new non-traditional exports
such as cotton and beef expanded rapidly, in the 1960s and 1970s,
w h ile sugar and coffee production also continued to increase.
Forests in big holdings on the southern Pacific coast w ere rapidly
cleared for the production o f cotton, pasture and sugarcane. Thou
sands o f peasant fam ilies m igrated yearly to the cities and thou
sands m ore w ere pushed to rem aining forested frontiers such as
the Peten. T he U nited States governm ent, the W orld Ban k , the
Interam erican D evelopm ent Ban k and m any other international
sources p rovided the governm ent w ith low-cost loans to ‘m od
ern iz e’ its econom y. Large-scale agro-export producers received
over 80 p er cent o f a ll agricultu ral credit in G uatem ala betw een
1956 and 1980.
The deforestation stim ulated by agro-exports and agricultural
m odernization w as com plem ented by the state’s colonization pro
gramme. This w as initiated prim arily to ease peasant pressures for
agrarian reform after the Arbenz adm inistration’s reform had been
annulled by the m ilitary governm ent. There w ere a few sm all land
settlem ent projects in the south, but the governm ent’s big co lo n i
zation effort w as in the north and esp ecially in the Peten. It re
ceived international financial and technical assistance for a m assive
land settlem ent program m e under the um brella o f the A lliance for
Progress. As w ill be seen later in the discussion o f the tw o local-
level case studies, the deforestation processes associated w ith this
program m e w ere very sim ilar to those analysed earlier in the B ra
zilian Am azon region. Few peasants benefited, but hundred o f
thousands o f hectares o f forest w ere cleared.
The G uatem alan econom y grew by over 5 per cent an n u ally
du rin g the 1960s and 1970s. It slo w ed b ad ly d u rin g the 1980s
w h en term s o f trade d eterio rated and the in tern al w ar took a
h eavy to ll, but it p icked up again in the e arly 1990s. In 1994
G uatem ala w as classified by the W orld Ban k as a lower-m iddle-
incom e co u n try w ith an estim ated averag e p er capita n atio n al
incom e o f US$1200. Its incom e d istrib u tio n , how ever, w as esti
m ated by the B a n k to be the most skew ed in a ll Latin Am erica
w ith the exception o f m uch higher incom e B raz il. Som e 70 per
T r o p ic a l D e fo r e s t a t io n a n d A g r i c u l t u r a l Ex p a n sio n in t h e Case S t u d y C o u n tr ie s 55
cent o f G u atem ala’s ru ral p o p u latio n w as classified as poor in

the e arly 1990s and o ver h a lf o f these poor w ere destitute. In
m any ind ig eno us regions n e arly everyon e w as destitute (w ith
incom es b elo w o n ly one h a lf the p o verty lin e ).
At local levels deforestation processes w ere diverse and their
social dynam ics com plex. A case study o f deforestation in the de
partm ent o f Totonicapan in the w estern highlands w as carried
out in the e arly 1990s for U N R IS D (U ttin g , 1993). Som e 30,000
indigenous fam ilies lived in the region and most w ere cultivating
parcels o f less than one hectare each. T h eir production w as p ri
m arily for self-provisioning and local m arkets. The com m unity’s
custom ary live lih o o d system depended p a rtly on forest prod
ucts for artisanal furniture m aking and their sale throughout the
country. Its forests also provid ed w ood for fu el, lo cal construc
tion needs, fertilizers, w ater supplies and a host o f other uses.
Large areas o f com m unally held pine forests had been kept in
sustainable high-level production to meet the com m unity’s grow
ing p o p u latio n ’s m any needs even though nearly a ll forests had
been cleared in neighbouring regions w ith sim ilar ecological con
straints and population densities.
This traditional land management system in Totonicapan broke
dow n in the 1980s, how ever, w hen outsiders invaded the com
m unity forests to steal valuab le w hite pine bark for sale to pro
vide tannin for leather m anufacture and also to rob m erchantable
tim ber. In spite o f having legal title to the land and the com m uni
ty ’s efforts to protect its forest resources, the indigenous land
ow ners w ere pow erless to stop bark strippers and other thieves
w ho w ere sanctioned by the state’s m ilitary and po lice. In d ian
forest guards w ho attem pted to resist w ere denounced as sub
versive g uerrilla sym pathizers.
For the present research, tw o additional case studies w ere car
ried out. O ne was in the Peten and the other in La Sierra de las
Minas. These are sum m arized below.
Forest destruction and protection in the Peten

In spite o f having been h eavily deforested by the M ayas over one
thousand years earlier, in the mid-20th century four-fifths o f the
Peten w as covered b y m oist tro p ical forests together w ith a few
sm all areas o f p ine forest. M ost o f the Peten is a w e ll w atered
A g r i c u l t u r a l E x p a n s io n and T r o p i c a l D e f o r e s t a t io n
low -lying p lain on ly about 200 m etres above sea-level. Soils tend
to be shallow , lyin g d ire ctly on bedrock. M any o f the reg ion ’s
soils can be m od erately prod uctive for the sustainable produc
tio n o f crops or pastures if ca re fu lly used as com ponents o f
agro-forestry system s, but fo r the m ost part th ey are unsuited
fo r m odern high-external-input ag ricu ltu re. The Peten covers
36,000 square kilom etres o f northern G uatem ala, w h ich is a lit
tle over one-third o f the area o f the entire country. It had o n ly
about 3 per cent o f the co u n try’s population in 1990. Population
grow th in the region has been very rapid since the 1950s w hen
the Peten had o n ly a few thousand inhabitants. The area still in
cludes two-thirds o f the rem aining forest area in a ll G uatem ala.
D efo restatio n in the Peten cu rren tly am ounts to o ve r 50,000
hectares annually.
Selective logging o f high q u ality m ahogany and cedar fo r ex
port com m enced in the 19th century. T his w as lim ited to areas ac
cessible by rivers that made the transport o f logs to seaports eco
no m ically feasib le. R apid deforestation did not com m ence u n til
the 1960s, w h en the construction o f roads finan ced b y interna
tio n al credits opened the region to tim ber exploitation, specula
tors, settlers and cattle ranchers. C attle grazing had p revio u sly
been restricted to accessible sem i-savannah areas.
Land speculation exploded in the Peten as soon as plans for
the construction o f a road connecting Flores in central Peten w ith
Guatem ala C ity becam e know n. Ranchers, tim ber m erchants, de
velopers and speculators o f a ll sorts, both foreign and dom estic,
rushed to secure titles to large parts o f the Peten. T h eir task was
made easier by the m ilitary governm ent, m any o f w hose members
joined in the quest for land titles. M oreover, the adm inistration o f
the Peten w as entrusted to a state-controlled corporate body re
sponsible for the region’s prom otion and developm ent (F Y D E P )
created in 1959. W ith the spread o f guerrilla activities in the Peten
this state corporation w as prom ptly transferred to the departm ent
o f defence, m aking the Guatem alan arm y the sole governm ent o f
the Peten from I960 u n til 1987, w hen other state agencies w ere
perm itted to operate there m ore norm ally.
D eforestation in the Peten proceeded in a pattern sim ilar to
that already described in M ato Grosso. O nce roads w ere opened,
co m m e rcially accessib le, valu a b le tim b er w as rem oved. Large
T r o p ic a l D e f o r e s t a t io n a n d A g r i c u l t u r a l Ex p a n sio n in t h e C ase S t u d y C o u n tr ie s <yj
ranchers and speculators encouraged poor m igrant w orkers and

tenants to clear rem aining forest to grow subsistence crops. These
w ere follow ed by pastures as soon as in itial soil fe rtility declined
after a year or tw o. At the same tim e, other poor m igrants from
the south com m enced slash-and-burn agricultu re in forest areas
still regarded as state lands or claim ed by large landholders w ith
disputed titles. O thers cam e as part o f the state-sponsored coloni
zation program m e during the 1960s w ith prom ises o f provisional
titles and official assistance. M uch o f the land designated for colo
nization b y sm allholders, how ever, w as in fact given to arm y of
ficers and politicians. C redit and technical assistance seldom ar
rived. As forest clearance was regarded by the authorities as proof
o f im proved land use, w h ich w as required to obtain land titles,
both big speculators and poor m igrants had an additional incen
tive to clear as m uch forest as possible.
The situation in the Peten w as further com plicated by guer
rilla activities in the 1960s and 1970s. The arm y destroyed m any
forests along roads w ith chem ical defoliants to reduce cover for
g uerrillas. V illag es and cooperatives w ere often com pletely de
stroyed, w ith num erous residents killed . M any indigenous com
munities fled to Mexico. Lawlessness and violence w ere augmented
b y boom ing drug trafficking often controlled by the arm y itself.
Po p p y cultivation spread in m any form erly forested areas.
As noted earlier, im m igration to the Peten from the rest o f ru
ral G uatem ala accelerated ra p id ly after I960. P o o r ladino peas
ants and farm w orkers a rrivin g from the south-west and south
east found th e ir a g ricu ltu ra l p ractices p o o rly adapted fo r the
P e te n ’s so ils and clim ate. M o d ern inp uts w ere u n a va ila b le or
unaffordable. T h eir soils q u ickly degraded and m any abandoned
th e ir lands to cattle ranchers w h ile they sought em ploym ent in
tow ns or elsew here. Indigenous im m igrants usually brought more
sustainable farm ing systems that included agro-forestry. Also, early
ladino colonists read ily adopted sustainable practices developed
b y other indigenous groups that had been long-term residents in
the region. Peasant im m igrants, how ever, usu ally had insecure
rights to the lands they occupied, regardless o f th eir origins and
farm ing practices.
T he rap id destruction o f the Peten ’s forests has app aren tly
not been slow ed sig n ifican tly by num erous in itiatives ostensibly
designed to protect them , nor have law s and agencies supposed

to protect the rural poor been effective in doing so. The Peten in
cludes m any potential tourist attractions such as the ancient M ayan
c ity o f T ik a l, a little north o f Flores. It also has petroleum and
m any other natural resources in add ition to its forests and agri
cu ltu re. State agencies resp onsible fo r p rotecting these natural
endow m ents and for th e ir ratio n al use, how ever, w ere v irtu a lly
non-operative in the region from I960 u n til 1987. W hen they
w ere able to function norm ally, th ey w ere ham pered b y inad
equate resources, p o o rly trained personnel, freq uently corrupt
adm inistration and, above all, by conflicting political pressures and
interferences. B y the early 1990s num erous international N GO s
and aid agencies w ere pouring m illio ns o f dollars into the Peten
to help protect its flora and fauna. M any seem ed oblivious to the
socio-political obstacles faced on the ground by anyone attem pt
ing to foster m ore sustainable developm ent o f the Peten.
The M ayan Bio sp h ere Reserve in the Peten that w as estab
lished in the late 1980s covers nearly one-third o f the entire area.
It includes a strictly protected area o f 800,000 hectares and a sur
rounding p a rtia lly protected m ultiple-use zone o f 650,000 hec
tares. Adjacent buffer zones w ere also created in w h ich residents
w o u ld benefit from sp ecial technical assistance and educational
program m es. In 1994, how ever, the reserve w as still subject to
m any invasions (esp e cia lly by loggers) and conflicts. Som e local
officials feared loss o f th eir prerogatives and authority. Peasants
had n ever been consulted and feared loss o f th e ir livelih o o d s.
The reserve w as adm inistered b y the N ational C ouncil for P ro
tected Areas (C O N A P). There w as considerable bureaucratic com
petition betw een C O N A P and other governm ent agencies such as
the N ational Forest Service (D IG E B O S ) over th eir resp ective re
sp onsibilities and also th eir access to funds flo w in g in from for
eign sources for environm ental protection. P o litica l support for
the reserve’s co n so lid atio n rem ains un certain . N onetheless, its
creatio n represented a m ajor in itia tive that constituted an o ffi
c ia l reco g n itio n o f the seriousness o f the reg io n ’s en viro n m en
tal problem s.
There w ere num erous other in itiatives tow ards m ore sustain
able developm ent in the region, m ostly by N G O s. The govern
m ent w as developin g a N ational Forestry P la n o f A ction, but no
T r o p ic a l D e f o r e s t a t i o n a n d A g r i c u l t u r a l Ex p a n sio n in t h e C a se S t u d y C o u n t r ie s 5^
p ractical effects had yet been seen in the Peten by the mid-1990s.
T he d ifficu ltie s are enorm ous. Fo r exam ple, a jo u rn alist w h o ex
posed illegal sm uggling o f valuable tim ber to M exico w as attacked
and beaten and forced into ex ile b y death threats. Em p lo yees o f
the state agency that adm inisters protected areas (C O N A P ) w ere
attacked w hen they discovered tim ber robbers. N G O and govern
m ent o fficials w h o reported m assive tim ber sm uggling into Belize
to th e ir resp ective head o ffices in G uatem ala C ity w ere p ro h ib
ited from retu rn in g to that area. D eforestation th erefo re seem s
lik e ly to continue for som e tim e still.
D eforestation and agriculture in La Sierra de las M inas

In 1990 G uatem ala’s legislature app roved a law creating the B io
sphere R eserve o f La Sierra de las M inas as a part o f U N E S C O ’s
M an and the Bio sp h ere (M A B ) program m e’s w orld-w ide netw ork
o f nature reserves. T he R eserve is planned to have a strictly pro
tected nu cleu s o f 105,000 hectares p lus 4200 hectares o f b ad ly
degraded lan d to be rep lan ted , 34,600 hectares designated fo r
reg u lated m u ltip le uses, and 91,800 hectares o f b u ffer zone be
tw een the strictly protected and m u ltip le use area. It is adm inis
tered b y a co u n cil p resid ed o ver b y C O N A P, b u t its d ire ct ad
m in istra tio n is en tru sted to a G u atem alan N G O , La Fu n d acio n
D efensores de la N aturaleza (F D N ). FD N is la rg e ly finan ced from
the U n ited States and other foreig n sources. T h is Reserve is o n ly
about one-sixth the size o f the M ayan Biosp here Reserve described
above. U n like the latter, w h ich w as e n tirely w ith in the departm ent
o f the Peten, the Sierra de la M inas Reserve cuts across 5 o f G ua
tem ala’s 13 ad m in istrative departm ents.
La S ie rra de las M in as is a m ountain range ex ten d in g som e
120 k ilo m etres north-east from the co u n try ’s cen tra l hig h p la
teau north o f G uatem ala C ity do w n to its largest in lan d bo d y o f
w ater, Lake Izabal, near the A tlantic Coast, just south o f the fro n
tie r w ith B e liz e . T he R eserve ’s w id th ranges b etw een 10 and 30
kilom etres and its total area is about 236,000 hectares. It is m ore
o r less b o unded on the w est b y the m ain h ig h w ay from G u ate
m ala C ity to Coban in the departm ent o f Alta Verapaz. Its n o rth
ern b o u n d ary is the P o lo ch ic riv e r valle y, w h ich is n arro w and
steep in its upper reaches but m uch broader and flatter near Lake
Izabal. O n the south it is bounded b y the m uch w id e r and m ore
(,0 A g r ic u l t u r a l E x p a n s io n and T r o p i c a l D e f o r e s t a t io n
densely populated M otagua valley. This valle y also provides G ua

tem ala C ity’s ra il and road connection w ith its A tlan tic po rt o f
Pu erto Tomas. T he M otagua valle y is one o f the country’s p rin ci
pal industrial zones as w ell as accounting for nearly one-fourth o f
G uatem ala’s irrigated land and nearly one-tenth o f its total popu
lation. The tw o va lle y bottom s are excluded from the Reserve.
T he M otagua va lle y and later the Po lo ch ic valle y w ere m ostly
divided into large haciendas early in the colonial period, although
a fe w ind ig eno us com m unities rem ained in the P o lo ch ic area.
Like the Peten, the Polo chic valle y had been a site o f M ayan cities
u n til th ey w ere abandoned som e five centuries before Spanish
colonization. La Sierra de la M inas took its name from m ining ac
tivities that began on its steep slopes in the colon ial period and
some o f w h ich still continue.
Elevations in the Reserve range from m ountain peaks o f over
3000 m etres to o n ly some 200 m etres above sea level near Lake
Izab al. R a in fa ll reaches 4000 m illim etres a n n u a lly in the up p er
Po lo ch ic v a lle y and exceeds 2000 m illim etres along the S ie rra ’s
crest, but is o n ly som e 500 m illim etres at lo w er elevations o f its
southern slopes. Soils tend to be rather sh allo w and subject to
accelerated erosion w hen tree cover is rem oved. The Reserve has
at least five m ajor ecosystem s as a result o f big differences in e l
evatio n and ra in fa ll. O ne o f these eco log ical zones includes 60
thousand hectares o f unique ‘cloud forest’ found o n ly at eleva
tions o f over 1800 metres. These physical and clim atic characteris
tics had generated an exceptional biodiversity in w hat is now the
Reserve area.
T he R eserve and its adjacent va lle ys had a ll been forested
w hen the Spaniards arrived. The drier M otagua valle y and slopes
w ere covered by transitional savannah forest w ith extensive pine
forests at higher elevatio ns before g iving w ay to the m oist sub
tro p ical m ixed forest co ver that dom inated m ost o f the Reserve
are a ’s h ig hland s and its n o rthern slopes. D eforestation during
the co lo n ia l p erio d had m ostly been lim ite d to v a lle y bottom s
w h ere trees w ere rem oved fo r co n stru ctio n , fu el and to cle ar
land for pastures and crops. D uring the 19th and early 20th cen
tu ries there had been som e deforestation w ith in the Reserve
area associated w ith m ining and later on its southern slopes, w ith
the construction o f the ra ilw a y from G uatem ala C ity to Pu erto
T r o p ic a l D e f o r e s t a t io n and A g r ic u l t u r a l E x p a n s io n in t h e C a s e S t u d y C o u n t r ie s ^J
Tom as. Ex cep t fo r a few sm all peasant settlem ents on the

southern slopes, there had been little forest clearance for agricul
ture in w hat is now the Reserve. This situation changed ra p id ly
after the 1950s.
M odern com m ercial agriculture expanded rap idly in the Mota-
gua valley after 1950, stim ulated b y irrigation, industrial develop
m ent and im proved export m arkets. Most good land in the valle y
flo o r w as in large- and m edium -sized holdings. The v a lle y ’s rap
id ly g ro w in g p o p u latio n req uired increasin g am ounts o f con
struction m aterials and fuelw ood, as did nearby G uatem ala City.
In addition there was also a lucrative dem and for good cedar, ma
hogany, oak and pine tim ber for export. As a result, com m ercial
logging expanded ra p id ly up the Sie rra ’s southern slopes. Log
ging activities also opened roads for a few peasant m igrants and
provided opportunities to pasture cattle and goats in p revio u sly
forested areas. In a sub-tropical, lo w rainfall context, grazing to
gether w ith seasonal burning to regenerate pasture resulted in
severe desertification o f the once forested lands above the valle y
floor up to about 1000 m etres. This area is now m ostly covered
w ith desert-like thorny bushes and cactus. The land has becom e
o f such lo w valu e for pasture that it is not econom ical to con
struct new fences or to repair old ones. There are a few peasant
farmers on the low er slopes settled near streams or springs w here
th ey can raise crops w h ile o b tain in g su pplem entary lo w valu e
pasture nearby fo r their livestock. M ost settlem ents, how ever, are
at higher elevations w here rainfall is m ore abundant. In the early
1990s, there w ere estim ated to be 27 sm all ladino settlem ents on
the southern slopes o f the reserve w ith a few dozen fam ilies in
each. Some had been established in the late 19th century but oth
ers w ere o f m ore recent origin.
The ladino settlem ent o f M oran, for exam ple, w as first estab
lished a century ago at an elevation o f about 1700 metres w here a
m ountain stream provides w ater for residents and their cattle as
w ell as a little for seasonal irrigation. The village is accessible from
Rossario in the Motagua valle y by a steep 12-kilometre track. It is
transitable during the dry season. O ld er residents can rem em ber
w hen the area w as h e avily forested, m oister and cooler. D uring
the e arly 20th century some forest had been rem oved b y slash-
and-burn farm ing practices to cu ltivate m aize and beans and a
few areas had been converted to pasture. M assive deforestation

did not take place around M oran, how ever, until the area w as com
m ercially logged in the early 1960s. Although the com m unity sup
posedly had title to this forest area, it w as never asked perm ission
b y the loggers and the peasants received no com pensation.
Since the area w as logged, peasants have faced grow ing w ater
shortages and declining crop yields. T he com m unity now has 60
households but o n ly 250 residents. These are disp rop ortionately
very young or w ell over middle-aged, as m any members o f w o rk
ing age have m igrated o r are w orkin g ‘tem p o rarily’ elsew here.
Som e have gone to the Peten or found em ploym ent in the valley,
w h ile a few w ent to the U n ited States. The settlem ent su rvives
p artly from rem ittances sent back by its em igrant w orkers. As the
peasants produce very little for sale outside their com m unity, this
incom e from rem ittances is crucial. O therw ise it w ould have been
im possible to obtain the clothing, utensils, some foods and a few
very m odest conveniences such as m edicines and an occasional
beer o r Coca-Cola that are now considered to be essentials. It also
made possible the purchase o f a little chem ical fertilizer to m ain
tain m aize yields on exhausted soils, and zinc roofing fo r some o f
the huts in place o f traditional thatch. T he settlem ent also had a
sm all one-room scho ol fo r the first three grades, served b y a
teacher w ho hiked up from the valle y on M ondays and to w h ich
he returned on Thursdays. O n ly about h a lf the young ch ild ren
attended. Rudim entary school supplies w ere in short supply and
there had been no ‘school lunches’ fo r several years.
In this settlem ent, ag ricu ltu re w as not expanding but con
tracting. It certain ly had not been a m ajor cause o f recent defor
estation. T his w as a rather typ ical situation in the buffer zone on
the southern side o f the R eserve. In the sm aller settlem ent o f
Jo n es, a little further south, but accessible to M oran o n ly via the
Motagua valley, there had been even greater outm igration. There
w ere also signs o f greater ‘p ro sp erity’, as ind icated by tw o new
four-wheel drive vehicles, a few television aerials, a sm all motor-
d riven e le ctric g en erato r and a few m odern concrete cottages.
T h ere w as little ag ricu ltu re. Rem ittances from em igrants to the
U nited States and connections o f som e residents w ith the drug
trade through G uatem ala to points north accounted for this rela
tive affluence.
T r o p ic a l D e f o r e s t a t io n an d A g r i c u l t u r a l Ex p a n sio n in t h e Case S t u d y C o u n tr ie s (ft
H ig h er up the m ountains in the ‘cloud forest’ part o f the Re

serve’s nucleus there still rem ain a few areas o f m agnificent moist
deciduous forests. T hey had not been logged earlier because they
had been com m ercially inaccessible. Logging had begun in the
mid-1980s, how ever, and it had not yet been effectively stopped
by the creation o f a strictly protected area. A local sm all farm er
dedicated to forest conservation, in part to protect the w ater sup
plies o f his ow n adjacent farm, w as em ployed as a forest guard by
the FD N . H e had been ambushed w ith his young son w h ile m ark
ing the nucleus area boundary a little above his hom e. Thugs
probab ly sent by the hold er o f a logging concession that m ight
not be renew ed fired on them w ith shotguns. H e had been badly
crip p led , and his son e ven tu ally died from his w ounds. M ean
w hile, illic it logging continues. The FD N has no w ay o f physically
im peding it and the governm ent authorities to w h ich it can ap
peal apparently do not have either the means to prevent it or the
necessary po litical support from key political and m ilitary figures,
w ho some suspect m ay be profiting from the logging.
D eforestation on the northern slopes of the Reserve has also
been serious, but more abundant rainfall facilitates natural forest
regeneration after logging even w hen it is fo llo w ed by slash-
and-burn ag ricu ltu re. T he forest-friend ly clim ate in the v a lle y
has stim ulated com m ercial large-scale tree crops such as coffee,
rubber and citrus plantations. As w ith the Motagua side, most se
rious forest degradation has taken place since the 1950s.
T rad itio n al haciendas in Po lo ch ic v a lle y had been dedicated
p rin cip ally to cattle raising. In the 1960s it becam e profitable for
large land ow ners, most o f w hom live d in G uatem ala C ity m uch
or a ll o f each year, to invest in the production o f coffee, citrus,
rubber and citro n ella (an A siatic grass yield in g o il valu ab le for
perfum es and insect repellents). Som e o f these new export crops,
however, required much m ore labour than traditional cattle ranch
ing. The large land ow ners perm itted the im m igration o f indig
enous peasants from other parts o f Alta Verapaz and elsew here
w ho w ere em ployed in the new plantations.
Plan tatio n ow ners, how ever, u su ally p ro h ib ited these w o rk
ers from using th e ir lands to g ro w m aize and beans fo r se lf
p rovisioning . This w ould not o n ly have reduced the area a va il
able for com m ercial use but w ould also have tended to create a
m ore independent w orkforce. W ages w ere m uch too lo w for the

indigenous w orkers to support their fam ilies. As a result, w orkers
clandestinely cultivated their subsistence crops on forested m oun
tain slopes and frequently m oved fam ily members or brought rela
tives to tend them as squatters in the forests. These steep forest
lands w ere m ostly claim ed by absentee large ow ners w ho had al
ready sold the m ost valuab le tim ber w hen it becam e possible to
do so w ith the im provem ent o f the valle y’s d irt road in the 1960s.
O w ners held the land sp ecu latively after sellin g the tim ber, but
th ey exercised little effective on-the-ground control o ver it. In
this w ay large areas o f ‘highgraded’ forest becam e used for slash-
and-burn m aize and bean production b y indigenous settlers.
T hese sq u atters’ num bers w ere g re a tly augm ented in the
1970s by indigenous refugees from the g u errilla w a r raging in
Alta Verapaz. M any indigenous com m unities w ere attacked b y the
arm y on the suspicion that they w ere aiding the guerrillas. Su rvi
vors often took refuge in the m ountains. O thers w ere d riven
from th e ir com m unities sim ply because th eir lands had becom e
p o ten tia lly valu ab le for export crop producers w ho w anted to
take control o f them .
An exam ple o f the latter situation w as the notorious Panzos
m assacre o f 1978 in the P o lo ch ic valley. T h is ind ig enous com
m unity had been occupying its lands for m ore than 80 years and
hence its m em bers w ere entitled to claim legal titles to the com
m u n ity’s lands. T h e y p e titio n e d the g overnm ent fo r titles and
w ere led to b elieve that these w o u ld be granted b y the N ational
Agrarian Transform ation Institute (IN T A ). W hen they approached
the governm ent bu ild ing in the neighbouring m unicipal seat ex
pecting to receive titles to th e ir land, how ever, th ey w ere fired
upon w ith autom atic w eapo ns by an arm y detachm ent. O ve r
100 w ere k illed . Su rvivo rs and th eir fam ilies fled to the m oun
tains.
An indigenous com m unity accessible on ly by a two-hour hike
up a steep footpath high above the Polo chic in the Reserve’s nu
cleus area had been established near a sm all stream b y a few
dozen fam ilies w ho had fled the Panzos massacre. They had been
cultivating subsistence crops there for 15 years and did not dare
to return to the v a lle y for fear o f the arm y. An absentee land
o w n er w ho claim ed the land that they had occupied agreed to
T r o p ic a l D e f o r e s t a t io n a n d A g r i c u l t u r a l Ex p a n sio n in t h e Case S t u d y C o u n tr ie s ^
sell it to them if they m ade a hefty down-paym ent in kind, but

after they made their paym ent the ow ner raised the price far be
yond th e ir m eans. N ow the area is to be strictly protected and
should not be used for agriculture. The legal ow ner w ill presum
ably be com pensated, but not the indigenous settlers.
These refugees had used slash-and-burn farm ing practices to
survive. T hey had cle a rly contributed to deforestation in the im
m ediate area, but they had care fu lly attem pted to develop e n vi
ro nm entally benign farm ing and forestry system s w ith in their
lim ited p o ssibilities. FD N prom oters sym pathetic to the com m u
nity w ere attem pting to find them a suitable location to m ove to
in the m ultiple-use area that they could even tu ally purchase. It
w as by no means certain that they w ould be successful.
Looking up tow ards the Sierra at night at the end o f the dry
season, it appeared that the w hole m ountainside w as ablaze from
fires set by settlers to bum brush and weeds before planting their
milpas. It is easy to understand w h y m any observers have con
cluded that peasant squatters w ere the m ajor cause o f deforesta
tion in the area. As the foregoing accounts show, how ever, the
real processes are m uch m ore com plex and the m ain culprits are
found elsew here.
There w ere some 80 sm all indigenous settlem ents such as this
one on the northern slopes o f the Reserve. None had schools or
other state facilities as they w ere illeg al squatters and had been
considered as g u errilla sym pathizers. A w ell know n Guatem alan
anthropologist, M yrna M ack, had been assassinated by the arm y
for docum enting the harsh treatm ent m any such indigenous refu
gees endured.
The M ario D ary Bio to p o is a bird sanctuary o f o ver 1000 hec
tares at the top o f the Q uetzal pass over the Sierra de la M inas
just w est o f the Reserve. It w as nam ed after one o f G uatem ala’s
m ost d istinguished b iolog ists, w ho w as instrum ental in estab
lish in g it. H e w as app ointed rector o f San C arlos U n iv e rsity in
the late 1970s, but w as assassinated shortly afterw ards by a right-
w in g death squad, app aren tly because he advocated dem ocratic
pluralism . The sanctuary still has im pressive tropical cloud-forests
and is famous for its quetzals (the national bird ). In spite o f being
an im portant tourist attraction and foreign exchange earner, the
future o f this forested reserve m ay be precarious unless broader
55 A g r i c u l t u r a l E x p a n s io n and T r o p ic a l D e f o r e s t a t io n
socio-political issues in the region are resolved. There w ere reports

o f poaching, tim ber stealing and other encroachm ents.
O n the w estern boundary o f the reserve near the Bio to p o ,
along the Q uetzal pass connecting the capital w ith A lta Verapaz,
one finds som ew hat d iffe re n t a g ricu ltu ra l expansion processes
than those described above. Large sheets o f plastic protect p lan
tations o f vegetables, flow ers and ferns from birds, insects and
cold in sm all forest clearings bordering the m ain road. These pro
duce one o f C entral A m erica’s latest ‘n o n trad itio n al’ ag ricu ltu ral
exports. Since the m id 1980s areas o f these new agro-exports
have been expanding rapidly, especially in the highlands o f G ua
tem ala and Costa Rica.
A few kilom etres south-east o f the M ario D ary Bio to p o is the
com m unity o f C hilasco that borders the w estern nucleus o f the
Sierra de las M inas Biosp here Reserve. This village w as founded in
1906 w hen 14 heads o f fam ilies w ere aw arded land by the dicta
tor o f the d ay in recom pense fo r lo yal arm y service. It now in
cludes 400 fam ilies cu ltivatin g about 820 hectares. The com m u
n ity is a n e w ly established centre o f ‘n o n trad itional’ export crop
production. There w ere field s o f broccoli, string beans, tom atoes
and the like, destined in part for sale and consum ption in Guate
m ala C ity and in part for export to the U nited States. This produc
tion is organized and finan ced b y a few large buyers based in
Guatem ala C ity w ho are closely linked to transnational im porters
and exporters. The buyers supply inputs such as im proved seeds,
chem ical fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides, plastic sheets and con
tainers. T h e y also p ro vid e tech n ical d ire ctio n and set q u ality
standards. These costs are later deducted from the value o f the
crops they purchase from the peasants, w hose contracts prohib it
them from seeking other buyers. Even so, peasants cu ltivatin g
bro cco li, fo r exam ple, estim ated that w ith three crops per year
they could obtain an incom e for their ow n and th eir fam ily’s la
bour, land and capital o f up to 6000 quetzals (about US$1000) an
nu ally from one manzana (0.7 hectares). This assumes that there
w ere no crop failures and that market prices hold up, w hich is not
alw ays the case. In fact, m arkets are volatile for export crops such
as string beans, broccoli and ornam ental plants.
Incom es in the villa g e w ere ob vio u sly better than those o f
most residents in settlem ents near the Po lo ch ic valley. Several
T r o p ic a l D e f o r e s t a t i o n a n d A g r i c u l t u r a l E x p a n s io n in t h e C a se S t u d y C o u n t r ie s fc j
houses in this com m unity had new zinc roofs o r new tiles and
thatch. T here w as a w ell-kept soccer field , a w hitew ashed school,
n e w ly in stalled pipes to bring clean d rin k in g w ater and oth er
signs o f re la tive p ro sp erity. T h e in h a b ita n ts w e re b o th la d in o
and in d ig en o u s peop les. Som e s till sp oke in in d ig en o u s d ia le ct
am ong th e m se lves. N o n e th e le ss, th e y a ll w o re w estern -typ e
jeans and shirts that had been m ade available at lo w prices by im
porters o f second-hand cloth ing from the U S.
In m any ind ig eno us regions, the arm y, using non-indigenous
troops from the east, entered trad itio n al ind ig eno us villag es. A f
ter abusing or assassinating a few villa g e rs to establish th e ir au
thority, they w o u ld force the m en to p articip ate in ‘auto-defence’
m ilitias directed by the arm y. In fact these still op erated in 1993
near Telem an in the Po lo ch ic valley. T he arm y also tried to force
villa g e rs to abandon ind ig eno us dress and custom s. In areas o f
g uerrilla activity, residents o f sm all villages w ere required to m ove
to larg er settlem ents und er arm y control. In this p articu lar settle
m ent, how ever, the accu ltu ratio n seem s to have been m ore a re
su lt o f the re la tive p ro sp erity acco m panying n o n trad itio n al ex
ports, than o f d irect coercion.
The new cash crops also have brought problem s. A side from
uncertain prices, the peasants have to assum e the risks associated
w ith clim ate, insect plagues and disease. The excessive use o f pes
ticides has led to considerable soil and w ater p o llution as w e ll as
the d irect p ersonal contam ination o f w o rk ers through exposure.
Elim in atio n o f m any natural predators has left the insects that at
tack m aize free to m u ltip ly. M aize p ro d u ctio n fo r lo cal use has
su ffered se verely from insect dam age as w e ll as from com peting
dem ands for land and labour. The m ore intensive use o f land for
the new exports has app aren tly been accom panied by decreasing
rates o f forest clearance for peasant crops and pasture, at least in
this com m unity.
T his seem s to have been the case too for several com m unities
along the Q uetzal pass road that have adopted nontraditional ex
ports. T he crop land areas w ere often expanded at the expense o f
cle arin g forests. N onetheless, the net effect co u ld have been to
reduce deforestation rates a little in the region by provid ing cash
incom es and em plo ym en t and thus red ucing pressures to clear
m ore land for m aize and pasture.
Conclusion
As in Brazil, state po licies (and the absence o f p o licies) w ere the
im m ediate cause o f most undesirable forest clearance. D eforesta
tio n resu lted from d elib erate p o litic a l choices. C o u n tervailin g
p o licies have not been effective on the w h o le because the state’s
dom inant strategy w as one o f ‘m odernization’ o f a k in d most
profitab le in the short run for its most po w erful support groups.
These included the trad itio n al oligarchy, the arm y brass, m any
foreig n and dom estic investors, and also the U n ited States’ and
other foreign ‘a id ’ bureaucracies.
Land tenure institutions played a m ajor role in the deforesta
tion o f the Sierra de las M inas. N early two-thirds o f the Reserve’s
area w as claim ed in large holdings by private ow ners, m ostly by
non-residents. The rem aining 30 to 40 per cent w as held by com
m unities o r m u n icip alities and by the state. There w ere some
overlapping titles, and property boundaries w ere seldom m arked.
Com m unal land holders suffered the greatest in secu rity o f land
tenure. Bu t land tenure w ith in the Reserve w as only a m inor part
o f the land tenure problem . The h ig h ly polarized land holding
system in surrounding areas w as m uch m ore im portant. It denied
m ost indigenous com m unities secure access to adequate land. It
also encouraged large scale capital-intensive agricultu re by big
ow ners w h o em ployed o n ly a fraction o f the potential ru ral la
bo ur force during m ost o f each year, w h ile the m ajority w ere
landless o r n early landless. It also encouraged the extraction o f
m erchantable tim ber for the p ro fit o f large land ow ners and tim
ber enterprises but to the detrim ent o f peasant farm ers. These
often suffered, fo llo w in g logging operations, from w ater short
ages and m ore difficult access to a w id e range o f useful products.
T h ey w ere seldom com pensated for tim ber rem oved even if it
cam e from th eir ow n lands. Also, several settlem ents in the dry
Motagua valle y had begun to suffer from w orsening w ater short
ages. This w as one o f the factors that helped m obilize public sup
port for the creation o f the Reserve.
Indigenous farm ing system s tended to be m ore environm en
tally frien d ly than those o f sm all ladino producers. The latter o f
ten aspired to becom e ranchers instead o f farm ers. T he most
dam aging farm ing system s for the forests, how ever, w ere those
organized by large land holders and investors to produce com
T r o p ic a l D e f o r e s t a t io n and A g r ic u l t u r a l E x p a n s io n in t h e C a s e S t u d y C o u n t r ie s ( j C)
m ercially for export and dom estic m arkets. This ‘m odern’ agricul
ture displaced some forests directly, but it was most dam aging in
directly by excluding peasant producers from access to most good
agricultural land.
Po p u latio n grow th had been rap id in both the M otagua and
Po lo ch ic valle ys and on the R eserve’s m oist northern and w est
ern slopes. Im m igrants to the valle ys had been draw n by new
em ploym ent op portunities accom panying ag ricu ltu ral m oderni
zation, and in the Motagua valley also by grow ing industrialization
and urbanization. Settlers on the southern slopes o f the Reserve
w ere few and dim inishing in num ber. T hey w ere a m inor factor
in d eforestation com pared to logging. Squatters on the north
ern slopes w ere m ostly indigenous refugees. The areas in w hich
they squatted had usually been logged earlier. They w ere causing
some additional forest degradation by their slash-and-burn tnilpa
rotations, but they w ere also protecting and regenerating forests
to satisfy their self-provisioning needs for forest products and for
cultural reasons.
C h in a 11
About 13 p er cent o f C hina’s te rrito ry w as believed to be under

forests in the early 1990s (Z G T JN J, 1992). Its forests are unevenly
distributed across the country, depending upon diverse physical
features, clim ates, population densities and econom ic activities.
M ost o f the forests lie in the eastern m onsoon region. In some o f
the p ro vin ces, nam ely Jilin , H eilo n g jian g , Z h ejian g and Fu jian ,
about one-third o f the territo ry rem ains under forests. In several
provinces o f the country’s interior, nam ely N ingxia, Shanghai and
Tianjin, forest cover was less than 3 per cent. Tibet, inner M o n g o
lia, X in jian g and Q inghai have few forests because o f th eir high
plateaux, deserts o r grasslands (see Table 3.1). Forest types fall
into d istin ct bands from north to south acco rding to clim ate,
w ith cool-tem perate coniferous forest in the north, that are fo l
lo w ed su ccessively as one m oves south by tem perate co n ifer
ous and deciduous broad-leaved m ixed forest, w arm -tem perate
11 Unless otherwise stated, material for this section was mostly taken from Rozelle, Lund,
Ting and Huang, 1993.
7 () A g r i c u l t u r a l E x p a n s io n a n d T r o p i c a l D e f o r e s t a t io n
deciduous broad-leaved forest, sub-tropical evergreen broad

leaved forest and tropical monsoon rainforest in the extreme south
o f the country.
Im portant tracts of virgin forests still exist in northern China,
but most of them are in remote areas w ith sparse populations. In
southern coastal areas, remnants o f lush tropical forests are sur
rounded by econom ic zones and development districts. Since the
T a b le 3.1 Forest Area a n d Forest Cover o f C hina’s Provinces, 1985

Province Total area* Forest area" Per cent of Forest
(million (million national total coverage rate
hectares) hectares) forest"' (per cent)
Beijing 1.7 0.14 8.1
Tianjin l.l 0.03 2.6
Hebei 18 1.62 9.0
Shanxi 15.6 0.8 5.2
Inner Mongolia 128 15.23 17 11.9
Liaoning 14.6 3.68 25.1
Jilin 18 5.8 3 32.2
Heilongjiang 46.9 15.76 8 33.6
Shanghai 0.6 8.36 1.3
Jiangsu 10 0.32 3.2
Zhejiang 10 3.37 33.7
Anhui 13 1.69 13.0
Fujian 12 4.4 3 37.0
Jiangxi 16.7 0.98 4 32.8
Shandong 15 0.89 5.9
Henan 16.7 1.42 8.5
Hubei 18 3.6 20.3
Hunan 20 6.5 4 32.5
Guangdong***' 17.8 4.9 5 27.7
Guangxi 23 5.06 5 22.0
Sichuan 57 6.8 7 12.0
Guizhou 17 2.2 3 13.1
Yunnan 39 9.36 10 24.0
Tibet 120 6.12 4 5.1
Shaanxi 20 4.34 5 21.7
Gansu 45 1.75 3.9
Qinghai 72 0.22 0.3
Ningxia 6.6 0.09 1.4
Xinjiang 160 1.12 0.7
China 955.1 116.55 12
* Provincial areas taken from Zhou Shunwu, 1992.

** Area estimated by multiplying column 1 by column 4 at provincial levels.
*** Percentages are only included for provinces with more than 3 per cent of national forest area.
**** Includes Hainan.
Source: QGLYTJHB, 1989
T r o p ic a l D e f o r e s t a t io n a n d A g r i c u l t u r a l E x p a n sio n in t h e Case S t u d y C o u n tr ie s 1\
1970s, m any com m ercially valu ab le forest resources have com e

un d er the co n tro l o f p riva te en trep ren eu rs, e n terp risin g state
cadres and joint venture operations. Forests in m ountainous re
gions are scattered throughout south and south-eastern C hina.
These areas are generally poor and inaccessible as w ell as being
inhabited b y diverse ethnic groups. M any provinces in central
C hina have also m aintained or replanted significant areas o f for
ests so that the production o f forest products in this region is
becom ing increasin g ly im portant. These geographical variations
have to be considered in any analysis o f afforestation and defor
estation trends in China. They are also im portant to keep in m ind
w hen exam ining the im pacts o f public p o licies affecting agricul
ture and forests in C hina’s diverse regions.
Afforestation has been very im portant in China during recent
decades. Large tracts o f natural forests have been logged, w ith
some o f these logged areas converted to other land uses, but the
co u n try’s total forest area has continued to increase since the
1970s. N onetheless, as in m any developing countries, the protec
tio n o f n e w ly p lanted areas is freq u en tly less successful than
claim ed and several logged forest areas becam e re la tive ly un
p ro d u ctive.
China has over one billion inhabitants and its econom ic growth
since 1980 is estim ated by the W orld Bank to have been about 10
per cent annually, w ith per capita G D P reaching US$530 in 1994.
As a result o f rising incom es and population grow th, the demand
for forest products has increased dram atically, m aking the re
m aining forest resources increasingly valuable. In addition to the
g row ing needs o f rural populations, tim ber is a vid ly sought for
construction and industries. U rban consum ers are d iversifyin g
th eir diets to consum e m any products taken from forest areas.
U nder C hina’s centrally planned econom y, prices w ere often
set w ith little consideration o f supply and demand before the eco
nom ic reform s o f the late 1970s and 1980s. The tim ber industry
had suffered from low prices and it had not been allow ed to retain
profits. There w ere few incentives for sustainable forest m anage
ment. Also, silviculture and reafforestation had been chron ically
underfunded. Tim ber resources w ere often used w astefully and
forest growing stocks had seriously declined. Moreover, several for
est areas had been placed under strict protection as national parks
72 A g r i c u l t u r a l E x p a n s io n and T r o p ic a l D e f o r e s t a t io n
and biodiversity reserves, thus reducing the forest areas available

for w ood production and local uses (G h im ire, 1994). In the early
1980s, reform s in pricing and accounting systems for forest enter
prises rem oved some o f these obstacles to m ore sustainable high-
p ro d u ctivity forest m anagem ent, but m anagers and bureaucrats
still had few positive incentives to increase long-term forest pro
d u ctivity if this im plied d ifficulties in m eeting short-term produc
tio n goals. The present forest p o licies in C hina reflect m any o f
these contradictions and tensions.
Land tenure institutions in China have been subject to a series
o f dram atic changes since the revolutionary forces took pow er in
1949. A profound land reform redistributed agricultural land held
by landlords and rich farm ers to landless and near landless peas
ants. This w as soon follow ed by collectivization, first in large pro
duction cooperatives and later into m uch larger com m unes. Land
use and production w ere cen trally planned and controlled. In an
attem pt to introduce greater econom ic incentives and to im prove
econom ic efficien cy in the use o f resources, the fam ily responsi
b ility system w as introduced in the late 1970s and e arly 1980s.
U nder this system each peasant fam ily w as allocated long-term
usufruct rights to a p articu lar area and w as free to dispose as it
w ished o f any production in excess o f quotas that had to be sold
to the state at fixed (lo w ) prices. Peasants could sell above quota
production in local m arkets, w here prices fluctuated in response
to supply and dem and and w ere usually w e ll above official prices.
A lthough land ow nership is ultim ately vested in the national
state, the rights and resp onsib ilities o f the central governm ent
and its various agencies, the provinces, the counties, the m unici
p alities and in d ivid u al producers have been in continuous flux
during the last tw o decades as w ell as varying considerably among
different regions. Uncertainties associated w ith changing land ten
ure institutions together w ith regional variation in the control o f
forest resources is believed by m any analysts to have dim inished
in cen tives for long-term sustainable m anagem ent o f forest re
sources. These uncertainties m ay have encouraged over-exploita-
tion o f forests for im m ediate gains as w ell as for their conversion
to agricultu ral and other uses in m any areas. T his tendency w as
rein fo rced by the g ro w in g im p ortance o f m arket forces in re
source allocation, as w ell as by the significant im m ediate revenues
T r o p ic a l D e f o r e s t a t io n a n d A g r i c u l t u r a l E x p a n sio n in t h e Case S t u d y C o u n tr ie s 73
that som e lo cal au th o rities can d erive from the sale o f forest
products.
In C hina’s north-eastern region, forest lands are p rin cip ally ad
m inistered in state-controlled forest farm s, often associated w ith
forest ind ustries. In the south-eastern region, how ever, forest
lands w ere m ostly controlled b y the collectives. A fter the fam ily
responsibility system w as adopted, some o f these forests w ere al
located for the use o f in d ivid u al fam ilies, w h ile others rem ained
under collective control at tow nship or county levels. In the south
w estern region a m ixture o f state forest farms and collective con
trol o f forest areas predom inated (R o zelle, A lbers and Li Guo,
1995).
The data on forest areas, volum es o f forest grow ing stock and
production in China are not considered to be very reliable. Even
m ore than estim ates o f agricultu ral production, they are subject
to large m argins o f error. Som e areas that are classified as forest
include tree crops such as fruit orchards and rubber plantations.
The area o f cropland shown in C hina’s official statistics m ay also
be underestim ated by betw een one-third and one-half according
to some analysts (H e ilig , 1997). If this turns out to be the case,
areas estim ated to be in forests and in ‘other uses’ w ould have to
be revised dow nw ards by a corresponding am ount, as the esti
mates o f C hina’s total land area are quite firm and inflexible.
The present study w as concerned m ainly w ith the semi-tropi-
cal forest zones o f Yunnan province. In this province, as elsewhere
in China, the state’s forest policies have been heavily w eighted to
w ards increasing tim ber production. The m anagem ent o f natural
forests to m axim ize tim ber production and afforestation have
gone hand in hand.
A case stu d y in Hekou county, Yunnan province

To exam ine m ore in-depth the ro le o f governm ent p o lic y and
lo ca l deforestation processes, a case study w as carried out in
H ekou County. This county is located in the south-west province
o f Yunnan, separated from Vietnam by the Hongjiang (R ed ) River.
Located on a ra ilw ay line betw een Kunm ing and Saigon (H o Chi
M inh C ity), econom ic developm ent in H ekou has proceeded rap
id ly in recent years. In order to attract investm ent, the county
w as recen tly opened to outsiders.
A g r ic u l t u r a l E x p a n s io n and T r o p i c a l D e f o r e s t a t io n
Yunnan had a population o f 38 m illio n in 1990, the m ajority o f

w h ich belong to the ethnic m inorities o f Yao and M iao. The popula
tion o f H ekou county w as about 75,000 people, w ith an area o f 1313
square kilom etres. The econom y o f Hekou is predom inantly agricul
tural. W h ile 69 per cent o f the gross value o f industrial and agricul
tural output (G V IA O ) in the rural sector is from cropping, only 13
per cent comes from industry. Forestry output m akes up 8 per cent
o f G V IA O . The m ajor food crops are rice and maize. Farm ers pro
duce sugarcane and fruit as the largest cash crops. D espite their
relatively sm all contribution, forest products have been the fastest
grow ing com ponent o f the agricultural output since 1985.
Deforestation trends in Hekou

Although as m uch as 40 per cent o f H eko u w as covered u n til a
few decades ago by tro p ical forests, tod ay o n ly scattered bits o f
natural forests rem ain. Tigers, leopards, m onkeys, w ild boar, deer
and a varie ty o f birds once com m on in H ekou are now n early
extinct. As elsew here in C hina, the deforestation o f H eko u has
resulted from m any co n flictin g p o licies. Am ong these w ere the
a g ricu ltu ra l p o licie s that stressed g rain self-sufficiency, forest
p o licy aim ed at increasing county revenue b y expanding tree
plantations, and land tenure instability.
D eforestation in H ekou is not new. The m any ethnic m in o ri
ties o f the area have long practised shifting cultivation to supple
m ent the harvest from th e ir rice terraces. Land is cleared fo r
planting by burning and upland rice is grow n for a few seasons,
and then the plot is left fa llo w for seven o r eight years. V illa g e
leaders claim to burn o n ly grasslands fo r th eir sw id den crops,
since forests are too valuab le to destroy. The sm all areas o f p ri
m ary forest interspersed throughout the sw id d en grasslands,
how ever, suggest that the area w as once covered by forest. V il
lage elders have no reco llectio n o f this. T he elders report that
forest co ver (in clu d in g private tree plantations o f teak and C h i
nese fir) has increased during their lifetim e.
The first record ed m ajor episode o f deforestation in H eko u
took p lace in the late 19th century w h en the K unm ing-H ena
railw ay w as built by the French. Designed to link southern China
w ith the ports and commerce of Vietnam , the railw ay runs directly
through Hekou. Large tracts o f forests w ere cleared to m ake w ay
T r o p ic a l D e f o r e s t a t io n a n d A g r i c u l t u r a l Ex p a n sio n in t h e C ase S tu d y C o u n tr ie s 75
for the new mode o f transportation and to supply the tim ber for
ra ilw ay ties and bridges. The ra ilw ay brought other changes as
w ell. It opened access to H ekou for m igration and its population
q u ick ly expanded. Large expanses o f forest in the rive r valleys
w ere cleared for paddy rice.
Vast tracts o f H eko u ’s forests w ere again cleared in the late
1950s to fuel backyard steel furnaces and to m ake room for the
large state co llective farm s. Because o f the scarcity o f flat valley
land suitable for paddy rice, the collectives cleared forests to es
tablish rubber plantations. Observers agree that most recent forest
loss in Hekou took place during this tim e. To understand better
how H ekou’s m odernization drive had such adverse consequences
on its forest resources, it is necessary to exam ine the county’s in
stitutional, forest and agricultural policies.
Land tenure in Hekou

Since the 1949 revolution, all land in China has been legally ow ned
by the state. A variety o f actors, how ever, have control over and
resp onsibility for land use. Legally, there are today four types o f
control over forest and agricultural land: state land, provincial land,
village land and private household land. In Hekou, however, land
rights are typ ically less clearly defined than these categories w ould
suggest. W h ile some m ilitary and other state agency farms have
clearly established their claim s to certain areas, most village and
household land is distributed under an inform al system.
T w o large state collective farm s cover nearly h alf o f the land
in Hekou county. They grow rice in the few river valleys and rub
ber, pineapple and banana on the sloping hills. Recently, the state
farm s have im plem ented the new ‘household resp o n sib ility sys
tem ’ o f farm ing in w h ich form er w o rkers received contracts to
cu ltivate land allocated for th eir long-term use. In return, the
w orkers are obliged to sell a certain am ount o f their crop to the
collective at state-fixed prices. A ny rem aining produce can be sold
for private profit. W h ile these changes increased the productivity
o f the co llectives, they also w eakened the control o f the state
farms over its w orkers. As a result, m any w orkers have begun to
expand cultivation into adjacent forests that rem ained under the
co llective ’s control.
7 (j A g r ic u l t u r a l E x p a n s io n and T r o p i c a l D e f o r e s t a t io n
Due to the m yriad o f regulations and strict controls associated

w ith the new household resp onsib ility system , m any villages, es
p e cia lly those in trad itional ethnic com m unities, do not use for
m al contracts fo r p rivate farm s. Instead , both a g ricu ltu ra l and
sw id d en land s are d ivid e d in form ally am ong m em bers o f a v il
lage. A lthough the farm ers have no leg al assurances that th ey
w ill have access to the land in the future, they report having no
doubts about the leg itim acy o f th e ir future claim s. Tenure inse
cu rity consequently does not appear to discourage long-term in
vestm ents in the land, such as the establishm ent o f private tree
plantations. This is explained by the fact that the villages in Hekou
are quite old, w ith m any generations o f the same fam ilies w orking
together. Com m unal cooperation is thus a w ell-established trad i
tio n.
Com m unal control is also exercised in the managem ent o f v il
lage forest land. The use o f forest land is strictly m onitored by the
villag e leaders: perm ission must be obtained to cut a tree for tim
ber and a sm all tax is levied . As w ith ag ricu ltu ral and sw idden
land, this trad itional form o f m anagem ent is effective in control
ling forest use. Both village leaders and farm ers value the rem ain
ing forest for its productive capacity and cultural significance. V il
lage forests appear to have been well-m anaged and patrolled.
Forest policy in Hekou

As in m uch o f C hina, the goals w ithin the C ounty Forest Bureau
are often at cross-purposes them selves, as w ell as conflicting w ith
those o f other governm ent agencies. Fo r exam ple, the forest bu
reau is dedicated to preserving and protecting the few rem ain
ing natural forest stands in Hekou. To this end, several different
county forest reserves have been established. B u t the Bureau
lacks both enforcem ent m anpow er and legal recourse against
squatters. As a result, the reserves are being w h ittled aw ay and
o ffer o n ly m inim al protection to the forest. The county reserves
are freq u en tly encroached b y the state farm s in H ekou, since
they have little incentive to protect the natural forests. To begin,
the state farm s operate outside o f county law and answ er o n ly
to the central governm ent’s agricultu re m inistry. T h is m in istry’s
m ain resp onsibility is to fu lfil production quotas and to carry out
expansion plans. In addition, its w orkers are draw n from a ll over
T r o p ic a l D e f o r e s t a t io n a n d A g r i c u l t u r a l E x p a n sio n in t h e Case S t u d y C o u n tr ie s JJ
C hina and m any have few ties to the local area. U nder the new
fam ily re sp o n sib ility system , w o rk er fam ilies can expand crop
production as m uch as th eir lab our perm its. T h ey too often en
croach on county forest reserves. A fter fillin g th e ir production
quota, th ey are free to sell th e ir surplus crops on the p rivate
m arket. T he state farm adm inistration cu rren tly appears to lack
control over its ind ivid ual farm ers. Even if the adm inistration had
an incentive to curb encroachm ent on to adjacent county forest
reserves, it is unclear that it w ould have the m anpow er to enforce
it. H ence, the forest m anagem ent objectives o f the state farm s
m ay d ire ctly co n flict w ith those o f the county governm ent.
Private farm ers are also encroaching on to the forest reserves,
often because o f incentives provided by the Eth n ic M in o rity B u
reau, a state agency that is responsible for the livelih o o d s and
w elfare o f the ethnic peoples. Because H ekou C ounty is a Yao
Autonom ous Region, this bureau has considerable influence in
county policy. O ne o f its projects is the ‘10,000 mu (1 hectare =
15 m u) P o lic y ’ in w h ich 10,000 mu o f private com m ercial tree
plantations are to be established to increase farm ers’ incom es. To
encourage farm ers to particip ate, the bureau is bu ild ing several
dem onstration projects throughout the county to teach farm ers
how to raise teak, herbal m edicines, and spices, in add itio n to
those o f the alread y fam iliar Chinese fir, banana and pineapple.
Lack o f tree seedlings and insecure tenure rights have often hin
dered the success o f this program m e. N onetheless, the bureau is
a p o w erfu l state actor w ith goals that m ay p o ten tially con flict
w ith those o f sustainable forest managem ent.
The forest reserves are also subject to illegal cutting. At times
the ille g a l logging is u n o fficia lly allo w ed by the forest m anage
m ent bureau in exchange for bribes. In the tow nship o f N anxi,
for exam ple, the County Forest Bureau set aside a forest reserve,
prohibiting all logging activity. An ‘enterprising’ tow nship leader,
how ever, cleared one section o f the reserve to plant teak and
fru it orchards. The forestry bureau o fficials app aren tly allow ed
this because o f p o litical obligations and some ‘g ifts’. G iven the
chron ic underfunding o f forest m anagem ent, th eir acceptance
was hardly surprising.
Forest industry in Hekou operates som ewhat more efficiently
than the forest department. Forest industry, w hich consists prim arily
yg A g r ic u l t u r a l E x p a n s io n and T r o p i c a l D e f o r e s t a t io n
o f a county tim ber com pany, has been largely successful in meet
ing the local governm ent’s tim ber dem and. T he m ain reason for
this success is that it has better funding and political support than
does forest management. This can be explained by the county tim
ber com pany’s im portance as a revenue source for the county
governm ent. Forest use in H ekou, how ever, is not fu lly efficient.
A lthough lim its are set b y the national forest m inistry on the
am ount o f tim ber that can be cut, they are often disregarded.
Recent p rice increases have created strong p ro fit incentives fo r
local o fficials to harvest th eir tim ber now, since the future o f re
form s is uncertain in their m inds.
Agricultural and silvicultural expansion in Hekou

Feeding its large population has alw ays been a great challenge to
C hina. Yunnan Pro vin ce is no exception. Fo r a population o f 38
m illio n , the p rovince has just 42 m illio n mu (o r 2.8 m illio n hec
tares) o f cu ltivated land, the m ajority o f w h ich is ra in fed .12 Ex
panding both grain and tree crops has consequently been a p ri
o rity fo r p ro vin cial leaders. Pu rsu it o f these goals, how ever, has
had d ire consequences for H eko u ’s forests.
To encourage the expansion o f g rain crops in H eko u , a g ri
cu ltu ral p o licy stressed the im portance o f the county being self-
su fficie n t in food p ro d u ctio n . T he ratio n ale for th is p o lic y is
clear. H ekou is p red om inantly m ountainous, and transportation
both to and w ith in the co u n ty is poor. ‘G rain -first’ p o licie s are
consequently seen as crucial to both food security and to raising
the standard o f livin g in H ekou and generating incom e for farm
fam ilies. To achieve the increase in output, how ever, m ore land
has been planted w h ile yield s per hectare have rem ained alm ost
constant. Becau se o f the dearth o f le v e l v a lle y lan d in H eko u,
this a g ricu ltu ra l expansion has often encroached upon forest
areas.
Although the soils beneath tropical forests are typ ica lly poor
fo r a g ricu ltu re and cannot sustain crops fo r m ore than a few
years, recen t p rom otion o f ch em ical fe rtiliz e rs and p esticid es
12 This is the official estimate. Some recent publications have suggested that the area of
cultivated land in Yunnan may be double this amount (Hcilig, 1997). If this is the case,
some of the increased cropland area was probably at the expense of forests.
T r o p ic a l D e f o r e s t a t io n and A g r ic u l t u r a l E x p a n s io n in t h e C a s e S t u d y C o u n t r ie s yc)
has a llo w e d farm ers to co n tin u o u sly p lan t up land areas even as
the so il has erod ed . State farm s, w h ich occu p y v irtu a lly a ll the
p rim e v a lle y land in H e ko u , have a lw a ys had access to fe rtiliz
ers and p esticid es. T he recen t a v a ila b ility o f these farm ch em i
cals to sm all farm ers, how ever, has a llo w e d a new and g ro w in g
g ro u p to ex p an d a g ric u ltu ra l p ro d u ctio n into u p la n d fo rest a r
eas.
C om m ercial tree p lan tatio n s and fru it and nut orchards have
also played an im p ortan t ro le in H e k o u ’s d evelo p m en t strategy.
La ck in g ad eq uate g ro u n d co ve r b etw een ro w s, tree p la n ta tio n s
have reduced the a b ility o f forest land to retain w ater from rain.
W ater table levels have fallen and so il erosion has increased. B e
cause p lan tatio n s ty p ic a lly con tain just one o r tw o tree species,
th ey la ck the b io d iv e rs ity n ecessary to p ro v id e h ab itat to a n i
m als and to acco m plish e fficie n t n u trien t cyclin g . A lthoug h they
are cle a rly not a substitute fo r m any cru cial functions o f natural
forests, tree p lan tatio n s now occu p y m any o f H e k o u ’s forest ar
eas.
T h e ir e co lo g ical shortcom ings n o tw ith stan d in g , com m ercial
tree p lan tatio n s and fru it orchards have been a c tiv e ly prom oted
in H ekou through trade and p rice p o licies. W ith the current eco
nom ic reform s in tro d u cin g m ore m arket in cen tives into C h in a’s
centrally-p lanned econom y, and also the recen t im p rovem ent in
relations w ith Vietnam , trade betw een H ekou and Vietnam is in
creasing. Sin ce forest resources in the adjacent areas o f Vietnam
have been larg ely depleted, m arket prices for forest products are
clim b in g in H eko u . In creases in the p rices o f products such as
bananas, teak, rubber and p ineap ple have surpassed those o f the
price o f grain. Farm ers in H ekou have sw itched m ore to orchards
and com m ercial tree farm s to sustain th e ir incom e. Bo th p rivate
farm ers and state farm s have expanded teak and Chinese fir plan
tations. T h e ir effects on forests, how ever, d iffer. Becau se state
farm s have a lim ited am ount o f land, new plantations w ere often
estab lish ed b y cle arin g forest land. Eth n ic farm ers, in contrast,
have long planted trees on sm all sw idden plots for th eir ow n use.
A lthoug h tod ay th ey are interested in the cash that tim ber sales
can generate, eth n ic farm ers still u tiliz e sw id d en grasslands for
th e ir plantations. T h e ir new p lantations thus rep lace n eith er for
est nor agricultu ral land.
A g r ic u l t u r a l E x p a n s io n and T r o p ic a l D e f o r f .s t a t io n
Conclusion
A m ajor lesson from H eko u is that w h ile d eforestation is a na
tio n al con cern , n e ith e r governm ent agencies nor lo cal peop le
alone are able to reverse the trend. The overw helm ing im pres
sion d raw n from villa g e leaders and farm ers is that w h ile o n ly
sm all bits o f natural forest rem ain, the local population does not
p erceive its e lf to be n eg atively affected by the loss. W ild gam e
and plants are not m issed. Tim ber, fuelw ood, and cash incom e
needs are m et p rim a rily though private tree plantations. W ater
sources, such as natural springs, and rainfall do not seem to have
dim inished m uch as the forest has receded. Because o f the rapid
grow th o f grass and shrubs on the m ountains, erosion is not a
m ajor problem .
The governm ent has also been am bivalent about forest loss.
Forest m anagem ent authorities at the county level claim th eir re
sponsibility is to protect, not replant, forests, yet they lack the re
sources to achieve even this lim ited goal. The Ethn ic M inority B u
reau has sought to increase forest cover, but o n ly by encouraging
m ore private tree plantations. The state farm s operate outside o f
county law and are interested m ainly in short-term profit.
Consequently, it is clear that w h ile private and state farm s w ill
plant tree stands for com m ercial purposes, the protection and re
generation o f natural forest must be the responsibility o f the state.
As C hina m oves tow ard a m arket econom y, the preservation o f
natural forests is not now in any private agent’s im m ediate eco
nom ic interests. As a classic case o f a public good, in the present
context forests must be protected by the national governm ent.
A nother lesson to be d raw n is that the econom ic and forest
p o licy reform s o f the 1980s can not by them selves be expected
to bring about the sustainable use o f C h in a’s natural resources
and e sp e cially o f its forests. Tim ber and ag ricu ltu ral prices are
now free to vary w ith m arket dem and. Trade w ith neighbouring
V ietnam is expanding. P riva te farm ers are being g iven g reater
control o ver production decisions. Forest protection s till has a
lo w priority. Producers and o fficials are m ore interested in m ak
ing im m ediate profits than protecting forests in China, just as they
are in other developing countries.
T r o p ic a l D e f o r e s t a t io n and A g r ic u l t u r a l E x p a n s io n in t h e C a s e St u d y Co u n t r ie s gj
C a m e r o o n 13
Cam eroon covers an area o f 475,442 square kilom etres. A bout 11

p er cen t o f this is in the Sa h elian savannah, 30 p er cent lies in
the h ig h er a ltitu d e m oist savannah (g e n e ra lly o ve r 400 m etres)
and 58 p er cent is in the m oist tro p ical forest zone. T he rest lies
in a varie ty o f other ecosystem s. T h is endow s the co u n try w ith a
w id e v a rie ty o f n atural resources, clim ates and b io lo g ica l d iv e r
sity. T hese geog raphical zones also have num erous sp ecific dem o
g rap h ic, so cial and land tenure ch aracteristics. T h e co u n try has
ten p ro vin ces. T w o p ro vin ces, Ex trem e N o rth and N orth , lie in
the Sah elian zone; three, North-w est, W est and Adam aoua are in
the m oist savannah zone; and the rem aining East, South, Central,
Littoral and South-east are m ainly in the m oist tro pical forest zone.
In the far north, sem i-desertic conditions exist w ith little rain.
Several d rylan d crops are g row n, such as cotton, m illet, sorghum
and groundnuts. Rice is also grow n w here irrigation is available or
rain fall is sufficient for dryland varieties. The m oist savannah is cov
ered w ith short grasses and occasional clum ps o f trees. R ain fall is
higher in this zone, especially in the coastal areas and at higher al
titudes. M any types o f crops are grow n both for self-consum ption
and the m arket. Cattle grazing and the rearing o f sheep and goats
are also com m on. O ver 50 per cent o f the Cam eroon’s population,
estim ated to be 12.2 m illio n in 1992, is concentrated in these tw o
regions, w ith about 15 p er cent o f the total land area (M in istry o f
Planning and Regional D evelopm ent et al, undated, p2).
T h e m oist tro p ic a l fo rest zone stretch es from the A tla n tic
coast in the w est to Eq u ato rial G u in ea, G abon and the Congo in
the south, and to the C entral A frican R ep u b lic in the south-east.
A b out 35 p er cent o f th is land area is co vered b y dense hum id
forest. T h ere are also im p ortant sw am p/m angrove areas, espe
c ia lly near the A tlan tic coast and along Eq u ato rial G uinea. In the
m angrove areas, scattered settlem ents are fou n d , w ith fish in g
bein g the p rin c ip a l liv e lih o o d a ctiv ity . T h e m oist fo rest areas
h ave been hom e to m any g roup s o f in d ig en o u s p o p u la tio n s,
such as B a k a and B a k o la . H u n tin g and forest g ath erin g are the
13 Unless otherwise noted, material for this section was mostly taken from Mope Simo,
1995.
A g r ic u l t u r a l E x p a n s i o n and T r o p ic a l D e f o r e s t a t io n
m ain so u rces o f su b sisten ce fo r these p e o p le , alth o u g h cro p

p ro d u ctio n is also becom ing in c re a s in g ly p o p u lar. It is in th is
region that most logging has taken place in recent years. T w o m a
jor urb an centres, D o u ala and Yaounde, and m any sm aller tow ns
and m ajor ag ricu ltu ral settlem ents, are found in this region.
A ccordin g to the FA O ’s tro p ical forest assessm ent, C am eroon’s
n atu ral forests in 1990 co vered som e 20.4 m illio n hectares, 43.7
p er cent o f its total land a re a .14 T ro p ical rain forests m ade up 30
per cent o f this total and m oist deciduous forests 55 p er cent, w ith
the 15 p er cent rem aind er found in d ry deciduous and m ontane
zones. D eforestation during the 1980s w as estim ated to have been
122,000 hectares annually, w h ich w as about 0.6 p er cent o f its fo r
est area in 1990. It also had 23,000 hectares o f forest p lan tatio n
(FA O , 1993). T h ere had been som e d efo restatio n due to hum an
a ctivities long before the co lo n ia l p eriod, but deforestation accel
erated in the late 19th and e arly 20th centuries.
Lik e m any W est and C entral A frican countries, C am eroon has
been ra p id ly urbanizing. In 1992, about 42 p er cent o f its po p u la
tio n w as urb an, and in L itto ra l, North-w est and W est P ro vin ce s
o ver 70 p e r cent o f the p o p u la tio n w as urb an. A verage p o p u la
tion d en sity in the co u n try is re la tive ly low . There are over 60 in
habitants per square kilom etre in the Far N orth and South-western
Pro vin ces, but in the East, Adam w a and South Provin ces, po p u la
tio n d e n sity is o n ly 10 p e o p le p e r square k ilo m etre. T h is la tte r
area is w h ere m ost o f the rem aining reserves o f tro p ica l forests
lie.
In d u s tria l a c tiv itie s o ccu r in the co astal zone, e sp e c ia lly in
D ouala and Edea, w h ere there is easy access to sea transport. A l
thoug h som e agro-industries have d e velo p ed in the ru ral areas,
the b u lk o f the ru ra l p o p u la tio n is m ain ly engaged in crop and
livesto ck production, as w e ll as forestry and fishing activities. C o
coa, coffee, o il palm , cotton, rubber, tea, bananas and pineap ples
are am ong the im p ortant cash crops g row n. O th er than in the
East, the ru ral p o p u lation is d eep ly integrated in the m arket sys
tem .
14 These data differ somewhat from those in Table 1.1 taken from the FAO’s Production
Yearbooks. The authors warn that the data for Cameroon are considered unreliable.
Forests include land where tree crow n canopy covers more than 10 per cent of the
area. Much of this forest may be badly degraded.
In d u strializatio n has rem ained the top p rio rity o f successive

Cam eroonian governm ents since its independence. A g ricu ltu ral
m odernization, developm ent o f cash crops and agro-business have
been undertaken w ith in this context. In particular, governm ent
developm ent p o licies have em phasized the need to:
• support the drive for the developm ent o f agriculture by local

processing o f raw m aterials and the creation o f industries that
w ill prom ote m odernization;
• create home-based industries to replace im ports, notably o f
textiles; and
• prom ote training and em ploym ent in the m odern sector and
p articu larly in agricultural transform ation.
This industrial p o licy w as in itia lly stim ulated by rap id ly expand

ing dom estic and regional m arkets. At the same tim e, the a va il
ability o f cheap com m ercial energy from sources such as oil, coal
and hydroelectric dams stim ulated this process. The country m ain
tained a balanced budget and kept external borrow ing low until
the mid-1980s, w hen the dollar-dom inated prices collapsed o f its
m ain export com m odities such as o il, coffee, cocoa, cotton and
tim ber. This depreciation o f the d o llar against the CFA Franc ex
posed m ajor structural w eaknesses in the econom y and especially
of its industrial and agricultural developm ent. Since then the coun
try has been plunged into a chronic recession. Livelihoods o f the
m ajority o f both urban and rural populations have deteriorated
and the recent devaluation o f the CFA Franc w as accom panied by
inflated prices o f m any necessities.
Cam eroon is considered by the W orld Ban k to be a middle-
incom e developing country, w ith a G N P per capita o f US$830 in
1992. According to the 1996 U N D P ’s Hum an Developm ent Index,
it is ranked 127, out o f 174. It had slipped into the W orld B a n k ’s
low-incom e developing country category in 1994 due to negative
grow th o f GD P. Life expectancy at b irth was 56 years, and o n ly
about 50 per cent o f the population had access to health services
and safe drinking w ater. It is believed to have one o f the low est
d a ily food calorie supplies per capita (ie , 1981 calo ries) am ong
developing countries (U N D P, 1996, p l4 5 ). The extent o f social
deprivation ob viously varies greatly betw een rural and urban ar
eas and am ong different social groups.
g4 A g r ic u l t u r a l E x p a n s io n and T r o p i c a l D e f o r e s t a t io n
Cam eroon’s econom y depends heavily on prim ary production

and p rim itive agricultu ral techniques. A lack o f external support
services fo r agricultural intensification, com bined w ith high prices
fo r farm inputs and lo w prices fo r farm products, le ft peasants
w ith little choice other than to seek to expand cu ltivatio n into
forests and other accessible fertile land. In some cases, population
pressure played a role, esp ecially in the Fa r N orth and W estern
hig hland plateaux. B u t as deforestation in recent years has been
acute in the tro p ical forest zone in the lig h tly populated south
and east, population d ensity is cle a rly o n ly one factor. Logging
fo r export, the use o f agricultu ral land fo r cash crop production
by para-state com panies and w ealth ier farm ers and the urban de
m and fo r forest products such as tim ber, fuelw ood and charcoal
are amongst the principal proxim ate causes o f deforestation. State
forest protection m easures, changing land law s and a breakdow n
in the custom ary social structure and support system s have in d i
re ctly m ade the live s o f m any rural d w ellers m ore vu ln erab le,
thereby forcing m any to clear the forest. D eforestation processes
vary from place to place, as do th eir social and environm ental
consequences. These are condition ed both by lo cal factors and
the broader social and ecological context. The four case studies,
carried out m ainly in the m oist forest areas, help to bring out sev
eral issues and dilem m as.
The Cameroon D evelopm ent Corporation's (CDC) agro-industrial

plantations
Am ong the differen t ag ricu ltu ral expansion processes that are
taking place affecting forest areas at the lo cal le vel, the ro le o f
agro-industrial plan tatio n s is p a rtic u la rly sig n ifican t. These are
large-scale and cap ital intensive plantations sp ecializing in cash
crops for export. The core area o f these plantations constituted
some 98,000 hectares in 1994. They are ch ie fly located in four o f
the co u n try’s ten adm inistrative provinces: N orth-w est (Donga-
M antung d iv isio n ), W est (M en ou a d iv isio n ), South-w est (Fa k o ,
M em e and N dian d ivisio n s) and Litto ral (M oungo d ivisio n ). The
largest areas o f plantations are found in the South-west and Lit
toral Provinces, w here the soil is rich, rainfall is high and access to
transportation is easy. This is also the region w here urbanization is
rap id and w here unique m ontane and coastal ecosystem s exist.
T r o p ic a l D e f o r e s t a t i o n a n d A g r i c u l t u r a l E x p a n s io n in t h e C ase S t u d y C o u n t r ie s §5
A case study o f the C D C in the South-w est p ro vin ce sh ow ed

m any interesting features and processes o f forest clearance. CD C is
the largest, m ost d iversified and one o f the m ost efficien t corpora
tions in the country. It is involved in industrial plantations o f m ainly
banana, rubber, o il palm and tea, covering an area o f 40,000 hectares.
Som e o f these crops have p e rio d ica lly been h ig h ly profitable, but
others w ere m uch less so. T hey have differing im pacts on the forest
area.
T here exist three types o f farm ing system s w ith in areas op er
ated b y the C D C . First, there are areas d ire c tly m anaged b y the
com pany. These are h ig h ly m echanized plantations, based on so
p h isticated m ethods o f land d evelop m en t and crop p roduction.
Second , there are areas that w ere o rig in a lly d evelo p ed b y the
com pany but con sid ered la te r on to be u n econ om ic, freq u en tly
due to d e clin e in the p rice o f the crop planted . These areas are
leased on a contractual basis to in d ivid u als w h o can m uster cap i
tal and hired labour. Lastly, the com pany has sought to encourage
sm allholders in the v ic in ity to plant cash crops by provid ing pro
duction inputs in return for th eir agreem ent to sell th eir produce
to the com pany. In ad d itio n to these farm ing system s, it should
also be noted that m any o f the com pany’s w orkers, totalling some
15,000 in 1994, have tended to m aintain sm all farm s in the area by
clearin g forests in o rd er to supplem ent th e ir lo w w ages b y se lf
pro visio n in g and sales in local m arkets.
T hese d iffe re n t farm ing sub-system s in teract w ith im p ortant
consequences for both deforestation and livelih o o d s. Rubber and
o il palm p rod u ction , fo r exam ple, have been qu ite prom ising in
recent years. T h e com pany has sought to increase land area un
d er these crop s, w h ile keep in g the existing area un d er oth er
crops such as banana. Som e 4000 hectares o f the recen tly d efor
ested land in the B o a p lain has been planned for ind ustrial plan
tation and 1000 hectares in sm allholdings o f plantation crops. The
need on the part o f the C D C to rem ain e co n o m ica lly via b le , on
the one hand, and the need o f sm all farm ers and CD C w orkers to
increase production fo r cash, on the other hand, w ill continue to
increase pressures fo r agricultu ral expansion in the area.
g(J A g r ic u l t u r a l E x p a n s io n and T r o p ic a l D e f o r e s t a t io n
The Southern Bakundu Forest Reserve area

T h is case study show ed the co n flictin g p rio ritie s betw een the
governm ent and conservation o fficials, agro-industrial interests,
m igrant farm ers and indigenous population groups. The area w as
o ffic ia lly proclaim ed a Forest Reserve as early as 1940. In order
to control ‘ille g a l’ cu ltivatio n and poaching inside the reserve,
m ore stringent conservation rules w'ere im posed in the 1980s.
T his w as, in part, a result o f the a vailab ility o f fin an cial assistance
from foreign conservation agencies.
W h en the reserve w as established there had been little con
sultation w ith the local Bakundu people, w ho naturally perceived
its resources as still belonging to them . There have been im por
tant in-m igrations o f peasants and other ru ral dw ellers from else
w h ere in C am eroon and from n eig h b o u rin g N ig eria. Som e o f
them had settled in the area a cen tu ry ago, wrh ile others wrere
relative new com ers. In any event, a large num ber o f them w ere
alread y there w h en the reserve w as established by co lo n ial au
thorities. In addition, there are now agro-industrial units in clu d
ing rubber and o il palm plantations and a match-making industry.
These com panies have received concessions from the g o ve rn
m ent to operate w ith in the reserve. A great m any o f the w o rk
ers have becom e squatters on the n earb y lan d that th e y c u lti
vate to supplem ent their m eagre wages. In some cases, even civ il
servants, w ho are g en erally bad ly paid, have joined indigenous
peoples, peasants, m igrants and w orkers to clear land for cash crop
production.
In 1994, there w ere some 21 villages w ithin the reserve. Some
27 per cent o f the population consisted o f indigenous peoples,
and the rem ainder w ere households that had com e from outside
the reserve. These m igrant farm ers p lay a dom inant role in the
lo ca l econom ies. The m ajo rity o f the p o p u latio n , both o f local
and outsid e o rig in , w ere engaged in com m od ity p ro d u ctio n .
T h e y produced cocoa and robusta coffee for the m arket and a
variety o f food crops such as maize, plantains, cassava, cocoyam s,
vegetables and fruits. These latter crops w ere for self-provisioning
as w ell as for sale. Sw idden cultivation w as practised by all these
population groups. This has been quite viab le given a re la tive ly
low ratio o f population to availab le land. Freehold tenure is be
com ing in creasin g ly dom inant, although the indigenous groups
T r o p ic a l D e f o r e s t a t io n and A g r ic u l t u r a l E x p a n s io n in t h e C a s e S t u d y C o u n t r ie s gy
still retain m any custom ary com m unal land tenure practices such
as those o f land allocation, cu ltivatio n , gender relations and in
heritance. Volcanic soils in this region are hig hly fertile and rain
fall is abundant. Thanks to better roads and easy access to ports
and m ajor national urban centres, agricultu ral produce can be
easily sold. At the same tim e, im proved road infrastructure has al
low ed logging enterprises to flourish - often w ith the in vo lve
m ent o f p o w erfu l local entrepreneurs and hig her national o ffi
cials.
Good soil and ra in fa ll com bined w ith efficie n t infrastructure
also help explain w h y agro-industries specializing in rubber and
oil palm plantations have been established in the region. As ind i
cated earlier, these industries w ere norm ally assigned concessions
in areas designated fo r plantation activities. A decline in w orld
prices for prim ary com m odities such as cocoa and robusta coffee
in the 1980s encouraged agro-industries to expand th eir planta
tions into new forest areas w here soils are in itia lly fertile. This has
been the case too w ith sm allholders and rich er in d ivid u al farm
ers. Tree crops such as coffee are left intact follow ing price falls,
w h ile both cash and food crops are planted in new ly cleared for
est areas. A new variety o f cocoa that o n ly takes tw o to three
years to m ature has becom e increasingly popular am ong well-to-
do farmers, w ho hire w age labourers to clear the forest land. U n
em ployed youth in the area becam e a m ain source o f this hired
labour force. A m ixture o f local and external processes have con
tributed to agricultu ral expansion and forest clearance in this
area. It w ould be quite m eaningless to try to estim ate w hat pro
p ortion is due to export crop expansion, to clearance fo r self
p rovisioning and local consum ption, to com m ercial logging, to
governm ent p o licies in granting concessions, to road construc
tion and to various other factors, as they are a ll clo sely in terre
lated.
The M balm ayo Forest Reserve area

The study in the M balm ayo Forest Reserve area brings out sim i
lar socioeconom ic and eco log ical processes to those m entioned
above, but there w ere also additional specific ones. The area is in
close proxim ity to the large tow n o f Yaounde and there are a
num ber o f medium-size tow ns in the region, but in-m igration to
gg A g r ic u l t u r a l E x p a n s io n and T r o p i c a l D e f o r e s t a t io n
the reserve area is re la tive ly insig nifican t. O n the w h o le, rural

population density is very low . There is no sign, for exam ple, o f
reduced fa llo w periods resu lting from land scarcity (H o lla n d et
al, 1992). Fo r m uch o f the rural population, a shortage o f labour
rather than land is a m ajor problem . D eforestation is perceived
as an op portunity to im prove livelih o o d s rather than as a socio-
environm ental problem . For peasant farm ers, there are no direct
costs but on ly benefits from forest clearance. M ore labour is also
needed because land q u ality is generally poor in the region, and
m uch o f the best fertile land is now included inside the reserve
w here peasants’ access is restricted.
T rad itio n al land tenure arrangem ents still p revail am ong the
original inhabitants although, encouraged by state policies, these
are rap id ly being replaced by freehold land rights held by in d i
viduals or corporations. A typ ical farm, operated by an indigenous
or m igrant farm er, com prises o f a sm all perennial home-garden, a
perennial tree-crop area o f cocoa under the forest canopy inter
spersed w ith fruit trees and bananas, and a food crop area involv
ing the rotation o f crop land w ith second grow th forest cover.
Fo od production activities take place m ainly w ith in the reserve
because o f the fertile soil. In any event, m uch o f this land w as a l
read y used by lo cal in h ab itan ts before the reserve w as estab
lished. Although some new areas are cleared in an attempt to grow
plantain and other food crops for the m arket, on the w hole, peas
ants clear fallo w s in parcels that they had farm ed before the re
serve w as established. This is because land clearance is easier in
second ary forest areas than in dense virg in forests. Local level
pressure by peasant farm ers on large-scale deforestation in the
area seem ed to be relatively low.
The K ilum m a ssif area

The case study o f the K ilum m ontane agro-ecological zone looks
at changing patterns o f farm ing system s, local social structures
and related processes. It brings out processes that contrast w ith
those seen in the above case studies in low -land tro p ical forest
areas. So cial and eco log ical characteristics in this area, how ever,
have m uch in com m on w ith highland areas in East A frica and
elsew here (Barraclo u g h and G him ire, 1995). Soil erosion and the
deterioration o f w atersheds are visib le in some locations. Bush
T r o p ic a l D e f o r e s t a t io n and A g r ic u l t u r a l E x p a n s io n in t h e C a s e S t u d y C o u n t r ie s gC)
fires, shortening o f fallo w s and lim ited extension o f cu ltivation

into forest and brush areas can also be observed. Fertile land is
scarce and hig h ly sought after. There are a few areas w here popu
lation density has reached over 100 persons per square kilo m e
tre, although the average density in the m assif area as a w hole is
under 50 persons per square kilom etre.
Traditionally, land use systems tended to be hig hly sustainable.
Most households practised integrated agro-forestry practices, and
fallow s w ere long. Livestock raising, w hich is an im portant eco
nom ic activity in the region, was based on transhum ance. The tra
ditional land tenure system guaranteed access to land to all the
com m unity members and social inequalities w ere less pronounced.
The arrival o f cash crops such as coffee and the com m ercializa
tion o f livestock brought about im portant social differentiation.
The richer and m ore successful farm ers w ere able to hold m ore
productive plots, consolidate holdings and take better advantage
o f infrastructure and state support services. A pparently, state ex
tension services coordinated by the N orth W est D evelopm ent
Authority (M ID E N O ) on the w hole w ere hig hly supportive o f av
erage peasants’ livelih ood s. Som e ca ll this program m e ‘one o f
the m ost successful integrated rural developm ent projects in
the co u n try’ (M op e Sim o, 1994, quoted in 1995, p l4 l) . It pro
vided credit, im proved varieties o f seeds, technical assistance and
better m arketing facilities. Bu t recent structural adjustm ent pro
grammes have led to the suspension o f the activities o f M ID EN O ,
due to lack o f funds. At the same tim e, the governm ent and inter
national conservation agencies have sought to include m uch o f
the rem aining forest and other m ountain com m on property re
sources into a com prehensive protective regim e, thus curtailing
peasants’ custom ary access to these areas. W ith d raw al o f state
support for agricultu ral intensification and the grow ing control
by conservation agencies over the rem aining uncultivated land
areas left peasants in a very difficult situation.
Conclusion
It can be seen from the above discussion that local le ve l proc
esses affecting agricultural and forest land use in Cam eroon vary
w idely. In general, it appears that population grow th and poverty
are inadequate explanations o f increased deforestation. Population
grow th has been v e ry rap id in urban areas, but w ith in the rural
areas studied, recent in-m igration has been low, as has the rate o f
natural increase. D uring the last decade, Cam eroon’s agricultu ral
population increased by o n ly 13 per cent w h ile its total po pula
tio n grew by n early one-third (FA O , 1995).
T he greatest confusion lies w ith land tenure arrangem ents.
T he governm ent’s 1974 tenure reform favouring a freehold ing
system o f in d ivid u al and corporate private holdings has caused
d isru p tion o f trad itio n al com m unal land tenure practices, but it
has not been able to replace them . The state’s control over cus
tom ary com m on p roperty resources such as the forest areas is
freq u en tly contested b y lo cal com m unities. T h is generates little
local interest in protecting forests and soils, w h ile the state agen
cies do not have the capacity to do this by them selves.
The governm ent has m any contrad ictory agricultural and for
estry po licies. O n the one hand, it is actively prom oting agricul
tural expansion for cash crop production and export. O n the other
hand, it has sought to protect forest and w ater resources by creat
ing parks and reserves and restricting access to them by custom
ary peasant uses. At the sam e tim e, production w ith in the peas
ants sector is in creasin g ly directed tow ards m arkets o ver w h ich
producers have no control. The governm ent’s developm ent strat
egies have actively prom oted this process. The dilem m a w ith re
spect to the reliance on the m arket is that both the rise and fall o f
com m odity prices have tended to put greater pressures on culti-
vatable forest areas. At local levels, agricultural intensification, im
proved social services, clear and equitable land tenure rights and
greater local p articip ation in the protection and use o f natural
resources are crucial. Such policies could help in reducing undesir
able agricultural expansion into forest areas that for various rea
sons should rem ain forested.
M a l a y s ia 15
M alaysia is com posed o f three m ajor regions: Peninsular M alaysia,

Sabah and Saraw ak. It has a total land area o f 33.2 m illio n hec
tares, o f w h ich the peninsula covers about 40 per cent, Sabah 22
15 Unless otherwise noted, the bulk of the information used in this section is derived from
Jom o K. Sundaram and Chang Y ii Tan, 1994 (draft).
per cent and Saraw ak 38 per cent. In the early 1980s, about two-
thirds o f the national territory w as under natural forests.16 Another
3 m illio n hectares w ere under rubber and o il palm , thus covered
generally by perennial vegetation. Regionally, Saraw ak had nearly
h alf o f the nation’s forest areas; the peninsula held about one-third;
and the rem ainder w ere in Sabah. These three regions differ enor
m ously in their land use history, deforestation patterns, dem o
g raphic characteristics and socioeconom ic conditions, although
they share m any sim ilar characteristics as w ell.
M alaysia’s population in 1997 w as about 21 m illion. A pproxi
m ately 80 per cent o f the population w as concentrated in the
peninsula. The national population grow th rate w as 2.4 per cent
per year. Sab ah ’s h ig h er rate o f p o p u latio n increase at 3-7 per
cent per annum in clu d es consid erab le net im m igration from
neig hbouring areas in the P h ilip p in e s and In d o n esia. In te rn al
rural to urban population m ovem ents have been rap id since the
1960s. In 1994, some 53 per cent o f the country’s population was
urban. This urbanization w as stim ulated by rural poverty and a
high demand for unskilled labour in urban areas. In 1990, some 29
per cent of the rural population, com pared to 7 per cent in urban
areas, w ere believed to live in poverty (U N D P, 1996). Sw idden
farm ing still persists in parts o f Sabah and Saraw ak and is often
blam ed for deforestation. As w ill be seen later, it is a factor in
some places, but a relatively insignificant cause o f forest clearance
com pared to m any other socioeconom ic processes.
In recent years, the percentage o f the labour force in the p ri
m ary sector consisting o f agriculture, forestry m ining and fishing
has been in steady decline. In 1992, it w as about 27 per cent of
the po pulation, as com pared to 63 per cent in I960. In d ustrial
and service sectors, on the other hand, have expanded rem ark
ably. In I960, these activities em ployed 12 and 25 per cent o f the
lab our force respectively, w h ile in 1992, industries em ployed 23
per cent and services em ployed 50 per cent (U N D P, 1996, p l6 8 ).
M alaysia’s per capita incom e w as US$3140 in 1993, w hich puts
it in the W o rld B a n k ’s upper-m iddle-incom e group o f d evelo p
ing countries. The d istrib u tio n o f incom e, how ever, w as am ong
the m ost concentrated o f South-east A sian countries. Betw een
16 The FAO’s tropical forest assessment estimated only 53-5 per cent for 1990 (FAO,
1993).
C)2 A g r ic u l t u r a l E x p a n s io n and T r o p i c a l D e f o r e s t a t io n
1981-93, fo r exam ple, the low est 40 per cent o f the households
in the country w ere estim ated to have 12.9 p er cent o f the na
tional incom e, as com pared to 15-5 per cent in Thailand, 16.6 per
cent in the P h ilip p in e s and 20.8 p er cent in Ind onesia (U N D P,
1996, p l7 0 ).
R apid industrialization took place in the 1970s and 1980s. The
in d u strial sector is cu rren tly receivin g a high p rio rity w ith in the
governm ent’s developm ent strategy. Prim a ry com m odities, h o w
ever, are still the m ain export earners. Petroleum , tim ber, o il palm
and rub ber constituted the p rin cip al com m odity exports. P e n in
sular M alaysia is by far the most developed in terms o f infrastruc
ture and m anufacturing. Fo r Sabah and Saraw ak, petroleum and
tim ber have been the backbone o f the econom y, w ith tim ber ex
ports to Ja p a n being p articu larly im portant. T here is little doubt
that the M alaysian econom ic grow th in recent decades has been
h e a v ily dependent on the exploitation o f natural resources. B e
tw een 1971-89, fo r exam ple, resource rents from tim ber and m in
erals w ere estim ated to am ount to one-third o f M alaysia’s gross in
vestm ent.
T he co n trib u tio n o f n atu ral resource exports to econom ic
g row th is lik e ly to be substantial for several years to com e, but
the governm ent’s highest p rio rity is cle a rly the developm ent o f
the m anufacturing sector. Besid es refin ed petroleum products,
the governm ent plans g reater processing o f natural resources
such as the production o f ven eer and p lyw o o d instead o f the
export o f raw tim ber (ie saw n logs). Rubber and o il palm planta
tions are becom ing m ore m echanized and econom ically efficient,
although the so cial conditions o f m any plantation w orkers con
tinue to attract m uch criticism . The establishm ent o f new agro-
export plantations by clearing forests has declined recen tly due
to several reasons. Am ong these are the scarcity o f easily accessi
b le and p ro d u ctive land , risin g costs o f land developm ent and
g ro w in g criticism o f deforestation a ctivities by en viro n m en tal
N G O s and others in the com m unity.
There have also been several o fficia l attem pts to protect for
ests through legislation, such as the establishm ent o f strictly pro
tected parks and nature reserves as w ell as the introduction o f sci
e n tific forest m anagem ent in reserve forests. H ow ever, in m any
cases, p o litical econom y realities have thw arted these initiatives.
T r o p ic a l D e f o r e s t a t io n a n d A g r i c u l t u r a l Ex p a n sio n in t h e Case S t u d y C o u n tr ie s 03
The autonom ous p o litical po w er o f each M alaysian state in the

control o f its natural resources lim its the scope o f the federal
governm ent’s authority over forest use. So too do co alitions be
tw een pow erful business and po litical elites protecting their spe
cial interests. These frequently conflict w ith the interests o f local
lo w incom e producers attem pting to protect and im prove their
livelihood s. These conflicts have rendered m any app aren tly en
lightened p u blic p o licies ineffective, if not obsolete. There are
num erous contrad ictory processes at state and local levels. The
fate o f the rem aining forests is far from certain, even though direct
pressures on the forests, arising from agricultural expansion in
volving both plantation and peasant sectors, have receded in re
cent years.
Com plexities o f land use change and deforestation a t the state

and local levels
In Pen in su lar M alaysia, the m ajor processes o f deforestation can
be traced from the beginning o f the 20th century. T hey w ere di
rectly related to the expansion o f export-oriented plantation ag
riculture. T here w as a rapid increase in hig hly profitable rubber
plantations until the Second W orld W ar. These plantations w ere
operated p rin cip ally by foreign com panies. A fter independence,
in the 1960s and 1970s, o il palm plantations expanded. About
1.12 m illion hectares o f forest area w as cleared for o il palm , and
226,700 hectares for rubber betw een 1966 and 1984 alone. M ixed
horticultu re, other crops and paddy also expanded in term s o f
the area brought under cultivation. Shifting cultivation com prised
a very sm all percentage o f overall land use in Peninsula M alaysia.
A fter 1956, the Federal Land D evelopm ent A uthority (F E L D A )
played an im portant role in clearing forest areas for agricultural
use. One o f its prim ary missions was settling sm all landless fanners.
It also attempted to consolidate a M alay peasantry that w ould sup
port the governm ent against the communist-led insurgency in the
1950s. B y the late 1980s, FELD A had developed nearly one m illion
hectares o f agricultural land, p rin cip ally for the cultivation o f oil
palm and rubber. There w as a steady increase in agricultural area
after the 1950s, reaching nearly 4 m illion hectares in 1986. The area
devoted to the production o f rubber subsequently stabilized, but
the area under oil palm continued to increase until the late 1980s.
C)4 A g r ic u l t u r a l E x p a n s io n and T r o p ic a l D e f o r e s t a t io n
A g ricu ltu ral expansion and d eforestation patterns in Sabah

app ear som ew hat sim ilar to those o f the p en in su la, but on a
m uch sm aller scale. C om m ercial logging, how ever, w as a v e ry
im portant cause o f forest clearance and degradation in Sabah.
The B ritish Borneo Tim ber Com pany had a m onopoly o f Sabah’s
tim b er u tiliz a tio n b etw een 1919 and 1952. A fte r the Second
W o rld W ar, three large foreign com panies and eight lo cal firm s
expanded logging operations. T he Sabah Foundation w as estab
lished in 1966 to exploit tim ber resources, as w e ll as to develop
the fo restry sector along silv ic u ltu ra l lin es. T he state g o vern
m ent granted the Foundatio n 855,000 hectares o f forest area in
1970. Since the 1980s, several large investm ents by com m ercial
com panies have been m ade in the forestry sector, including for
est plantations.
About 9 p er cent o f Sabah’s land area w as brought under cul
tivatio n by 1989, w ith m ost o f this area being planted w ith o il
palm , rubber and cocoa. Shifting cultivation accounted for 2.7 per
cent o f the agricultural area. The land area utilized for the produc
tion o f annual food crops such as paddy expanded very slo w ly
betw een I960 and 1990.
A g riculture has continued to be an im portant com ponent o f
Sabah’s econom y. Large-scale plantations, m ainly o f o il palm and
cocoa, expanded rap id ly in the 1980s. Sabah’s state developm ent
agencies such as the R u ral D evelo p m ent C orp oration (K P D ),
w h ich also prom oted cash crop production am ong sm allholders,
prom oted som e deforestation, but the areas w ere in sig n ifican t
com pared to those on the peninsula. Fo r exam ple, K P D cleared
on ly 33,000 hectares o f forest area betw een 1977 and 1988, p rin
c ip a lly for planting cocoa, coffee and some shorter-term crops.
In Saraw ak, logging is considered to be the m ajor direct cause
o f deforestation. The W orld Ban k suggests that o f the 3.1 m illion
hectares o f the country’s forests logged in the 1980s, 2.3 m illio n
hectares w ere in Sarawak (W orld Bank, 1991, p4). A iMalaysian gov
ernm ent source indicated that by 1990, about h alf o f Saraw ak’s 8.3
m illion hectares o f forest had already been logged to rem ove the
most valuab le tim ber. M any specialists b elieve that such logging
operations dam aged from 30 to 70 per cent o f the rem aining
trees. The W orld Ban k estim ated that by the end o f the 1980s the
logging industry in the state em ployed about 60,000 people w hich
T r o p ic a l D e f o r e s t a t io n a n d A g r i c u l t u r a l E x p a n sio n in t h e Case S t u d y C o u n tr ie s ^5
w as about 40 per cent o f the w orkers em ployed by the tim ber in
dustry in the w hole country (W orld Bank, 1991, p7).
The adverse im pact o f logging as carried out in Saraw ak on the
environm ent and livelih o o d s o f local indigenous peoples w as
w id e ly publicized b y m any non-governm ental environm ental and
developm ent organizations. Since 1987, negatively affected tribal
peoples have staged blockades o f roads used to extract tim ber,
and other protests against logging com panies have becom e w ide
spread. The governm ent has been forced to reduce logging activi
ties in Saraw ak som ewhat, taking into account recom m endations
made by the International Tropical Tim ber Organization (IT T O ).
Shifting cultivation is w idespread in Sarawak. B y the late 1980s,
it was estim ated to occur on about 18 per cent o f the state’s total
land area. It w as, how ever, m ostly concentrated in d ryland h ill
forests (w h ich com prised 56 per cent o f the state’s forests). Clear
ance o f tropical forests for sw idden cultivation covered less than
4 per cent o f the state’s total land area. About 20 per cent o f the
state’s population o f only 230,000 people w ere estim ated to have
been engaged in this agricultu ral practice. Sw idd en cultivation
had existed in Saraw ak for m any centuries. As noted in e arlier
case studies, sw idden cultivators usually prefer to clear secondary
grow th forests for th eir rotation as these require m uch less la
bour to prepare than do virg in forest areas.
O th er ag ricu ltu ral land uses are m inor, accounting fo r less
than 4 per cent o f total land use. Estate and plantation areas ac
counted for about 1 p er cent and agricultu ral sm allholders for
another 2.7 per cent o f the state’s land area. B y 1988, the p rin ci
pal five crops (ie, rubber, oil palm , cocoa, paddy and pepper) cov
ered 456,000 hectares or under 4 per cent o f the state’s total land
area. The bulk o f agriculture in Saraw ak has rem ained sm allhold
ing, rather than large plantation, agriculture. Plantation ag ricu l
ture is a relatively new phenom enon to Saraw ak, although in re
cent years the state governm ent has provided certain econom ic
incentives to develop this sector on a m ore significant scale.
Conclusion: recent trends and policy issues

M alaysia’s experience w ith deforestation and agricultural expan
sion has been som ew hat different from that in m any developing
countries. R ural poverty, skew ed landow nership and population
C)^ A g r ic u l t u r a l E x p a n s io n and T r o p ic a l D e f o r e s t a t io n
grow th have app arently not been m ajor factors in driving defor
estation processes in M alaysia. M oreover, the pace o f agricultu ral
expansion has recen tly slow ed. N ew non-agricultural pressures
on forest areas have em erged from logging (m o stly fo r export),
the developm ent o f infrastructure, dams, tourist resorts, land rec
lam ation and aquaculture projects. The governm ent’s recent drive
tow ards greater urbanization and industrialization, how ever, has
resulted in m any agricultural lands being converted to urban uses
such as housing, com m ercial real estate and p h ysical infrastruc
ture.
As far as the agricultural sector itself is concerned, further ex
pansion is no lon g er forecast to lead to m ajor deforestation.
Sm allho lder agriculture, w h ich w as actively prom oted after inde
pendence through m any ru ral developm ent program m es, has ex
panded o n ly m arg inally in recent years. There is now some pre
occupation that agricultu ral production m ay be constrained b y a
lack o f lab our due to grow ing rural-to-urban m igration, and that
some good crop land m ay be left uncultivated. The pace o f sh ift
ing cu ltivation too is u n lik ely to grow. M ost o f those engaged in
this farm ing system seem to have enough lan d fo r m aintaining
sustainable fa llo w periods. T h is is o b vio u sly lik e ly to be in ter
rupted if tim ber operations and cash-crop plantations continue to
encroach on shifting cultivators’ territories and if the governm ent
establishes new strictly protected forest reserves o r national parks
at shifting cultivators’ expense. The new generation o f sw idden
cu ltivators, how ever, tends to seek w age em ploym ent in settled
ag ricu ltu ral areas and urban centres w h ere w ages are m ore at
tractive. Regarding plantation agricultu re, the governm ent ap
pears to be slow ing dow n investm ents in public sector land devel
opm ent projects, but encouraging the private sector to participate
m ore in crop production as w ell as agro-processing. T his sector,
on the w hole, has rem ained econom ically com petitive. Plantation
agricultu re rem ains significant and m ay continue to expand in
Sabah and possibly in Saraw ak as w ell. Bu t there have been few
recent im portant expansions o f com m ercial agricultu re into P e
ninsular M alaysia’s forest areas.
As m entioned above, pressures from abroad and natio n al
N G O s have had som e p o sitive im pact in slo w in g careless lo g
ging. N eve rth e le ss, log g ing s till p ro vid e s an im p ortant source
T r o p i c a l D e f o r e s t a t io n and a g r i c u l t u r a l E x p a n s io n in t h e C a s e S t u d y C o u n t r ie s Cjy
o f revenue for the Sabah and Saraw ak state governm ents. T hey
are thus u n lik ely to stop granting forest concessions. This is espe
cia lly the case in Saraw ak, w here logging is not only an im portant
source o f state revenue but also o f p o litical patronage. The state
governm ents, therefore, have considerable autonom y in deciding
how forests should be used. At tim es, there have been pow erful
p o litical pressures from w ith in the states for legal and illegal log
ging. T h eir fiscal structure, how ever, leaves them hig h ly depend
ent on the federal governm ent for m uch o f their other revenues.
This could enable the federal governm ent to use its financial con
tributions to dangle budgets as a carrot to induce state govern
m ents to im plem ent im proved forest protection m easures.
M alaysia is now attem pting to become a ‘developed nation’ by
the year 2020. To realize this, it is estim ated that the country w ill
require an econom ic grow th rate o f at least 7 per cent per an
num. It is doubtful that agriculture w ill be able to contribute to
rap id econom ic grow th at rates approaching its contribution in
the past. Indeed, m uch o f the country’s productive resources and
p o licy p rio rities have already been shifted to the m anufacturing
and service sector. The relative im portance o f agricultu re in the
national econom y w ill p robab ly continue to regress. Since there
are few lo w lan d forest areas left to exploit w here agricultu re is
prom ising, there w ill be negligible pressure on these forests for
crop production purposes. As for the upland and re la tive ly inac
cessible forest areas, it is hig hly im probable that agricultural ex
pansion w ill continue to be as im portant as in the past. Deforesta
tion is lik e ly to increase in the short run, how ever, because o f
com m ercial logging and pressures from other non-agricultural
uses such as infrastructure and urbanization.
C urrent deforestation processes m ay be controlled if there is
greater com m itm ent by citizens and authorities alike to environ
m entally and socially sustainable developm ent. This im plies, among
other things, the protection o f forest-based custom ary livelihoods.
In recent years there has been increasing local level awareness of
these issues. Several N G O s have m obilized support for the pro
tection o f M alaysia’s forests and its forest dw ellers. T he govern
ment has not been able to neglect totally local as w ell as interna
tional pressures to stop undesirable deforestation in the country.
M any form al po licy measures that have been developed, however,
C)g A g r ic u l t u r a l E x p a n s io n and T r o p i c a l D e f o r e s t a t io n
rem ain to be effectively im plem ented. Pressing environm ental is

sues frequently receive scant attention at federal and state levels.
P o litic a l com m itm ents to deal w ith them co n stru ctively w ill re
quire the m obilization o f p o p ularly based social forces.
B e fo re attem pting to m ake g en eralizatio n s based on these
cases, it is instructive to revisit them , focusing on the role o f in
ternatio nal trade in prom oting or deterring ag ricu ltu ral expan
sion and deforestation. This is done in Chapter 4.
L in k a g e s w it h I n t e r n a t io n a l T r a d e
I n t r o d u c t io n
C oncern has been expressed in vario u s in tern atio n al fora and

pu blications that the trade and agricultu ral p o licies o f in d u strial
ized countries o f the N orth w ere d irectly contributing to unde
sirable deforestation in the South. This hypothesis suggested that
reform s in the international trading system , and o f trade and ag
ricu ltu ral p o licie s in the in d u strializ ed countries o f the N orth,
could contribute to slo w in g unnecessary tro p ical deforestation.
The authors o f this book attem pt to exam ine this issue in the
light o f the case studies that w ere sum m arized in Chapter 3.
The m ethodological d ifficulties o f analysing linkages betw een
trade and the ag ricu ltu ral p o licies o f developed countries, and
deforestation processes in developing ones, are form idable to say
the least. N ation states and their econom ies can usefully be envi
sioned as com plex, open, interacting systems (G arcia, 1984). Trade
among nations im plies exchange o f goods and services across na
tio nal frontiers, but this is o n ly one o f the m any w ays in w hich
com plex societies interact. D eforestation processes stim ulated by
foreign trade in a particular tropical country are in part shaped by
that co u n try’s socioeconom ic and p o litical structure at a given
tim e as wrell as by m any other factors, such as its bargaining pow er
vis-a-vis its various trading partners. Linkages that appear clear
and firm in one period m ay be very different and perhaps contra
d icto ry in another. Sim p listic m odels show ing correlations be
tw een tro p ical deforestation and foreign trade can be danger
o u sly m isleading as guides to p o lic y in both d evelo p in g and
developed countries. T hey are unable to take the com plex inter
relationships betw een dynam ic open sub-systems into account.
O ften it is im possible to estim ate even ro ughly the extent to
w hich agricultural expansion into forest areas is driven by demand
fo r agricultu ral exports in contrast to dem ands for agricultu ral

products fo r dom estic consum ption and industries. These d ifficu l
ties increase w ith a co u n try’s size and its level o f developm ent.
China and Brazil, for exam ple, are large countries w ith im portant
and dynam ic industrial sectors. The export o f agricultural output
from the Am azon region to B ra z il’s industrialized south, and from
C hina’s south-western Yunnan province to its m ore industrialized
east as w e ll as to urban areas o f Yunnan itself, far overshadow s
the im portance o f farm exports abroad. M oreover, the im port
content o f both exports and im ports becomes increasingly difficult
to id en tify as national econom ies becom e m ore integrated and
technolog ically sophisticated. M alaysia’s exports o f o il palm , rub
ber, tim ber, m inerals, petroleum and other prim ary com m odities
in the mid-1990s w ere n early equalled by its exports o f m anufac
tured products. Guatem ala’s and Cam eroon’s agricultural com m od
ity exports have a high im port content in addition to a significant
share o f m any export crops being destined for dom estic uses.
In som e cases, expanding com m odity exports seem to have
been a p rin cip al factor d rivin g recent deforestation. Forests m ay
be cleared to m ake w ay fo r export crops and m ay be cleared or
b ad ly degraded by the export o f tim ber. These activities bring
m igrations o f w orkers and settlers into forest areas w ho, in turn,
undertake forest clearance fo r food production and other pu r
poses. M ore indirectly, export crop expansion and m odernization
in non-forest areas often accelerates the displacem ent o f peasant
producers and rural w orkers made redundant by greater m echa
nization. Som e o f these displaced peasants and w orkers m igrate
to forest frontiers. In the case study countries there w ere few re
liab le data that w ould perm it even very rough approxim ations o f
the qu antitative im portance for deforestation o f diverse interact
ing and overlapping deforestation processes. M oreover, com m od
ity exports m ay be accom panied by increasing food im ports that
may, in turn, tem porarily at least, dim inish pressures to clear for
est for food crops.
The dynam ics and im pacts o f forest clearance are to a great
extent determ ined by a com plex series o f public policies and so
c ia l institutions that have evolved in each country as a result o f
historical processes that are alw ays to some extent unique. Cross
country correlations betw een deforestation and abstract national
level variables such as incom e levels, trade policies, foreign indebt

edness, food crop self-sufficiency, human rights, demographic trends
and the like are alw ays open to very divergent interpretations. The
FAO ’s publication o f data estim ating changes in forest cover during
the 1980s in 89 tropical countries stim ulated a num ber o f such
cross-country statistical analyses (fo r exam ple, Bro w n and Pearce,
1994). Not surprisingly, relationships betw een deforestation and
other m acro-variables turned out to be w eak, vo la tile and often
contradictory. C onsidering the data and the m ethodologies used,
it is hard to im agine how they could have been otherw ise.
In the real w orld , trade is m ediated by social institutions in
w h ich some groups gain from exports and others are lik e ly to
become worse off than before. Trade is seldom the win-win propo
sition depicted in elem entary econom ics texts. M uch depends on
the tim e period considered and the criteria used in judging how
it affects different parties. In looking at linkages betw een defor
estation and international trade in the case study countries, their
im pacts on the livelih o o d s o f the lo w incom e groups affected
during the short and m edium term s w ere am ong the p rin cip al
evaluation criteria em ployed in this book.
B r a z il
As was seen earlier, the expansion o f sugarcane plantations and

later o f coffee and cacao prim arily for export w as a princip al factor
contributing to B ra z il’s econom ic and dem ographic grow th from
early colonial tim es until the mid-20th century. Com m odity exports
w ere estim ated to have accounted for from one-tenth to one-third
of the country’s econom ic grow th during the 19th and early 20th
centuries (Bulm er-Thom as, 1994). This agricultural expansion stimu
lated by export m arkets was also responsible for the clearance o f the
m ajor portion o f B ra z il’s once extensive A tlan tic coastal forests.
M uch o f this p revio u sly forested area, how ever, w as suitable for
sustainable agricultural uses, w ith deep soils, gentle topography
and adequate rainfall.
O ne cannot judge the virtu a l destruction o f m ost o f B ra z il’s
Atlantic coastal forests to have been more detrim ental to the pos
sib ilities o f e ve n tu ally ach ievin g sustainable developm ent than
was forest clearance in much o f W estern Europe or in the eastern
A g r ic u l t u r a l E x p a n s io n and T r o p i c a l D f.f o r e s t a t io n
U n ited States. As in m any n ow in d u strialized countries, forest

clearance m ay have been unnecessarily w asteful and m any areas
w ere cle a re d that in retro sp ect m ight b etter have been le ft
forested. N onetheless, export-led a g ricu ltu ral expansion p layed
a cru cia l ro le in B ra z il’s developm ent into w hat is now an up-
per-m iddle-incom e n e w ly in d u strialized country. T he so cial im
pacts o f this agricultu ral export-led developm ent, how ever, w ere
catastrophic for large sectors o f the co u n try’s population. Its in
digenous peoples w ere nearly exterm inated by disease and harsh
treatm ent, as they w ere in most o f the Am ericas. Slaves brought
from A frica seldom enjoyed im proved livelih o o d s, nor did m ost
o f th e ir descendants. M any im m igrants from Europe, the N ear
East and Ja p a n prospered, but som e experienced g rind ing pov
e rty for generations. Po verty in B ra z il’s north-east, w here sugar
exports began, has becom e notoriously severe and persistent.
Land degradation in this sub-hum id tro p ical region w as acceler
ated by careless deforestation follow ed b y unsustainable agricul
tu ral practices that contributed to w orsening p o verty and m as
sive out-m igrations, esp ecially during drought years.
The m ain explanations o f m assive and persistent p o verty in
B ra z il’s relatively prosperous national econom y, how ever, have to
be sought not from trade and dem ographic grow th, but from in
stitutions and policies that excluded the poor from opportunities
to im prove th e ir livelih o o d s. Slavery and its afterm ath strength
ened a co n stellation o f such institutions. These included a land
tenure system that denies most o f its participants access to suffi
cient resources for self-provisioning. T he p o litical institutions re
q u ired to m aintain the control o f land and lab our by a class o f
large property ow ners excluded most o f the poor from m eaning
ful participation. International trade contributed to this situation,
but o n ly ind irectly. C olon ial elites and th eir successors d elib er
a tely constructed an in stitu tional fram ew ork that allo w ed them
to control m ost o f the benefits from trade in partnership w ith
counterparts abroad w ho also benefited. Persistent and often
w orsening po verty during periods o f boom ing agricultu ral ex
ports w ere accom panied by rap id deforestation. These negative
im pacts associated w ith trade could not have been dealt w ith
m erely through m ore so cia lly and e n viro n m e n tally sen sitive
trade policies in countries receiving B ra z il’s exports. Such policies
m ight have helped in some instances, just as G reat B rita in ’s ban

ning o f the slave trade e arly in the 19th century p rob ab ly con
tributed to sla ve ry’s even tu al dem ise in the A m ericas several
decades later, but this w as o n ly one factor am ong m any others.
Present-day deforestation in Am azonia and in one o f B ra z il’s
few rem aining A tlan tic forests exam ined in the lo ca l le ve l case
studies is fo r the m ost part o n ly in d ire ctly lin k e d w ith foreign
trade in ag ricu ltu ral and forest com m odities. C attle ranching is
d ire ctly associated w ith current recent changes in forest land
use as m ost o f it w as con verted to pasture. In 1994, how ever,
o n ly a little o ver one-fourth o f B ra z il’s m erch an d ise exports
w ere a g ricu ltu ra l products. O n ly 3 p er cent o f these exports
consisted o f m eat and liv e cattle, m ost o f w h ich w ere being
p ro d u ced in the South ra th e r than in A m azonia (FA O , 1995).
State su b sid ies and related p o lic ie s d rove m ost d efo restatio n
in Am azonia rather than international m arkets for meat and other
agricultural com m odities. This was clearly brought out in the five
lo ca l le v e l cases. N on eth eless, a few w e a lth y cattle ranchers
lin k e d to export m arkets p ro b ab ly exercised excessive in flu
ence in bringing about such so cia lly and environm entally harm
ful po licies.
In the M ato G rosso cases there w ere some direct foreign in
vestm ents in agro-export enterprises. These m ostly failed eventu
ally, but in any event the foreign investors w ere apparently more
attracted by the prospect o f short-term subsidized profits ac
com panying sp ecu lative a ctivitie s than in longer-term agro-ex
ports. The spectacular boom in soya exports after the 1950s was
in part d riven by the Eu ro p ean C om m unity’s com m on a g ricu l
tu ral p o lic y (C A P ). W h ile there w as som e soya production on
form erly forested areas in M ato Grosso, this w as not a significant
factor in its deforestation. The expansion and m echanization o f
soya production for export in Parana and other southern states
ind irectly contributed to deforestation in the Amazon states, how
ever, by m aking m uch o f th eir rural population redundant. M any
m igrated to the Am azon region attracted by prom ises o f land or
jobs.
Sp ecu lative foreign and dom estic investm ents in Am azonian
forest lands w ere also stim ulated by the re g io n ’s huge tim ber
and m ineral reserves, rep u ted ly the largest in the w o rld . The
eco nom ic returns fo r B ra z il from these investm ents s till lie fa r

in the future, although speculators often gained handsom e short
term financial rew ards related to state subsidies. Tim ber and m in
eral exploitation fo r export could e asily becom e a m uch bigger
factor than agricultural expansion in forest clearance in the Am a
zon region in the future unless adequate m easures are taken by
the state to com pel investors to bear the costs o f social and eco
log ical externalities resulting from th eir activities.
G u atem a la
The im pacts o f foreign trade on agriculture and forests in sm aller

G uatem ala w ere m uch m ore salien t than in big B ra z il. In the
form er, 1994 ag ricu ltu ral exports am ounted to 7 per cent o f its
G D P, w h ile in the latter th ey w ere o n ly 2 p er cent. M oreover, in
Guatem ala agricultural exports made up 63 per cent o f total m er
chandise exports, in contrast to o n ly 27 per cent in Brazil. G uate
m ala’s o ffic ia lly recorded agricultural exports w ere p rim arily cof
fee, sugar, bananas, fruits and vegetables. Cotton had been an
im portant export in the 1970s but had declined sh arp ly in the
1980s. Forestry exports w ere o fficia lly negligible, although illegal
exports o f tim ber through M exico and Beliz e w ere probab ly sig
nificant. M oreover, G uatem ala w as im porting nearly one-fourth o f
its food supplies. In the early 1990s cereal im ports alone am ounted
to some 40 kilogram s per capita (FA O , 1995).
The preceding chapter brought out the leading ro le o f agro
export expansion in stim ulating deforestation throughout G uate
m ala’s history and esp ecially after the mid-1950s. Agro-exports
have also been the principal motor driving the country’s econom ic
growth. As was seen earlier, growth o f G D P in the 1960s and 1970s
was over 5 per cent annually, falling to less than 1 per cent in the
1980s w hen m any o f its agro-export m arkets virtu ally collapsed.
The earlier discussion also emphasized the serious livelihood crisis
faced by Guatem alan peasants, and especially by the indigenous
m ajority. This had been in part p rovoked by d isp lacem ents o f
peasants as a result o f agro-export producers taking possession
o f their traditional lands.
The United States’ aid, trade and agricultural policies have been
very influential in shaping the Guatem alan state’s developm ent
strategy. These U S p o licies had been influenced by the percep

tions o f U S com m ercial and strategic interests held by U S export
ers, im porters and investors. These had particularly negative con
sequences for most peasants in G uatem ala because ‘a id ’ policies
that could have contributed to m ore equitable developm ent had
been subordinated to the U S governm ent’s perception that popu
larly based struggles for land and other social reform s w ere ma
nipulated by the U SSR and Cuba for their advantage in the ‘Cold
W ar’. This led to m assive U S m ilitary and econom ic ‘aid’ for Guate
m ala, but w ith the p rim ary ob jective o f supporting the g overn
ment in its conflict w ith guerrilla forces. Social and environm ental
concerns w ere given a very low priority. As was seen earlier, the
im m ediate origin o f the civil conflict in Guatem ala had been the
US-engineered m ilitary coup o f 1954 that reversed the Arbenz
adm inistration’s in itia lly successful agrarian reform .
The U S agricultu ral strategy for G uatem ala w as to prom ote
and m odernize agro-exports, to encourage colonization o f the
still forested agricultu ral fro n tier as a substitute for land reform
and to m ake Guatem ala a better m arket for US surpluses o f cere
als, d a iry products and other ag ricu ltu ral exports. In tern atio n al
financing w as made availab le through U S A ID , the Interam erican
Developm ent Bank, the W orld Ban k and other sources on attrac
tive term s. The governm ent w as able to im prove roads and other
infrastructure, provide cheap credits for agro-export producers
and com m ence the colonization program m e m entioned in the
previous chapter. In addition, the U S governm ent encouraged
the U S private sector to invest in Guatem alan agro-exports by
providing it w ith insurance against m any risks.
In itia lly in the 1960s, U S p o licies prom oted Guatem alan liv e
stock and cotton exports to m eet rap id ly grow ing dem ands in
the US for these com m odities. The U S governm ent also enlarged
G uatem ala’s sugar quota after elim inating Cuba’s, and U S buyers
purchased a m ajor share o f its coffee and banana exports. W hen
terms o f trade turned against these com m odities in the 1980s, the
U S prom oted ‘non-traditional’ exports o f fresh fruits and vegeta
bles, flow ers and ornam ental plants. O n the w hole, the expansion
o f agro-exports contributed to accelerated deforestation both d i
re ctly and in d irectly, although fru it and vegetab le exports in
some cases m ay have slow ed deforestation for m aize and bean
production b y p ro vid in g alternative incom e sources fo r a few

peasant producers. The im pacts o f agro-export expansion on live
lihoods w ere negative for most, but not all, peasant producers
and rural w orkers.
As in Brazil, these negative im pacts associated w ith trade have
to be explained p rin cip ally by policies and social institutions that
excluded m ost o f G uatem ala’s po or peasants and w orkers from
the benefits that are presum ed to flo w from agro-exports and
econom ic grow th. As already discussed, its land tenure system is
one o f the most polarized o f any country, leaving the rural poor
w ith alm ost no resources or opportunities. Unless public policies
and social institutions are profoundly reform ed, w idespread pov
erty w ill persist w h eth er agro-exports are boom ing or contract
ing. So too w ill undesirable deforestation.
G uatem ala becam e in creasin g ly dependent on food im ports
after the 1950s. Food aid and subsidized com m ercial im ports o f
w heat and m any other foods rose rapidly. Food im ports w ere fi
nanced under various titles o f US Pu b lic Law 480. Guatem ala had
been practically self-sufficient in cereals in the early 1950s, but by
1990 it w as im porting n early one-quarter o f its cereal consum p
tion. M ost o f its urban population and m any o f its rural people
w ere h e avily dependent on im ported food for th eir diets.
This food im port dependency had contradictory consequences
fo r ag ricu ltu ral expansion and deforestation. Less land w as re
qu ired fo r food production in G uatem ala than w o u ld have been
the case if it produced most o f its ow n food supplies. The area in
m aize increased m ore slo w ly than did population, w h ile average
yield s rem ained lo w and stagnant. M any peasants w ho could be
producing food rem ained underem ployed as they lacked both
land and m arkets. Food im ports contributed to agro-export ex
pansion by m aking it more feasible and profitable for com m ercial
producers to concentrate on export crops. Cheap food im ports
also contributed to m aintaining G uatem ala’s archaic land tenure
system and other quasi-feudal social institutions by easing p o liti
cal pressures on the governm ent to carry out needed reform s. As
is freq u en tly the case, food aid, together w ith agro-export de
pendency, have in d irectly helped to perpetuate the poverty, re
pression and environm ental degradation they w ere supposed to
reduce. T h is is not a problem that can be solved through m ore
enlightened trade policies either in the U S or Guatem ala, but they

co u ld help.
C h in a
C hina has nearly eight tim es B ra z il’s population, inh ab iting an area
that is o n ly 12 p e r cent greater, p art o f it desert. Its total G D P,
how ever, is o n ly about the sam e as B ra z il’s, although it has been
grow ing m uch faster than B ra z il’s in recent years. G iven its size, its
population, its lo w p er capita incom e and its fast econom ic grow th,
C hina can be expected to be an in creasin g ly im portant actor in
international trade. These sam e factors, how ever, suggest that for
eign trade m ay have a m inor role to p lay in C hinese agricultu ral
ex pansion and deforestation.
T he availab le data support this hypothesis. In 1994, C hina’s to
tal agricultural exports o f an estim ated US$14 b illio n am ounted to
about 2.7 p er cent o f its G D P and to o n ly 6.7 p er cent o f its total
m erch an d ise ex ports. Its to ta l m erch an d ise ex p orts, h ow ever,
am ounted to 38 p e r cen t o f its G D P. Its a g ricu ltu ra l im p orts
w e re s lig h tly la rg e r than a g ric u ltu ra l ex ports. Fo rest p rod ucts
co m p rised o n ly h a lf o f 1 p e r cen t o f its m erch an d ise exports,
but o ver 2 p e r cent o f its m erchandise im ports. T he estim ated
value o f C h in a’s im ports o f forest products w as n early tw ice that
o f its cereal im ports. C hina is one o f the w o rld ’s largest traders o f
ag ricu ltu ral and forest products in spite o f its lo w p er capita in
com e, but it is also one o f the countries in w h ich the foreign
trade o f ag ricu ltu ral and forest products is the m ost insig nifican t
in com parison to trade in dom estic m arkets.
O th er than in lim ited areas, the international trade o f ag ricu l
tu ral and forest products does not p la y a d irect role in in flu en c
ing a g ricu ltu ra l expansion and d eforestation processes. C h in a ’s
larg e net im p orts o f fo rest p ro d u cts have h e lp e d to d im in ish
pressures to o verex p lo it its rem aining natural forests. T h ey have
also co n trib u ted to in creasin g dem ands fo r tim b er from ex p ort
ing countries. C hina and In d ia are the w o rld ’s largest tea produc
ers and C hina is a prim ary tea exporter, w ith tea com prising about
one-fourth o f all its agricultu ral exports in the e arly 1990s. N one
theless, there has been little expansion o f areas und er tea produc
tion in recent years. N et im ports o f cereals in the 1990s m ay have
108 A g r ic u l t u r a l E x p a n s i o n and T r o p ic a l D f. f o r e s t a t io n
contributed to reducing expansion o f these crops into forested

areas. H ow ever, greater internal trade in cereals, stim ulating spe
cialization o f crops in regions most suitable for their production,
has a greater potential for contributing to the preservation o f re
m aining forest areas.
The forced opening o f C hina’s m arkets by w estern im perial
pow ers and Jap an in the 19th and early 20th centuries stim ulated
dem ographic changes and agricultu ral expansion that often oc
curred at the expense o f C hina’s forests. Current rap id grow th o f
m anufactured exports and foreign investm ents are also stim ulat
ing m any socioeconom ic changes. It is im possible to disaggregate
these broad historical processes in a w ay that m eaningfully links
C h in a’s international trad e w ith its in creasin g a g ricu ltu ra l pro
d u ctivity o r w ith deforestation. It seems probable, how ever, that
had there not been a w idespread redistribution o f land and other
w ealth in the early 1950s, and if there had not been a strong cen
tral governm ent that depended on w id e popular support in ex
change for perceived social and econom ic developm ent, d efor
estation in C hina w ould have continued after the 1950s m uch as
it had in earlier decades. O n the contrary, forested area in China
has apparently increased since the 1960s, m ostly as a result o f ex
tensive tree plantings. Nonetheless, this w as accom panied by seri
ous forest degradation in several regions (Rozelle, Lund, Ting and
Huang, 1993).
T he fin d in g s discussed e a rlie r o f the case study in H eko u
co u n ty in Yunnan P ro vin ce w ere consistent w ith these general
ob servations. Large-scale deforestation took p lace in the late
19th and e a rly 20th centuries w hen the French constructed a
ra ilro a d through the area, co nnecting it w ith V ietn am ’s ports
and cities. The resulting increased dem ands arising from the in
tern atio n al trade o f a g ricu ltu ral and forest products p layed an
im portant role in the conversion o f m any o f the reg io n ’s forests
to a g ricu ltu ral uses. These im pacts w ere confounded, how ever,
w ith rap id p o p ulation grow th accom panying the railroad s, p ro
vid in g easier access to im m igrants from other parts o f C hina,
and its stim ulation o f econom ic activities. P o litical instability and
conflicts w ere also prevalent. Yunnan’s rugged topography, how
ever, provid ed a degree o f p rotection fo r its rem aining natural
forests.
In the e arly 1950s there w as another jum p in deforestation.

This w as associated not w ith trade but w ith its absence. It re
sulted from policies during the ‘great leap forw ard’ o f prom oting
‘backyard iron sm elters’ w ith th eir huge dem ands for charcoal
and w ith policies aim ed at m aking every locality self-sufficient in
grain production. D uring this period there w as alm ost no interna
tional trade. Subsequent expansion o f forest plantations after the
early 1970s and the concurrent drain o f tim ber from m any natu
ral forests, together w ith continued clearance o f some forest land
for agriculture and other land uses, w ere prim arily related to do
m estic policies and land tenure institutions.
R a p id ly in creasin g foreign trade and investm ents after the
1970s m ade im portant contributions to C h in a’s sp ectacular eco
nom ic grow th in the 1980s and early 1990s. This rapid growth in
turn attracted m ore foreign investm ents and trade. M ost o f this
new international trade and investm ent, however, was in manufac
turing and services, not in agriculture. O ver four-fifths o f C hina’s
im ports and exports in the early 1990s consisted o f m anufactured
goods. Linkages betw een international trade and deforestation in
China are im portant, but they are, for the most part, very indirect.
M a l a y s ia
M alaysia, w ith three tim es G uatem ala’s area and nearly tw ice its
population, had three tim es as great a G D P per capita as G uate
m ala in the e arly 1990s. It is the case study country m ost heav
ily in vo lve d in in tern atio n al trade in relatio n to the size o f its
economy. In the early 1990s its m erchandise exports am ounted to
73 per cent o f its G D P w h ile its im ports w ere slig htly greater. In
the early 1990s, agricultural products com prised about one-tenth
o f its exports and tim ber exports n e a rly an o th er one-tenth. In
the e arly 1980s, they had been re la tive ly m uch higher. In 1985
its exports w ere about one-third a g ricu ltu ra l and forest p ro d
ucts (p rin c ip a lly tim ber, o il palm and ru b b e r), one-third m in
erals (m o stly tin and p e tro le u m ) and one-third m anufactured
products.
M alaysia has been industrializing rapidly since its independence
from Britain in 1957. In I960, agriculture accounted for three-fifths
o f its G D P and w e ll over h a lf o f its labour force. B y 1994 these
HO A g r ic u l t u r a l E x p a n s io n and T r o p i c a l D e f o r e s t a t io n
proportion s w ere estim ated to be do w n to about one-fifth and

just under one-quarter respectively. Exports o f o il palm and rub
ber grew rap idly after I960, but those o f tim ber, m inerals and es
p e cia lly o f m anufactured goods grew even faster. M alaysia is of
ten cited as an outstanding post-Second W orld W ar exam ple o f
export-led rap id econom ic grow th.
The expansion o f agriculture in colon ial M alaysia in the early
20th century w as stim ulated p rim arily b y tin and rubber exports.
These exports required the im portation o f w orkers, larg ely from
In d ia , and the expansion o f food crops to feed the g row in g
w o rk fo rce . Lik e m ost com m odity exporters, co lo n ia l M alaysia
w as h e a v ily dependent on food im ports. In som e periods it im
p orted up to one-third o f its rice consum ption. Boom ing com
m odity exports w ere also accom panied by grow ing urban centres
and im portant im m igration from China. Forests probably covered
close to nine-tenths o f Pen in su lar M alaysia in the late 19th cen
tury. B y 1946, forest co ver had been reduced to about three-
fourths o f its land area and to about two-thirds at independence
in 1957. B y the late 1980s forests covered less than h a lf o f Pen in
sular M alaysia.
The area in rubber plantations in the peninsula expanded from
nothing early in this century to nearly 1.8 m illion hectares in the
1970s and to over 2 m illio n hectares in the late 1980s. O il palm
plantations w ere not sig n ifican t until independence, but by the
late 1980s th ey occupied over 1 m illio n hectares. R ice and other
crops also expanded, but m ore slow ly, and th eir com bined area
w as less than that in rub ber and o il palm . R ubb er and o il palm
p roduction w as pred om inantly for export m arkets. M ost defor
estation in Peninsular M alaysia w as directly associated w ith grow
ing exports o f m ineral and agricultural com m odities. Am ong these
agricultural exports, tim ber became an increasingly im portant com
ponent. M uch o f the land cleared for rubber and o il palm expan
sion supported im portant volum es of com m ercially valuable tropi
cal hardw oods. T h e ir sale help ed to d efray the costs o f land
conversio n as w e ll as p roviding im portant ad d itio nal revenues
for the state, loggers, processors and m any others. There w as also
considerable logging in forests that w ere not being cleared fo r
agriculture. Log exports from Pen in su lar M alaysia w ere discour
aged after the late 1970s, w ith the aim o f encouraging its incipient
L in k a g e s w it h I n t e r n a t io n a l T r a d e j ]|
w ood processing industries and also o f slow ing the over-exploi-

tation o f its rem aining forests.
C om m ercial logging p layed a second ary ro le to ag ricu ltu ral
expansion in the deforestation o f Pen in su lar M alaysia. In Sabah
and Saraw ak, com m ercial logging has been the prim ary process
leading to deforestation. Logging interests lik e to blam e slash-
and-burn cultivators for deforestation in these states, but the e vi
dence presented in the case study is o verw h elm in g ly that com
m ercial logging has been the p rin cip al process leading to recent
d eforestation in these tw o states. Its an alysis o f the p o litica l
econom y o f logging sh ow ed that it w as fin a n c ia lly and p o liti
ca lly advantageous for these states’ po liticians to grant large tim
ber concessions to lo ca l entrepreneurs, freq u en tly fin an ced b y
Jap anese trading com panies, to extract as m uch tim ber as possi
ble, as ra p id ly as po ssible, for ex port to Ja p a n . The Jap an ese
m arket fo r low -priced tro pical hardw ood w as p ractically insatia
ble, m uch o f it to be used for construction form s and cheap fu r
n iture that w ere soon discarded.
The states o f Sabah and Saraw ak, how ever, gained m uch o f
their revenue from the export o f raw logs even w hen these w ere
grossly underpriced. This was largely a result o f the M alaysian in
stitutional structure m entioned earlier, g iving the federal govern
ment rights to tax-processed exports, but reserving for the states
tax revenues from the export o f raw tim ber. Also, tim ber conces
sions provided an im portant source o f patronage for state p o liti
cians. Logging w as u su ally w asteful and destructive. Although
o n ly a few com m ercially valuable trees per hectare w ere har
vested, roads, together w ith heavy equipm ent and lack o f careful
logging practices, severely damaged most o f the rem aining stands.
The rights o f traditional indigenous forest users w ere disregarded.
There w ere no effective m easures to ensure natural forest re
generation or replanting. Logging roads opened hitherto inacces
sible forests to slash-and-burn agriculture. Jap anese buyers, like
com m ercial tim ber traders everyw here, w ere p rim arily interested
in profits. Jap an had strict regulations to ensure sustainable use
o f its forests at hom e, but its corp orate trad ing houses w ere
regu lated o n ly b y host co u n try law abroad. T h e y m oved from
one co u n try to another in search o f cheap su p p lies o f tro p ical
tim ber.
] 12 A g r ic u l t u r a l E x p a n s io n and T r o p ic a l D e f o r e s t a t io n
I f g overnm ents o f tim b er im p o rtin g and ex p ortin g co u n tries

co u ld o n ly agree on an enforceable international code o f conduct
setting m in im al e co lo g ica l and so cial standards fo r the e x p lo ita
tion o f forest products destined for exports, this m ight help lessen
d estru ctive com petition am ong low -incom e producer countries.
T he In tern ation al T ro p ica l T im b er O rganization (IT T O ) has so far
p roved to be a very inadequate instrum ent fo r doing this. M ean
w h ile , each exporting country w ill have to take m easures to protect
its forests and its p eo p le’s livelih o o d s.
C am ero o n
A s w as seen earlier, Cam eroon has an area o ver fo u r tim es g reater

than G uatem ala and a forest area that is n e arly six tim es larger,
but w ith a sim ilar p o p u latio n . O ne-fourth o f its exports in 1994
w e re a g ricu ltu ra l products. In 1994 tim b er exports w ere n e arly
(81 p er cen t) as large as its ag ricu ltu ral exports. Forest and ag ri
cultural products together am ounted to 44 p er cent o f Cam eroon’s
total m erchandise exports, but o sten sib ly to o n ly about 6 p er cent
o f its estim ated G D P. In o th e r w ord s, a g ricu ltu ra l and fo restry
exports w ere both re la tiv e ly im p ortan t in C am eroon’s in tern a
tio n a l trad e, but its total in tern atio n al trad e w as a sm aller com
po nent o f its econom y than in any o f the other case study coun
tries. (T h is raises qu estions about the data that are m entioned
b e lo w .)
The export o f agricultu ral and other p rim ary com m odities has
been an im portant stim ulus fo r the conversio n o f forests to ag ri
cu ltu re and oth er uses e ve r since G erm any m ade C am eroon one
o f its co lo n ia l possessions in the late 19th cen tu ry. G e rm a n in
vesto rs in itia lly cle a re d forests fo r co ffee, cocoa and cotton
p lan tatio n s and later fo r rubber, o il palm , sugar and bananas. The
G erm ans also com m enced railro ad construction from the coast to
the eastern in terio r, resu ltin g in som e d efo restatio n . A fter the
First W o rld W ar, Cam eroon w as d ivid ed into a B ritish m andate in
the w est and a French one in the east. B ritish and French authori
ties e sse n tially continued G erm an co lo n ia l developm ent p o licies.
P riva te in vesto rs from B rita in and Fran ce acq u ired som e o f the
form er G erm an plantations and also invested in n e w ones. A fter
1925 se v e ra l fo rm er G erm an in ve sto rs also re tu rn ed . T im b er
ex tractio n fo r export co n tin u ed but still on a rath er sm all scale.

T he depression o f the 1930s fo llo w ed b y the Second W o rld W ar
slo w ed agro-export expansion.
Fo llo w in g C am eroon’s independence in I960, it placed a high
p rio rity on encouraging the expansion o f agro-exports as w e ll as
those o f tim ber, o il and m inerals. It also attem pted to expand the
co u n try’s sm all m anufacturing sector in o rd er to substitute na
tio n a lly produced textiles and the lik e fo r im ports. M ost a g ricu l
tural land, how ever, w as w orked by peasants w ho produced p rin
c ip a lly for self-provisioning and local m arkets.
Cam eroon has long, unguarded and often unm arked frontiers
w ith neighbouring countries, e sp e cially w ith N ig eria. As a result,
m uch o f its in tern atio n al trade is u nreg istered b y governm ent
authorities. T h is helps to explain w h y its total m erchandise trade
w as o n ly 6 p er cent o f G D P, according to o fficial data. In reality it
w as prob ab ly m uch higher. In add itio n to a great deal o f unregis
tered tra n sb o rd e r trad e w ith n e ig h b o u rin g co u n trie s, som e o f
w h ich w as re-exported to the N o rth , the co u n try’s o ffic ia l ex
ports o f ag ricu ltu ral products and tim ber to Eu ro p e increased in
the 1960s and 1970s. T h is w as in p art due to the p re fe re n tia l
treatm ent g iven by the Eu rop ean C om m unity to exports from its
form er colonies in A frica and the C aribbean. T he largest producer
o f p lan tatio n crop exports, the C D C , w hose a ctivitie s w ere d is
cussed in C hapter 3, received sizeable foreign investm ents. Also,
private European corporations w ere encouraged to establish new
agro-export enterprises. C ocoa, coffee, o il palm , rub ber and cot
ton areas expanded both in m odern com m ercial p lantations and
b y peasant farm ers w h o received cred its from exporters. In the
early 1980s, how ever, coffee prices fell sh arply and the sam e hap
p ened a fe w years la te r fo r m ost o th e r agro-exports, slo w in g
th e ir g row th and in som e cases sh arp ly reversing it. O ne reason,
in a d d itio n to attractin g fo reig n c a p ita l, that the g overn m en t
o p ted fo r jo in t ven tu res o f the C D C w ith fo reig n com panies,
such as D el M onte, G o o d year and U n ile v e r and the lik e in agro
export p roduction, w as that the state w as in a stronger p o sitio n
to take o ver land and to settle subsequent co n flicts w ith lo cal
com m unities than w ere in d ivid u a l p rivate com panies.
The influence o f export m arkets and foreign investm ents w as
particularly im portant in the expansion o f com m ercial logging. This
1 j[4 A g r ic u l t u r a l E x p a n s io n and T r o p i c a l D e f o r e s t a t io n
is currently the m ain direct source o f deforestation in Cam eroon.

In 1991 tim ber exports w ere second to petroleum in value and
the com m ercial tim ber harvest w as estim ated to represent 4 per
cent o f the cou n try’s GD P. Forest concessions are granted to na
tional and foreign enterprises. In the early 1990s tim ber conces
sions o f 4.7 m illio n hectares to 55 foreign firm s covered nearly
two-thirds o f the forest area licensed to be cut. Italy, France and
Spain, follow ed by the other EU countries, and Jap an w ere the big
gest buyers o f Cam eroon tim ber.
Concessions w ere usually for only one cutting cycle. This left
investors w ith no incentive fo r sustained yield m anagem ent prac
tices o r fo r replanting. H arvesting practices w ere w astefu l and
dam aged most rem aining grow ing stock, especially as very heavy
m achinery w as w id e ly used. Also, there w as no concern fo r the
trad itio n al rights o f custom ary forest users. T he situation w as in
m any respects very sim ilar to that exam ined e arlie r in Saraw ak,
Brazil and Guatem ala.
D iv e r s e a n d C h a n g in g L in k a g e s
The case studies sum m arized above illustrated several linkages o f

international trade w ith agricultural expansion and tropical defor
estation. T h ey suggested that in som e circum stances trade con
tributed to w orsening live lih o o d s fo r m any low -incom e groups
w h ile in others it helped to im prove the livelihoods o f people in
apparently sim ilar conditions. International trade often stim ulated
undesirable deforestation, but som etim es it led to m ore sustain
able agricultural and forest land uses, depending on the context.
Trade w as a predom inant factor d rivin g deforestation processes
in som e situations but a very m arginal one in others. M oreover,
these relationships w ere constantly changing. W h at w as a nega
tive linkag e e a rlie r often becom es a m ore p o sitive one later, or
vice versa.
O f course, these diverse, contradictory and changing linkages
depended on m ultiple factors. C ountry size, resource endow m ent
and dem ographics influenced linkages w ith international m arkets
as these lin ks tended to be m ore im portant for sm all countries
than for large ones, all other things being equal. Econom ic struc
ture, in the sense o f w hat w as being produced, how (w ith w hat
technolog ies), by w hom (an d fo r w hom ) w ere central determ i

nants o f trading patterns p ra ctica lly b y defin itio n. Econom ic de
velopm ent, w here it w as occurring, im plied a changing econom ic
structure that m eant that some previou sly dom inant social actors
lost influence and others became more influential, but their stakes
in foreign trade often differed w idely.
So cial institutions such as land tenure relationships w ere a
m ajor determ inant o f the im pact o f trade on live lih o o d s e ve ry
w here. A lth ou g h so cial relatio n sh ip s tended to evo lve slow ly,
they w ere changing in a ll the case study countries. Pu b lic p o li
cies also influenced patterns and im pacts o f international trade.
These po licies fluctuated w ild ly. So too did volatile international
m arkets. These depended larg ely on p o licies in industrialized
countries that in turn w ere increasingly constrained by expanding
international financial and com m odity m arkets operating w ithin a
rather chaotic w o rld system. In each case, these and m any other
factors interacted in often unpredictable w ays to determ ine actual
outcom es o f international trade fo r tro p ical forests and for the
people associated w ith them.
T o w a r d s M o r e S u s t a in a b l e U s e o f
T r o p ic a l A g r ic u l t u r a l a n d F o r e s t
R eso urc es
The area under forest cover in the tropics app arently decreased
from 1910 m illio n hectares in 1980 to 1756 m illio n hectares in
1990. This im plied an average forest loss o f 15.4 m illion hectares
an n u ally or an annual rate o f tropical deforestation o f 0.8 per
cent. The largest areas being deforested w ere in Latin Am erica,
w here over h a lf the w o rld ’s rem aining tro p ical forests exist, but
the annual rate o f deforestation w as highest in tropical Asia. D ry
tro p ical forests and m oist deciduous forests w ere disappearing
faster than tro p ical rainforests, but deforestation w as advancing
at betw een 0.6 per cent to over 1 per cent an n u ally in all three
tro pical forest ecolog ical zones in Asia, A frica and Latin Am erica
(FA O , 1993). T h is situation is a cause o f grow ing national and
international concern.
In this conclud ing chapter w e sum m arize the p rin cip al fin d
ings o f the research and its im plications under four headings.
1 The causes and im pacts o f tropical deforestation.

2 Local level constraints and opportunities for sustainable uses
o f agricultu ral and forest resources.
3 The key role o f national po licies and institutions.
4 T he need fo r international cooperation and reform s.
C a u s e s a n d I m p a c t s o f T r o p ic a l D e f o r e s t a t io n
in t h e C a s e S t u d y C o u n t r ie s
A ll o f our case studies em phasized the central roles o f public p o li

cies as w ell as o f land tenure and related institutions in stim ulating
(o r slo w in g ) tro p ical deforestation. Cross-country econom etric
models, on the other hand, tend to focus on such factors as popu

lation pressures, per capita incom e levels, investm ent ratios, trade
intensities, relative prices and foreign indebtedness (B ro w n and
Pearce, 1994; Palo and M ery, 1996). Som e analysts highlight the
im portance o f poverty-related ag ricu ltu ral expansion into tro p i
cal forests (fo r exam ple, Park, 1992). O thers give prim acy to ‘m ar
ket failu res’ and ‘p o licy failures’ (W o rld Ban k , 1992). Focusing on
pu b lic p o licie s and social institu tions in sp ecific contexts, h o w
ever, seems m ore lik e ly to contribute to feasible reform s than can
cross-country com parisons relating deforestation to other rather
abstract and p o o rly m easured processes.
Confusion about the causes o f deforestation seems to be m ore
rooted in epistem ological and sem antic problem s than in an ab
sence o f em pirical data. A ncient ph ilosophical debates about the
m eaning o f cau sality can never be d e fin itiv e ly resolved. D istin
guishing betw een proxim ate, precipitating and underlying causes,
as is often done, can som etim es help, but it often m erely adds to
the confusion. There are so m any interacting factors at a ll levels
that it m ay be im possible to id entify w hat role each has in a par
ticu lar situation.
If one assumes that ‘perfect m arkets’ and ‘good policies’ w ould
stop undesirable deforestation, then blam ing it on ‘m arket failures’
and ‘p o licy failures’ is as tautological as blam ing it on population
increase, econom ic grow th, poverty, agricultural expansion, trade,
w asteful consum ption or careless extraction o f tim ber. Repeating
these truism s in various guises is not very helpful in finding prac
tical m easures conducive to m ore sustainable agricultural systems
and forest uses in sp ecific contexts. The causes o f unsustainable
natural resource use are p rim a rily system ic and so lu tion s w ill
have to in clu d e system ic reform s o f institu tions and p o licies at
a ll levels from local to global.
O bviously, the causes o f deforestation m ay ‘. . . generally orig i
nate in lands far rem oved from the forest’ (M yers, 1994). This is
w h y the present research focused on lin kag es at sub-national,
n atio n al and in tern atio n al le vels betw een p o licie s and in stitu
tions that led to un d esirab le d eforestation in sp ecific contexts.
Po licies and institutions can be m odified to encourage m ore sus
tainab le developm ent in tro p ical forest regions. W e hope the in
form ation from the case studies sum m arized above can contribute
T o w a r d s M o k e S u s t a in a b l e U s e of T r o p ic a l A g r ic u l t u r a l and F o r est R eso u r c es
to m obilizing social forces w illin g and able to bring about such

reform s. This w ill require highly m otivated special interest groups
supported b y m uch w id e r po p u lar perceptions o f the need for
the sustainable use o f tropical forests. The required p o licy and in
stitutional reform s as w e ll as the interest groups and broader
p opular support required to bring them about, how ever, w ill be
d ifferen t in each context. M oreover, un an ticip ated im pacts o f
p o licy and in stitu tio n al reform s m ay su rprise w ell-intention ed
initiators. This is another reason for critical analyses at all stages.
B u t uncertainty is a poor excuse for doing nothing in the face o f
probable disaster.
The Braz ilian governm ent’s policies attem pted to expand and
‘m odernize’ agricultu ral production and to extend urbanization
and industrial activities into relatively sparsely populated regions
o f the country w ith in an in stitu tional structure that excluded
most low-incom e groups from any m eaningful participation. This
strategy w as larg ely responsible fo r accelerated deforestation in
all five o f the local case study areas. In each o f these areas, public
policies had been shaped by, and helped to reproduce, the coun
try ’s land tenure system , dom inated b y large estates. N early all
agricultu ral land w as controlled by a few large ow ners, leaving
most rural people as unstable landless rural w orkers or w ith only
precarious access to sm all parcels o f land. G overnm ent land and
lab our p o licies, credit and exchange rate subsidies, tax favours,
public investm ents in infrastructure and a host o f other measures
had a ll contributed to outcom es that included w idespread v io
lence, decaying livelih o o d s and needless deforestation.
M oreover, p o licies ostensib ly designed to counteract these
undesirable social and eco log ical im pacts o f ‘developm ent’ fre
quently ended up by reinforcing them. This was p articu larly true
o f the governm ent’s colonization policies, environm ental protec
tion p o licies and those supposed to protect indigenous peoples.
M any w ell-intentioned groups helped to form ulate these policies,
but so too did num erous other social actors w ith their ow n agen
das. The w ays that they w ere actually applied in the case study ar
eas w ere often disastrous for both the forests and the rural poor.
The accelerated clearance o f B ra z il’s Am azonian forests since
the 1950s and the m ostly negative environm ental and social conse
quences o f occupying the Am azonian region w ere not inevitable
consequences o f p o p u la tio n g row th o r o f increased dem ands

generated b y international m arkets fo r its agricultural and forest
product exports. T hey w ere a result o f B ra z il’s social institutions
and o f deliberate p u blic policies.
A sim ilar p icture to that in B raz il em erges concerning recent
rapid deforestation in Guatem ala. H ere, however, a prolonged and
bloody civil w ar was precipitated by the m ilitary coup o f 1954. The
subsequent reversal o f the Arbenz adm inistration’s agrarian reform
accentuated both the displacem ent o f peasants into the forest
frontier and the negative social im pacts accom panying deforesta
tio n processes. The co u n try’s indigenous rural m ajority suffered
the most, as w as show n in more detail in Chapters 3 and 4.
In G uatem ala the in flu en ce o f in tern ation al m arkets fo r its
agro-exports and the trade and aid p o licies o f the U S p layed a
m uch bigger direct role in stim ulating recent deforestation proc
esses than they did in B raz il. There w ere also greater pressures
from a grow ing rural population. These by them selves, how ever,
could not explain either the deforestation taking place nor the de
clining livelihoods o f most rural residents that accom panied it. As
in B raz il, profound reform s in the co u n try’s land tenure system
and related institutions w o u ld be required as w e ll as a v e ry d if
ferent and m ore p o p u larly based developm ent strategy.
C hina w as the o n ly case study country in w h ich the forested
area w as app aren tly increasing at the natio nal le vel (b u t from a
very lo w base). Its agricultural area had hard ly increased since the
1970s, w h ile im proved yield s accounted fo r the greatest increase
in agricultural production during the last tw o decades.
In tropical H ekou county most o f the natural forests had been
cleared or depleted by the mid-20th century. T here w as add i
tio n al deforestation during the 1950s. T h is w as p rim arily due to
public p o licies associated w ith ‘the great leap forw ard ’. A fter the
1950s, better forest protection and m anagem ent had been at
tem pted b y several p u b lic agencies and som e had prom oted
plantations for tim ber and other forest products. O ve r one-fifth
o f H ekou county w as forested in 1990, but m any o f these forest
areas w ere b ad ly depleted. Fo llo w in g the lib eralizatio n o f eco
nom ic p o licies and the introduction o f the fam ily resp o n sib ility
system in agriculture after the 1970s, agricultural productivity had
increased and tree planting had accelerated. Expansion o f forest
T o w a r d s M o r e S u s ta in a b le U se o f T r o p ic a l A g r i c u l t u r a l a n d F o r e s t R e s o u rc e s \2\
area and o f cultivated land had m ostly been at the expense o f

‘other land’, w hich was predom inantly low productivity grass lands
or w asteland.
Agrarian reform in the early 1950s had provided nearly all the
county’s rural population w ith some kind o f secure access to land
or em ploym ent. C ollectivization and state-sponsored social pro
grammes resulted in relatively equalitarian access to available food
as w ell as other goods and services. W hen the national econom y
grew rather rap idly in the 1980s and early 1990s, this w as accom
panied by som ew hat im proved livelih o o d s for the county’s rural
population and by re la tive ly little new deforestation.
The institutional and policy obstacles to sustainable rural devel
opm ent in H ekou w ere associated w ith the poorly defined and
rap idly changing rights and responsibilities in the use o f farm and
forest lands b y different social groups. Central governm ent, pro
vin cial, county and tow nship agencies often had ill-defined and
overlapping rights in respect to land use and forest management.
In the degree that markets and price relationships became increas
ing ly im portant in resource allocation, public agencies as w e ll as
peasant farm ers and cooperative and other productive enterprises
frequently had conflicting objectives in respect to the use o f farm
land and forests. It w as clear, however, that forest protection could
not be left prim arily to decisions made in response only to market
forces, w ithout this resulting in accelerated deforestation.
C olon ial p o licies in M alaysia w ere the p rin cip al stim ulant for
the spectacular grow th o f its rubber plantation production dur
ing the colon ial period. They also prom oted m assive im m igration
to supply labour for tin and rubber extraction for export and re
lated a ctivities. Fo llo w in g independence, state p o licie s encour
aged the rap id expansion o f o il palm p lan tatio n s in hitherto
forested areas. T h e y also prom oted tim ber exports. At the same
tim e, state policies favoured cereal im ports over rapid expansion
o f dom estic rice production. These policies w ere abetted by rela
tive prices in w o rld m arkets.
D eforestation to m ake w ay for export crops v irtu a lly stopped
in Pen in su lar M alaysia in the 1980s, but continued on a lesser
scale in Sabah and Saraw ak. Vast areas o f Sabah’s and Saraw ak’s
forests w ere virtu ally destroyed by com m ercial logging for export
m arkets. D estructive and rapid com m ercial tim ber extraction w as
]2 2 A g r ic u l t u r a l E x p a n s io n and T r o p ic a l D e f o r e s t a t io n
prom oted b y the p o licies o f these tw o island M alaysian states.

T hese p o licie s w ere encouraged by in stitu tio n al arrangem ents
that perm itted each state to retain the incom e from tim ber ex
ports but allow ed the central governm ent to tax exports o f proc
essed products. Jap anese tim ber im porters w ere ready collabora
tors w ith these tw o state governm ents in this deforestation.
The negative social im pacts o f rap id tim ber and agro-export
grow th in M alaysia w ere attenuated b y social and econom ic p o li
cies that w ere intended to im prove the livelih o o d s o f M alaysian
peasants and bring them up to near the level o f the largely urban-
d w ellin g Chinese m inority. Land tenure in M alaysia w as never as
polarized as in the Latin Am erican cases. N ew export crop planta
tions after independence w ere m ore particip atory for th eir w o rk
ers than colonial estates in their distribution o f benefits. In Sabah
and Saraw ak, how ever, indigenous populations had little p o litical
influence and their livelihoods often declined sharply in the w ake
o f tim ber exports and agro-export expansion.
In Cam eroon, colonial policies had encouraged agro-export ex
pansion that led to considerable deforestation, both d irectly and
indirectly. T h e y also prom oted com m ercial tim ber exports. A fter
independence, the Cam eroon governm ent co ntinued m ost co lo
n ial p o licies favouring agro-exports and those o f tim ber. It is d if
ficu lt to estim ate to w h at extent recent rap id deforestation in
Cam eroon has been a result o f deliberate governm ent policies and
to w hat extent it has been due to the absence o f effective forest
protection policies by a very w eak state. The end results w ere the
same. Clearance o f the country’s tropical forests has proceeded at
an accelerating rate. Population pressure contributed, but in lightly
populated Cam eroon w ith two-fifths o f its population already ur
ban, these w ere secondary factors. The local level case studies sug
gested that governm ent policies o f prom oting agro-exports and
tim ber exports in partnership w ith transnational enterprises w ere
m uch m ore im portant than dem ographic pressures in stim ulating
both agricultural expansion and deforestation. A contributing fac
tor w as the setting aside o f large areas in protected parks and for
est reserves w ithout adequate provision to provide alternative
livelihoods for traditional users o f these forest areas.
The prevalence o f customary land tenure systems in spite o f the
governm ent’s efforts to install European-style ind ivid ual p roperty
T o w a r d s M o r e S u s t a in a b l e U s e of T r o p ic a l A g r ic u l t u r a l and F o r est R eso u r c es
rights m inim ized m any o f the negative social im pacts o f agro-ex-

port expansion and forest exploitation for com m ercial logging.
M ost rural residents retained access to some land for self-provi-
sioning, enabling them to m aintain m inim al livelihoods. This was
less a result o f deliberate po licy than o f the incapacity o f the state
to im plem ent its declared land privatization policies.
In the light o f the five case studies, it is tem pting to attribute
the negative social and ecological im pacts associated w ith agricul
tural expansion and deforestation to ‘m arket failures’ and ‘p o licy
failures’. This is not very helpful. ‘M arket failure’ is usually defined
as the in a b ility o f m arket forces to produce an ‘e fficie n t’ use o f
resources w hereb y m arginal costs w o u ld be equal to m arginal
returns. This dodges the question o f costs and returns for whom .
Also, if prevailing (and vo latile) w orld m arket prices are used as a
standard, there is no reason to believe that these w ould necessar
ily be conducive to sustainable developm ent. On the other hand,
if ‘shadow prices’ that take into account social and environm ental
ex ternalities are used to estim ate m arket failu re, the results are
necessarily hig hly subjective, as they depend on the analysts’ as
sessm ent o f these extra-m arket values.
‘P o lic y fa ilu re ’ is just as am biguous. It assum es ‘correct’ p o li
cies w ould have a prim ary objective o f achieving developm ent
that is socially and ecologically sustainable, but that for some rea
son the state failed to adopt or im plem ent such p o licies. In the
real w o rld , the p o licies o f dom inant social actors, including the
state itself, usu ally have contrad ictory objectives. P u b lic po licies
in the case study countries in general led to consequences that
m any o f those w ho prom oted and executed them had intended,
although the results for others w ere often unforeseen or u nin
tentional. Im p roved live lih o o d s for the rural poor and sustain
able use o f natural resources had not been am ong the priorities
of several o f the social actors responsible for the policies. ‘P o licy
fa ilu re ’ assum es a norm ative fram ew ork against w h ich p o licie s
can be judged. In the real w o rld there is no agreem ent about
the norm s o f ‘sustainable developm ent’ tow ards w h ich po licies
should be directed.
The central issue is one o f ach ievin g a p o litica l consensus
about w hat kind o f developm ent p o licies to prom ote. Scien tific
insights can help to illum inate constraints and opportunities but
{2 4 A g r ic u l t u r a l E x p a n s io n and T r o p ic a l D e f o r e s t a t io n
th ey are plagued by uncertainties. M oreover, science has little to

say about w ho should benefit and w ho should pay the costs. Tropi
cal deforestation is fundam entally a p o litical and not a technical
issue, although scientific insights can help to shape both po litical
debates and proposed technical solutions. H o w deforestation nar
ratives are told can be im m ensely in flu en tial in focusing discus
sions about the issues and in m obilizing support for possible in i
tiatives to confront them .
L o c a l - L e v e l C o n s t r a in t s a n d O p p o r t u n it ie s
M ost environm ental problem s are local in the sense that th e ir

sources tend to be site-specific and that th e ir negative im pacts
are larg ely borne b y lo cal people, u su ally the poorest, and by
lo cal ecosystem s. T h e ir solutions req u ire lo ca l actions w ith the
particip ation o f local people. The popular environm entalist slogan
o f ‘think globally and act lo cally’, however, can be very m isleading
if it leads to the neglect o f the supportive regional, national and
international policies and institutions required for successful local
in itiatives tow ards m ore sustainable agriculture and forestry. Lo
cal efforts to control und esirab le deforestation face num erous
insurm ountable constraints unless com plem ented by p o licy and
institutional reform s at hig her levels, as the case studies review ed
above m ake abund antly clear.
There are alw ays actions that could be best taken at local le v
els to prom ote more sustainable agriculture and forestry. In some
circum stances there are w ide m argins fo r local initiatives w h ile in
others these m argins are extrem ely narrow . Local in itiatives can
be condu cive to m ore sustainable use o f ag ricu ltu ral and forest
resources, but they can also be detrim ental. This depends largely
on local p o w er structures as w e ll as the objectives and percep
tions o f local elites. Decentralization by itself is no panacea for ap
proaching sustainable developm ent and it can have negative con
sequences in m any settings. T ru ly dem ocratic and p articip ato ry
lo cal governance, how ever, could help in most situations.
O pportunities for local initiatives tow ards sustainable develop
ment often lie w ith intensifying agricultural production using avail
able labour and a com bination o f trad itional low-external-input
farm ing practices enhanced by selective technical im provem ents
and inputs associated w ith m odem science. More sustainable farm

ing systems may be quite im possible, however, in situations w here
lo ca l peop le have no secure control o ver th e ir resources and
w here th eir products are v irtu a lly confiscated by others such as
land lords, m iddlem en, p o litical and m ilitary authorities or m ere
brigands. In addition to such all too common po litical constraints,
lo cal people have to confront constraints im posed b y an often
hostile p h ysical environm ent.
The success or failu re o f local in itiatives have to be judged
both by their longer term im pact on the environm ent and on the
livelihood s o f diverse groups and strata o f low-incom e people in
each locality. W h a t m ay look lik e a success after three or four
years m ay appear to be a failure after one or tw o decades, and one
that appears to fail in the short run m ay look successful a few dec
ades later. M uch depends on external factors in either case. M oreo
ver, an in itiative that benefits one low-incom e group m ay preju
dice others. Forests m ay be saved in one place through strict
protection on ly at the cost o f clearance o f neighbouring forests
by traditional users o f the protected area in search o f new liv e li
hoods.
The case studies in Brazil and Guatem ala docum ented m any in
stances o f poor peasant com m unities attem pting to defend their
insecure control o f agricultural and forest lands that they had been
using in ecologically sustainable farm ing systems. They usually lost
their battles. O ften they w ere violently evicted or worse. Occasion
a lly they gained at least a tem porary victory. W hen they did, sup
port from outsiders such as national or international N G O s w ho
helped them find allies from outside o f the locality w as usually cru
cial. N G O s and public agency em ployees sometimes helped to in
troduce new low-cost agricultural practices that enabled peasants to
increase their yields. The scope for im proving livelihoods through
im proved farming and forestry practices, access to some credit, bet
ter m arketing and new econom ic activities, however, was nearly al
w ays constrained b y precarious or insufficient access to land.
Perhaps one o f the most im portant functions outsiders inter
ested in prom oting m ore sustainable developm ent at local levels
can have is to act as a catalyst in stim ulating local groups o f poor
peasants and w orkers to try to overcom e some o f the socioeco
nom ic and po litical constraints that prevent them from im proving
th e ir livelih o o d s. In the R ib eira basin case study area in B raz il

there had been some signs that increasingly vocal peasant organi
zations m ight have som e in fluence in m odifying p u b lic p o licies
detrim ental fo r both them and th eir natural environm ent. T his
w as in relatively rich and dem ocratic Sao Paulo state, w here there
w ere po tentially po w erful urban-based allies. Sim ilar initiatives in
several Am azon states and in rural Guatem ala had been vio len tly
repressed. W h en repression occurred, it w as usually the lo cal
poor and not their N G O or other allies from elsew here w ho paid
the costs. O utsiders have to use very keen and w ell-inform ed
judgem ent in prom oting organization o f the p o or to im prove
th eir term s o f access to natural resources. T hey m ay unintention
a lly contribute to reprisals such as harsh repression. A lso, the
presence o f outside organizations in any lo cality usually depends
on the acquiescence o f national governm ents.
D em ocratic lo cal in stitu tion s that are som ehow accountable
to the poor as w e ll as to elites are prerequisites for approaching
sustainable agriculture and forestry. In their absence, there is no
possibility o f achieving real and lasting participation o f local peo
ple. Elite groups prim arily accountable on ly to their peers and to
outside interests o r authorities cannot be expected to m ake the
sustainable use o f natural resources for the long-term benefit o f
the local population th eir top priority. Local authorities w ho are
p rim a rily acco untable to agencies o r co rp o ratio n s based else
w h ere, that in turn do not have to m aintain the g o o d w ill and
support o f the local p o p u latio n , tend to act in a ve ry a rb itrary
fashion w hen dealing w ith peasants and forest dw ellers. Adm in
istrators o f protected forest areas in the R ib eira basin, for exam
p le, rig id ly ap p lied reg u lation s p ro h ib itin g peasants from cut
ting any trees o r cu ltiva tin g land in the forest areas they had
been using for generations in a sustainable m anner. This kind o f
forest p ro tectio n becom es a k in d o f eco-fascism . It is not so
c ia lly sustainable.
M ost o f the p o litical and econom ic constraints on the sustain
able use o f natural resources by people in a rural lo ca lity o rig i
nate elsew here. T hey can seldom be rem oved through local in i
tiatives alone. Secure and equitable access to land, for exam ple, is
no longer purely a local m atter practically anyw here. Even w here
custom ary com m unal tenure still prevails, such as in much o f rural
T o w a r d s M o r f S u s t a in a b l e U s e of T r o p ic a l A g r ic u l t u r a l and F o r est R eso u r c es
Cam eroon, peasants m ay be dep rived o f th eir rights a rb itrarily

and capriciously by the state or corporate enterprises.
W ith o u t the m obilization and organization o f peasants and
other low-incom e rural residents w ith the aim o f gaining greater
control over resources and institutions, how ever, there seems lit
tle likelih o o d that w id er sub-national, national and international
po litical system s w ill seriously take th eir interests into account
w hen form ulating and executing p o licies affecting them . Local-
level in itiatives aim ed at approaching m ore sustainable develop
m ent through com m unity-based resource m anagem ent neces
sa rily im p ly a struggle fo r g reater control o ver resources and
institutions in specific social contexts by those hitherto excluded
from such control. Such struggles for self-em pow erm ent are in
e vitab ly hig hly conflictive.
T h e C r u c ia l R o l e o f N a t io n a l P o l ic ie s
and I n s t it u t io n s
M any observers have been celebrating or lam enting the decline

o f the national state, w h ich they see as atrophying w ith the ad
vance o f globalization. Nonetheless, the state rem ains the p rin ci
pal agent potentially capable o f bringing about m ore sustainable
patterns o f developm ent. At least in theory, it retains a m onopoly
o f the legitim ate use o f force in its territory. It is responsible for
form alizing and enforcing the legal rules under w h ich the na
tional society operates, in clu d in g those governing the use o f its
n atu ral resources and the d istrib u tio n o f th e ir b enefits. O n ly
the state is recognized und er in tern atio n al conventions to have
the leg itim ate right to red istrib u te w ealth and incom e in ‘the
p u b lic in terest’. The state is the fin a l a rb ite r o f legal disputes
w ith in its jurisdiction. It is also expected to have a pre-em inent
ro le in determ in ing n atio n al m acro-econom ic and so cial p o li
cies. In te rn a tio n a l organizations o f a ll kind s from in terg o vern
m ental bodies to tran sn ation al corp oration s u ltim a tely depend
on nation states fo r th e ir ow n leg itim acy as w e ll as to enforce
ru les and contracts. The W orld B a n k seem s to have red isco v
ered the central im portance o f the nation state in guiding eco
nom ic and so cial d evelopm ent after tw o decades o f preachin g
that these issues could larg ely be better left for p rivate agents
and m arket forces to resolve (W o rld Ban k , 1997).
As noted earlier in this chapter, the case studies all highlighted
the central im portance o f national policies and institutions in shap
ing agricultural expansion and deforestation processes as w ell as in
determ ining their im pacts on livelihoods and on the environm ent.
W h ile the research focused attention on agrarian and forest-related
p o licies and institutions, it em phasized that these w ere only com
ponents o f dom inant national developm ent strategies. Macro-eco
nom ic po licies affecting grow th and em ploym ent and social insti
tutions determ ining the distribu tion o f costs and benefits w ere
alw ays o f central im portance. Piecem eal policies aim ed at prom ot
ing m ore sustainable agriculture and forestry w ere often ineffec
tive o r counterproductive because they w ere not supported by
com plem entary policies in the broader society.
N ational strategies that are sustainable, how ever, have to be
p o p u larly based in the sense that those form ulating and execut
ing them perceive that they are som ehow accountable to low-in
com e constituents for the w ay these p o licie s affect livelih o o d s
both in the im m ediate future and in the longer term . The B ra z il
ian case in particular brought out how policies sincerely intended
b y som e o f th eir sponsors to help the ru ral po or as w e ll as to
protect indigenous groups and forest ecosystem s, w ere in prac
tice subverted to serve the short-term interests o f po w erful state
support groups w ith very different objectives.
H o w to bring about and m aintain p o p u larly based national
strategies directed tow ards developm ent that is so cially and eco
log ically sustainable is a central issue everyw here. For this to hap
pen, those w ield in g state pow er have to perceive the diverse so
cial groups that constitute th eir countries’ low-incom e m ajorities
as p o ten tially cru cial a llies o r troublesom e opponents lik e ly to
becom e allies o f com peting elites. This im plies that organized and
vo cal pressures from the poor are indispensable fo r the em er
gence o f a popularly based sustainable developm ent strategy. But
this is not sufficient in itself. Poor people have to find m ore pow
erful allies w ho have conflicting agendas. Peasants are usually w ell
aw are o f the im portance o f m aintaining the productivity o f their
agricultural lands and o f their forest resources to meet their imme
diate needs as w ell as those o f future generations. They cannot be
T o w a r d s M o r e S u s t a in a b l e U s e of T r o p ic a l A g r ic u l t u r a l and F o r est Reso u r c es
expected, how ever, to m obilize and organize around such ab

stract environm ental issues as global clim ate change and loss o f
biodiversity unless these are perceived in terms o f their ow n and
th e ir ch ild re n ’s livelih o o d s. Also, the urban poor face m any d if
ferent environm ental problem s than do th eir rural counterparts.
In addition, the p o litical system often provides few o r no chan
nels w h ereb y low -incom e groups can articulate th e ir needs in
w ays that are heeded by the state.
Fo rg in g du rab le allia n ces lead in g to n atio n al developm ent
strategies that are socially and ecologically sustainable is alw ays a
form idable, and perhaps an im possible, task. Statesm en, p o litical
and civic leaders, educators, scientists and just about everyone else
has to becom e constructively involved. Those N G O s that are prim a
rily concerned w ith hum an rights, socioeconom ic developm ent
and ecological issues can often help by playing a catalytic role. But
their efforts can easily becom e dissipated or even harm ful if by fo
cusing exclusively on a single issue they neglect the com plexity of
the central problem and the possible negative effects o f the solu
tions they propose for m any low-incom e social groups. The estab
lishm ent o f strictly protected forest areas w ithout due considera
tion o f the harm these m ay cause to the livelihoods o f custom ary
users o f these forests is a typ ical exam ple (G h im ire and Pim bert,
1997).
In-depth ‘p olitical econom y’-style analyses are required to iden
tify the crucial social actors and their interests, as w ell as m obilizing
the broader popular support and alliances needed to bring about
more sustainable developm ent strategies. Answ ers at best w ould
have to be speculative and different for each situation (Barraclough
and Ghim ire, 1995). The case studies, however, w ere able to iden
tify several specific po licies and institutions in each country that
w ere ap p aren tly d ire ctly encouraging undesirable deforestation
w h ile negatively affecting the livelihoods o f m any low-incom e resi
dents o f tropical forest regions. They also suggested some possible
reform s that m ight help bring about more sustainable developm ent
in these areas.
In Brazil and Guatem ala land tenure institutions w ere a funda
m ental issue for the rural poor. The control o f most ag ricu ltu ral
land w as m onop olized b y a sm all group o f large land hold ers,
w h ile access to adequate land w as denied to most rural people.
A g r i c u l t u r a l E x p a n s io n and T r o p ic a l D e f o r e s t a t io n
The rights and ob ligations associated w ith land ow nership and

other form s o f land and forest tenure w ere ill-defined and precari
ous for the poor as w e ll as being hig hly inequitable. Sm all produc
ers could easily be evicted and th eir lands appropriated w ithout
com pensation for the profit o f large holders, speculators, urban
based investors and often the state itself. D isp laced peasants and
land less w o rk ers u su ally had no altern atives other than m igra
tio n to the cities or to the forest fro n tie r in o rd er to su rvive.
A m ple good agricultu ral land w as th eo retically availab le in both
countries, esp ecially in B raz il, to have provided their entire rural
populations w ith access to enough land to m eet their needs for
self-provisioning as w e ll as production o f a surplus fo r dom estic
and export m arkets. In these tw o countries, redistributive land re
form s clearly should have a high p rio rity in any po pularly based
strategy aim ed at sustainable developm ent.
T he land rights o f G uatem ala’s indigenous m ajority and o f
B ra z il’s sm all indigenous m in o rity w ere p a rticu la rly precarious.
These indigenous peoples had developed ecolog ically sustainable
farm ing system s that w ere w e ll adapted to th e ir tro p ical forest
environm ent. T h e ir custom ary farm ing system s becam e unsus
tainab le w h en indigenous lands w ere app rop riated fo r agro-in-
dustrial m onocropping, cattle ranching, com m ercial logging, na
ture reserves and oth er uses. A g rarian reform w o u ld have to
provide special treatm ent in respect to indigenous land rights in
order not to provoke new injustices in the name o f developm ent.
In any case, land reform w o u ld have to be adapted to each
situation and com plem ented b y m any other p o licies and institu
tio n al changes in the broader society in order to be effective in
facilitatin g m ore sustainable natural resource m anagem ent w h ile
im p roving peasants’ livelih o o d s. For exam ple, to be e ffective it
w ould have to be associated w ith appropriate fiscal, price, trade,
investm ent and em ploym ent po licies. Research, technical assist
ance and credit p riorities w ould have to be revised and there
w ould have to be profound reforms o f political and judicial institu
tions. These are issues that have to be dealt w ith p o litically w ithin
each country, taking into account its particular situation. There is
little to be gained from outsiders offering their advice in general
terms. A more supportive international po licy and institutional en
vironm ent, however, could help in stim ulating national reform s.
Inequitable and precarious land tenure rights in lightly settled

rural Cam eroon seem ed lik e ly to becom e a serious obstacle to
the em ergence o f sustainable farm ing and forestry system s in re
sponse to the governm ent’s drive to increase agro- and tim ber
exports w h ile ‘m odernizing’ production technologies. The nega
tive im pacts o f agro-export expansion fo r ru ral livelih o o d s had
been attenuated by the persistence o f custom ary land systems. This
occurred in spite o f state p o licies aim ed at replacing trad itional
common property regim es w ith private control o f most agricultural
land and state control o f forest resources. It is not easy for a w eak
state to im pose unpopular policies on reluctant rural populations.
There is a real danger, however, that Cam eroon’s land tenure system
w ill soon becom e as inequitable and precarious for most rural peo
ple as that o f Brazil or Guatem ala. Considerable areas have already
been alienated from custom ary users for agro-export crop produc
tion and for strictly protected parks and nature reserves. M any for
est areas are being carelessly exploited under state-granted conces
sions for com m ercial tim ber exports. As happened earlier in South
Africa, Zim babwe, highland Kenya and m any other regions o f Africa,
bim odal land tenure systems (characterized by land being m ainly
held by a few large estates, w ith most farm ers having o n ly very
sm all h o ld in g s) are e vo lvin g resem bling those that have dom i
nated Latin Am erica.
Cam eroon’s trade and investm ent policies have prom oted agro-
and tim ber exports w ith little concern for so cially and environ
m entally sustainable national developm ent. Agro-export crops
have expanded but the grow ing food needs o f its rap id ly urban
izing population are, to a large extent, met by subsidized food
im ports from Europe. Its peasants have few incentives or access
to the credit and inputs required to produce food surpluses for
the cities. Its forest resources are being depleted for tim ber ex
ports. The state does not have a coherent strategy for encourag
ing sustainable developm ent.
In M alaysia, land tenure rights tended to becom e som ew hat
m ore equitable and secure for m any o f the rural poor follow ing
independence. The state perceived an urgent need to adopt p o li
cies designed to im prove the livelih o o d s o f M alaysian peasants
and rural w orkers in order to m aintain their crucial po litical sup
port, first in the face o f com m unist insurgency and later to defuse
the appeal o f rival political elites competing for state power. In

digenous groups in Sabah and Sarawak, however, lacked suffi
cient political w eight for the protection o f their traditional land
rights to be a serious priority for the state government or for the
federal governm ent.
A leading institutional issue concerning land rights directly af
fecting current tropical deforestation in Malaysia is the division of
revenues from forest exploitation between the state and federal
governm ents. As long as the state governm ents o f Sabah and
Sarawak must depend on income from exports of raw tim ber for
a substantial part of their revenues and political patronage, and as
long as Japanese and other transnational companies w ill purchase
their still unexploited tim ber resources for short-term gains, it
seems u n likely that these state governments w ill adopt policies
conducive to sustainable forest management.
China’s drastic land reform o f the early 1950s, together w ith sev
eral com plem entary social and economic policies, contributed to
providing a foundation for a later, more popularly based and sus
tainable developm ent strategy. Some of the revolutionary govern
ment’s policies such as those of promoting backyard iron smelters
and local-level self-sufficiency in grains during the ‘great leap for
w ard’ accelerated deforestation. On the other hand, more equita
ble and secure access to land by the peasant majority and public
policies intended to improve access by the rural poor to health and
educational services as w ell as to provide them w ith a more equita
ble access to available food and consumer goods slowed the inva
sion of forest areas by destitute peasants in desperate search of
minimal livelihoods.
The policy reforms of the late 1970s and early 1980s introducing
the ‘fam ily responsibility’ system in agriculture and a greater role
for market forces in resource allocation in general were conducive
to more rapid industrialization and economic growth. Employment
opportunities outside of agriculture increased rapidly in both rural
and urban areas. In spite of the growing population of the w orld’s
most populated, and one of its poorest, countries, the area under
forest cover apparently increased slightly. Agricultural production
from a nearly stable agricultural area grew faster than its popula
tion, although not enough to meet all its rapidly growing demands
for food and other farm products.
T o w a r d s M o r e S u s t a in a b l e U s e of T r o p ic a l A g r ic u l t u r a l and F o r est Reso u r c es
W h eth er C h in a’s current developm ent pattern can, on b al

ance, becom e sustainable is a m atter o f debate. In any case, the
frequent changes in po licies during the last five decades can be
better analysed as successive steps in a com plex historical process
that has enjoyed considerable w idesp read p o pular support than
as the m ere substitution o f policies that failed by others that w ere
more successful. U sually the success o f new policies depended at
least in part on the foundations laid by the earlier ones that they
replaced.
The case study o f Hekou county suggested the desirability for
clearer d efin itio ns o f the rights and resp onsibilities o f different
public, cooperative and private entities at national, provincial and
sub-provincial levels in the use o f agricultural and forest resources.
C o n flictin g ob jectives and ju risd ictio n s often led to unsustain
able resource m anagem ent. M any o f these agents w ere m ore
concerned w ith short-term fin an cia l profits than w ith long-term
sustainability. This was largely because the structure o f rewards and
penalties provided by the institutional fram ew ork failed to account
adequately for m any externalities. There has been considerable
underinvestm ent in sustainable high p ro d u ctivity forest m anage
ment as a result. Also, some agricultural expansion into lands more
suited for forests could have been avoided by more em phasis on in
creasing yields o f agricultural areas using im proved but ecologically
sustainable farm ing practices. O n the w hole, how ever, short-term
prospects for reversing undesirable tro p ical deforestation in low-
incom e H eko u county app eared b rig h ter than in low -incom e
Cam eroon, o r in much-higher-income Brazil and Guatem ala, or in
Sabah and Sarawak in far-higher-income Malaysia.
D eforestation in tro pical China had alread y proceeded m uch
further than in these other countries before the state had reacted
w ith a po pularly based strategy aim ed in part at achieving more
sustainable use o f its severely lim ited ag ricu ltu ral and ra p id ly
d w in d lin g forest resources. T here u su ally has to be w idesp read
reco g n itio n that serious and urgent so cial and environm ental
problem s exist and that solutions are possible through collective
actions before m uch can be done about them through public
policies.
This discussion o f national policies and institutions has empha
sized land tenure-related issues because they are so fundam ental,
e sp e cially in p red o m in an tly agrarian countries. T h e y reflect both

the d istrib u tio n o f p o w e r am ong d iverse so cial groups and the
d iffic u ltie s o f changing these relatio n s to em p o w er those w hose
s u rv iv a l depends on the term s un d er w h ich th ey can o b tain ac
cess to land and o th er n atural resources. T h e p o licy and in stitu
tio n a l reform s req u ired fo r su stain ab le d evelopm ent, how ever,
extend far b eyo n d those d e alin g w ith access to land and o th er
natural resources. T he w h o le com plex o f institu tions and p o licies
co m p risin g n atio n al so cieties has to adapt to m eet the need fo r
su stain ab le develo p m en t, as the case studies m ake ab u n d an tly
clear.
A ll the case studies suggested that und esirab le tro p ical d efor
estation due to hum an activities is p rim arily a result o f deliberate
p o litical choices. It is not caused b y uncontrollab le socioeconom ic
and dem ographic forces. P o licie s and institutions can be reform ed
to enco u rag e d evelo p m en t that is s o cia lly and e co lo g ic a lly sus
tain ab le . T he n atio n state rem ains the p rin c ip a l agency through
w h ich such reform s can p o te n tia lly be brought about and m ade
effective. T he challenge is to identify and m obilize the social forces
w illin g and able to m ove the state in th is d ire ctio n . To be e ffe c
tiv e , th e y w ill have to in clu d e the a ctive p a rticip a tio n o f p o p u
la rly based organizations such as lab o u r unions, peasant leagues,
co n su m ers’ asso ciatio n s, in d ig en o u s co m m u n ities and the lik e .
T h ese g roup s p o te n tia lly rep resen t th e in terests o f low -incom e
m ajorities w h o stand to gain the m ost from sustainab le d evelo p
m ent.
I n t e r n a t io n a l R e f o r m s
T ro p ica l deforestation cannot be expected to stop w h en a cou n

try reaches a certa in le v e l o f a fflu e n ce .1 T he sustainable use o f
ag ricu ltu ral and forest resources requires p o lic y and in stitu tio n al
reform s at a ll levels and e sp e cia lly b y the natio n state. T h ere are
se v e ra l in te rn a tio n a l reform s that co u ld su p p o rt and, in som e
1 This is borne out by the case studies. Deforestation trends in high-middle-income Brazil
and Malaysia was more serious than in much-lower-income China and certainly no less a
problem than in lower-middle-income Guatemala or Cameroon. One econometric analy
sis of data from 66 countries concluded that ‘statistically speaking, per capita income
has virtually no explanatory pow er (for deforestation) ...’ (Shafik, 1994).
cases, stim ulate needed reform s at national and sub-national le v

els (Barraclou g h , G him ire and M eliczek, 1997). The research sum
m arized in this book did not focus on international p o licies and
institutions. Linkages observed at local and national levels, how
ever, enable us to speculate about a few international reform s
that could help.
The rich ind ustrial states, together w ith the international fi
nancial institutions that they control, have not usually supported
the adoption o f p o p u larly based strategies o f sustainable d evel
opm ent in poor countries. T h eir insistence on structural adjust
m ent w ith rigid m onetary, fiscal, trade and privatization po licies
that conform w ith neo-liberal criteria has often discouraged de
veloping countries from adopting socially and ecologically friendly
strategies. The burden o f servicin g h eavy foreign debts to the
N orth is a m ajor obstacle for financing social and environm ental
program m es in the South. Trade and im m igration restrictions in
the N orth are counterposed to its insistence on trade lib eraliza
tion in the South and its granting unrestricted access to Northern
investors. The N orth has also consistently refused serious nego
tiations aim ed at stabilizing volatile prices o f Southern com m od
ity exports and em ploying N o rth ern gains from lon g er term
deteriorating term s o f trade for com m odity exporters to help fi
nance efforts tow ards m ore su stainab le developm ent in po or
countries.
W ithout substantial progress towards a more dem ocratic w orld
system , sustainable developm ent w ill rem ain elusive everyw here
(South Centre, 1996). Finding and m obilizing the social forces re
quired for a strong and dem ocratic U nited N ations system capa
ble o f steering the w orld econom y tow ards m ore sustainable de
velopm ent should be high p rio rity for anyone concerned about
tropical deforestation. N ational governm ents that are them selves
dem ocratic and p o p ularly based w ill have to take the lead. Peo
ples’ organizations and N G O s can also play an im portant role.
The negotiation o f international codes or agreem ents setting
m inim um social and environm ental standards fo r transnational
corporations and investors should have a high p riority on the in
ternational agenda. International norms, however, are lik e ly to be
unenforceable and even counterp rod uctive if they are im posed
b y rich states on po or ones w ith o u t being g en u in ely accepted
A g r ic u l t u r a l E x p a n s i o n and T r o p i c a l D e f o r e s t a t io n
by the latter and b y the poor m ajorities o f their inhabitants. Such

standards w ould have to take into account social and environm ental
externalities according to the ‘p olluter pays’ principle. M any poor
country governm ents have argued that this w o u ld undercut th eir
com petitive advantages derived from v e ry lo w w ages, unsustain
able exploitation o f natural resources and lax environm ental regu
lations. This does not have to be the case. International codes w ill
have to be dem ocratically form ulated w ith the fu ll participation o f
representatives o f poor m ajorities from both North and South. M ini
mum standards could benefit poor countries as a group by prevent
ing cut-throat com petition among them selves to offer transnational
investors the best possible terms even if these mean overexploitation
o f both their people and their natural resources. C ollectively they
could insist upon a better deal that in the longer term w ould be to
a ll poor countries’ benefit. In any event, if protectionist pressures
grow in the rich countries, they w o u ld not need to invoke social
and environm ental standards in order to raise their barriers to ex
ports from the South, as they could easily find other excuses.
In the face o f accelerating integration o f the w o rld econom y
under the aegis o f transnational corporate entities, greater inter
n ational regulation o f transnational trade, investm ent and fin an
cia l m arkets is in e vita b le. T he danger is that the ru les w ill be
m ade b y the transnationals them selves, in cooperation w ith rich
co u n try governm ents, fo r th e ir o w n short-term gains. A lre a d y
som e transnational enterprises are callin g fo r international e n vi
ronm ental standards that w o u ld depend on production processes
o ver w h ich they have virtu al m onopoly control o f the necessary
technologies. This w ould freeze out com petitors, esp ecially those
from low -incom e countries. T he proposed m u ltin atio n al agree
m ents on investm ent (M A Is) being pushed by the O EC D and the
W T O have been drafted to serve the interests o f transnational in
vestors by increasing th eir freedom but om itting to sp ecify their
re sp o n sib ilities. M oreover, treating foreig n investors as if they
w ere nationals o f countries in w h ich they invest w o u ld severely
constrain d evelo p in g countries tryin g to pursue strategies de
signed to prom ote self-reliant and sustainable national econom ies.
Pro p o sals to regulate in tern atio n al fin a n cia l m arkets m ade by
some o f the w o rld ’s richest financiers w ould m ake the regulators
T o w a r d s M o r e S u s t a in a b l e U s e of T r o p ic a l A g r ic u l t u r a l and F o r es t Re so u r c es
accountable to central bankers, not to dem ocratically constituted

international institutions.
International codes prepared by the rich to protect th eir ow n
interests are not lik e ly to place a high priority on achieving greater
social justice either now or for future generations. The need for
in tern atio n al regu lation is becom ing im p erative, but the issues
o f w ho m akes the rules and whose interests are served are crucial
for sustainable developm ent. The interests o f poor people in poor
countries w ill inevitably be neglected unless they have an influen
tia l voice in creating the regu latory fram ew ork and unless the
regulators are accountable to low-incom e groups as w e ll as to the
w ealth y corporate bodies that could also benefit from prudent
rules and greater transparency.
Transnational investors should be required to finance p artici
patory social and environm ental im pact assessm ents for projects
they propose to finance in developing countries. Projects that fail
to meet m inim um social and environm ental standards w o u ld be
in elig ib le fo r publicly-supported intern ation al funding. Enforce
m ent o f international standards w ould be d ifficu lt or im possible
in most countries, but th eir m ere existence w ould help peoples’
organizations, N GO s and others striving for a more sustainable de
velopm ent to m obilize opposition to harm ful or dubious projects.
The ‘polluter pays’ principle should be an integral part o f such
international norm s. Social and environm ental criteria should be
used to estim ate the im p licit costs and benefits for diverse social
groups affected b y investm ents and other activities w ith sig n ifi
cant im pacts on the use o f forests and other natural resources.
Im provem ents are required in prep aring natio nal accounts and
in project evaluations in order to em phasize these externalities.
Such estim ates w ould have to be h eavily qualified, however. It is
im possible to estim ate o b jectively in m onetary term s the social
and environm ental costs and benefits associated w ith alternative
developm ent strategies and p o licies. T h ey cannot be com pared
m ean ing fully using any single scale o f value such as m oney or
energy. T h e ir im pacts for different social groups w ith diverse val
ues are inherently incom m ensurable (Martinez-Alier, 1989). M oreo
ver, all such estimates are subject to huge uncertainties. Nonethe
less, m onetary estim ates can be useful in sp e cific contexts fo r
d esig n in g tax in ce n tive s o r p e n alties and re late d m easures to
encourage m ore sustainable practices. T h ey could also help in

convincing taxpayers in rich countries to support higher levels o f
fund ing in support o f program m es aim ed at prom oting sustain
able uses o f the South’s tropical forests.
In tern atio n al standards, codes o f conduct, p o llu tio n and en
ergy taxes, subsidies, accounting and sim ilar reform s cannot by
them selves bring about sustainable developm ent in tro p ical for
est regions. This is p rim arily a problem that has to be dealt w ith
n atio n ally and sub-nationally in each country. An international
system that encourages popularly based national strategies aim ed
at prom oting so cially and ecologically sustainable developm ent in
general and in tropical forest regions in particular could facilitate
the adoption o f desirable p o licy and institu tional reform s. Som e
o f these proposed international reform s w ould require greatly in
creased financial resources that w ould have to be prim arily raised
in rich countries. The costs for the rich o f supporting sound in itia
tives tow ards m ore sustainable developm ent now could be incal
cu lab ly sm aller than the costs that w o u ld probab ly fa ll on them
and th eir descendants if current trends w ere to continue.
The evidence review ed above show ed that ag ricu ltu ral ex
pansion and international trade w ere linked to tropical deforesta
tio n processes in a ll the case study countries.2 These linkages,
how ever, w ere different and freq u en tly con trad ictory for each
place and tim e. M oreover, they w ere alw ays m ere com ponents o f
interacting policies and institutions at all levels. International policy
and institutional reform s could help in enabling and stim ulating
needed reform s at national and sub-national levels, but they can
not substitute fo r them . T he road tow ards m ore sustainable de
velopm ent is m uch too com plex and uncertain to be found by
sim plistic approaches internationally, nationally or locally.
The rich industrial countries w ill have to take the lead in con
fronting social and environm ental issues on a global scale. A n y
international standards w ill have to include the rich countries as
2 Better and more detailed disaggregated data on land use trends in developing countries
could help in understanding these linkages. As was seen in Chapter 2, the FAO’s and
other international organizations’ data are woefully inadequate. Improvement of infor
mation about land use trends and the processes that are driving them is expensive and
time-consuming. Moreover, it is not likely to help much in bringing about needed policy
and institutional reforms unless the relevant social actors at local and sub-national levels
are all deeply involved in generating them.
w e ll as poor ones. T he N orth should not expect developing coun

tries to g ive up sovereignty o ver th e ir n atu ral reso u rces su ch as
tro p ic a l forests un less the rich co u n trie s are w illin g to do the
sam e. D evelo p ing countries w ill have to take prim ary resp onsibil
ity for dealing w ith th e ir ow n social and environm ental problem s,
but they need a m ore su p p o rtive in tern atio n al context.
N atio n al and in tern atio n al in itia tive s to protect ru ral liv e li
hoods and the environm ent are doom ed to be in effective if they
do not confront the fundam ental social issues g enerating unsus
tain ab le, in eq u itab le g row th. A tru ly p a rticip a to ry in tern atio n al
effo rt at all le vels is im p erative. T he k ey issue rem ains that o f
w h a t so cial actors m ight b rin g ab out the req u ired in stitu tio n a l
and p o lic y reform s fo r the im p rovem en t o f ru ra l liv e lih o o d s
w h ile at the sam e tim e p ro tectin g tro p ica l forests fo r present
and future g enerations.
B ib l io g r a p h y
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I nd ex
Page references in italics refer to Brazil

boxes and tables agricultural expansion 8-10, 27,
31, 36-40, 41, 42, 46-7, 102
Afghanistan 23, 26 agricultural p o licy 10, 119, 128
Africa 16, 17, 19-22, 23-8, 117 agro-exports 33, 34, 100, 101,
see also Cam eroon 102, 103
agricultural expansion agro-industrialization 37, 40, 42,
deforestation results 2, 3, 5, 44, 46
18-22, 26-8, 29, 99-100, 138 cattle ranching 10, 34, 37, 40,
deforestation results, Brazil 41, 44, 103
8-10, 27, 31, 36-40, 41, 42, colonization 33, 34-5, 36-9, 40,
46-7, 102 46-7, 119
deforestation results, Cameroon deforestation 8-10, 27, 31,
9, 13, 26, 31, 84, 85, 86-7, 32-50, 101-2, 103-4, 119-20,
90, 112-13 133
deforestation results, China econom ic p o licy 34-5, 36-40,
78-9, 107-9 49-50, 103, 104, 119-20, 128
deforestation results, Guatem ala environm ental policy 10, 47, 48,
9, 11, 26, 31, 50-69, 104, 49, 50, 119-20
105-6 farm ing systems 35, 40, 41,
deforestation results, M alaysia 43-5, 47, 114, 130
9, 11-12, 28, 31, 93-4, 95-6, food production 33, 38, 41, 42,
110-12 45, 46-7
in developing countries 19-22, forest policy 128
26-8, 29 incom e 34
see also under countries indigenous population 35, 36,
Algeria 23, 26 40-2, 43, 102, 130
Angola 23, 26 industrialization 34, 102, 119
Argentina 23, 27 infrastructure developm ent 8,
Asia 16, 17, 19-22, 23-8, 117 33, 34, 41, 47
see also China; M alaysia land developm ent p o licy 36-8,
Australia 19 40-1, 42, 43, 48, 49-50,
119-20
Baham as 23, 26 land speculation 10, 36-8,
Bangladesh 23, 25 39-40, 41-2, 43-4, 48-9,
Belize 23, 26 103-4
Benin 23, 26 land tenure 35, 36-40, 47, 48,
Bhutan 23, 26 102, 119-20, 129-30
Bico do Papagaio, Braz il 10, land use changes 8, 10, 23,
38-40 32-49, 101-2, 103-4, 119
Bo livia 23, 27 map x iii
Botsw ana 23, 26 migration 10, 33, 34-5, 36, 38, 43
A g r ic u l t u r a l E x p a n s io n a n d T r o p i c a l D e f o r e s t a t i o n
natural environm ent 35, 38, 40, m igration 86, 90

42-3, 46 natural environm ent 81, 84, 87
peasant farm ing 10, 36, 38, 39, peasant farm ing 13, 86-7, 113
40, 44-5, 47 population growth 81, 82,
population growth 33, 39, 49 89-90, 122
poverty 34, 102 poverty 13, 83, 89
sustainable developm ent 44-5, sustainable developm ent 89
47, 128, 129-30 tim ber production 13, 84,
tim ber production 10, 37, 41-2, 112-14, 123
43, 47, 48, 103-4 trade 13, 83, 84-5, 87, 90, 100,
trade 33, 34, 100, 101-4 112-14, 122-3, 131
urbanization 8, 34, 119 urbanization 13, 82
Brunei Darsm 23, 2.5 Caribbean region see Latin Am erica
Burkina Faso 23, 26 Central African Republic 23, 26
Burundi 23, 26 Central Am erica see Latin Am erica
Chad 23, 26
Cambodia 23, 27 Chile 23, 27
Cam eroon China
agricultural expansion 9, 13, 26, agricultural expansion 9, 14, 26,
31, 84, 85, 86-7, 90, 112-13 31, 78-9, 107-9, 133
agricultural p o licy 86, 87, 89, agricultural policy 72, 75-6, 77,
90, 122-3 78-9, 120-1, 132-3, 133
agro-exports 84-5, 87, 90, 100, agro-exports 100, 107-8
122-3, 131 agro-industrialization 74, 75, 79,
agro-industrialization 13, 82, 83, 109
84-5, 87, 89 deforestation 9, 13-14, 26, 31,
deforestation 9, 12-13, 26, 31, 74-5, 78-80, 107-9, 120, 132
82-8, 90, 112-14, 131, 133 econom ic policy 14, 71-2, 79,
Developm ent Corporation 13, 108, 109, 120-1, 132-3
84-5, 113 environm ental p o licy 71-2,
econom ic policy 83, 113-14, 76-7
122-3, 131 exports see trade
environm ental policy 86-8, 122, farm ing systems 72-3, 75-6, 77,
131 120-1, 132
exports see trade food production 71, 74, 75, 77
farm ing systems 13, 85, 89, 113 forest areas 69-71
food production 81, 82, 86, 87, forest p o licy 13-14, 71-2, 73,
88 74, 76-8, 80, 120-1, 133
foreign aid 113 incom e 71, 107
forest areas 81-2 indigenous population 71, 74,
forest policy 84, 86-8, 90, 76
112-14, 122-3, 131 industrialization 14, 132
incom e 83, 112 infrastructure developm ent 74-5
indigenous population 86-7 land developm ent policy 72, 75,
industrialization 83 109, 120-1, 132-3
infrastructure developm ent 112 land tenure 13-14, 72-3, 74,
land developm ent policy 83, 88, 75-6, 121, 132
89, 90, 112-13, 122-3 land use changes 23, 71-2, 73,
land tenure 13, 86-7, 88, 89, 74-80, 107-9, 120-1
90, 122-3, 126-7, 131 map xv
land use changes 13, 23, 82-90, m igration 75
112-14, 122-3 peasant farm ing 74, 79
map xiv population grow th 71, 75
In d e x {/fj
poverty 14 dem ographic issues see population

reafforestation 13, 14, 71, 108, grow th
120 developed countries
sustainable developm ent 80 deforestation in developing
tim ber production 13-14, 71, countries 4-5, 99
77-8 developing countries co n flict 4
trade 100, 107-9 environm ental protection 137-9
Colom bia 23, 2 7 sustainable developm ent 135,
Congo 23, 26 137-9
Costa Rica 23, 26 trade p o licies 99, 115, 135-9
Cote d’Ivo ire 23, 26 developin g countries
Cuba 23, 26 agricultu ral expansion 19-22,
Cyprus 23, 25 26-8, 29
deforestation 4-5, 19-22, 26-8,
deforestation 29, 99
agricultu ral expansion causes 2, developed countries con flict 4
3, 5, 18-22, 26-8, 29, environm ental protection 139
99-100, 138 land use changes 16, 18-22,
agricultu ral expansion causes, 23-5, 29
Braz il 8-10, 27, 31, 36-40, sustainable developm ent 135
41, 42, 46-7, 102 trade regulation 135-9
agricultu ral expansion causes, see also under countries
Cam eroon 9, 13, 26, 31, 84, 23, 26
D om inican R ep ublic
85, 86-7, 90, 112-13
agricultu ral expansion causes, Ecuador 23, 27
C hina 78-9, 107-9 Egypt 23, 26
agricultu ral expansion causes, E l Salvador 23, 26
Guatem ala 9, 11, 26, 31, Equatorial G uinea 23, 26
50-69, 104, 105-6 Ethiopia 23, 26
agricultu ral expansion causes, Europe 16, 19
M alaysia 9, 11-12, 28, 31,
93-4, 95-6, 110-12 farm ing system s 6, 125
causes o f 1—14, 53, 57, 100, see also under countries
114-15, 117-24 Fiji 23, 26
in d evelopin g countries 19-22, food production 4, 18
26-8, 29 see also under countries
effects o f 3-5, 13, 62, 68, 79, forest areas 15-16
80, 88, 119, 120 see also under countries
b y land speculators 36-8, French G uyana 23, 27
39-40, 41-2, 48-9, 56-7
local in itiatives 90, 124-7, 134, Gabon 23, 26
135 G am bia 23, 26
rate o f 1, 17, 18, 32, 117 Ghana 23, 26
trade causes 99-101, 114-15, 138 g o vernm ent
trade causes, B raz il 33-4, agricultural p o licy 6, 114, 128,
101-2, 103-4 134
trade causes, Cam eroon 112-14, see also under countries
131 econom ic p o licy 114-15, 128,
trade causes, C hina 107-9 129, 130
trade causes, Guatem ala 11, 61, see also under countries
104, 105-6 environm ental p o licy 1-2, 129,
trade causes, M alaysia 12, 13, 135-9
110-12, 132 see also under countries
forest p o licy 2, 6, 114, 128, 129, trade 11, 51, 52-4, 56, 6 l, 66,
134 100, 104-7, 120
see also under countries urbanization 11
land developm ent p o licy 6, Guinea 24, 26
123-4, 134 Guinea-Bissau 24, 26
see also under countries Guyana 24, 27
sustainable developm ent 2,
127-34, 135 H aiti 24, 27
G uatem ala Hekou County, China 14, 73-9,
agricultural expansion 9, 11, 26, 108, 120-1, 133
31, 50-69, 104, 105-6 Honduras 24, 27
agricultural p o licy 11, 52-4,
68-9, 105-7, 120 im m igration see m igration
agro-exports 51, 52-4, 66, 100, India 24, 26
104, 105, 120 indigenous populations 3-4
agro-industrialization 53-4, 61, see also under countries
63-4, 68-9 Indonesia 24, 28, 92
colonization 11, 54, 57, 105 industrialization 21
deforestation 9, 11, 26, 31, see also under countries
50-69, 104, 105-6, 120, 133 infrastructure developm ent 21
econom ic p o licy 54, 68-9, 104, see also under countries
105-7 international reform 2-3, 134-9
environm ental policy 58-61, Iran 24, 26
65-6, 68 Iraq 24, 27
exports see trade Israel 24, 26
farm ing systems 56, 61-2, 63-4,
66-7, 68-9, 114, 130 Jam aica 24, 27
food production 11, 50-1, 52-4, Jord an 24, 26
66
foreign aid 11, 104-6, 120 Kenya 24, 26, 131
incom e 54-5, 66-7 K ilu m M assif, C am eroon 13,
indigenous population 51-2, 88-9
55, 63-5, 66-7, 104, 130 Korea 24, 25, 26
infrastructure developm ent 11, K uw ait 24, 26
60-1, 105
land developm ent policy 58, La Sierra de las M inas, Guatem ala
68-9, 120 11, 59-67
land speculation 56-7 land tenure 6-7, 115, 133-4
land tenure 51-2, 55, 56-7, 62, see also under countries
64-5, 68, 106, 120, 129-30 land use changes 1, 6, 16, 18-22,
land use changes 11, 24, 51-4, 23-5, 29
56-8, 60-9, 104-6 see also under countries
map xvi Laos 24, 25
m igration 54, 57, 62 Latin Am erica 16, 17, 19-22, 23-8,
natural environm ent 50, 55-6, 117, 131
59-60 see also Brazil; Guatem ala
peasant farm ing 11, 52, 54, 57, Lebanon 24, 25
61-5, 66-7, 68-9 Liberia 24, 26
population growth 51, 56, 69, 120 Libya 24, 26
poverty 106 local action 90, 124-7, 134, 135
sustainable developm ent 55, 65
tim ber production 53, 56-7, 61, Madagascar 24, 26
62, 63, 68, 69 M alaw i 24, 26
In d ex ]^C)
M alaysia M ongolia 24, 25

agricultu ral expansion 9, 11-12, M orocco 24, 26
28, 31, 93-4, 95-6, 110-12 M ozam bique 24, 26
agricultu ral p o licy 12, 97, 121, M yanm ar 24, 27
122
agro-exports 92, 109, 110, 122 Nam ibia 24, 26
agro-industrialization 12, 92, 93, natural environm ent 7-8
95, 96, 110, 121, 122 see also under countries
deforestation 9, 11-12, 28, 31, N epal 24, 2 7
93-8, 110-12, 121-2, 132, N ew Caledonia 26
133 N ew Zealand 19
econom ic p o licy 97, 111, 121, N G O s 10, 44-5, 58-9, 96, 97, 125,
122 129, 135
environm ental p o licy 92-3, 96, N icaragua 24, 26
97-8 N iger 24, 26
exports see trade N igeria 26
farm ing system s 93, 95, 96, 114 North Am erica 16, 19
forest areas 91, 110 North Caledonia 24
forest p o licy 92-3, 94, 95, 96-7,
111-12, 121, 122, 132 O ceania 21
incom e 34, 91-2, 109-10
indigenous population 95 Pa cific region 16, 23
in d ustrialization 12, 91-2, 96, Pakistan 24, 27
109 Panam a 24, 27
infrastructure developm ent Papua N ew G uinea 24, 28
11-12, 90, 96, 97 Paraguay 24, 27
land developm ent p o licy 12, 93, Pen in su lar M alaysia 12, 90-1, 92,
94, 96, 122, 131-2 93, 110-11, 121
land tenure 122, 131-2 Peru 24, 27
land use changes 11-12, 91-7, Peten, Guatem ala 11, 50-1, 55-9
109-12, 121-2 P h ilip p in e s 25, 28, 92
m ap x vii population grow th 1, 2, 18-19
m igration 121 see also under countries
natural environm ent 90-1 p o verty 128-9
peasant farm ing 91, 95, 111 see also under countries
population 91 Puerto Rico 25, 26
p o verty 91
tim ber production 12, 92, 94-5, R ib eira de Iguape river, B raz il 10,
96-7, 110-12, 121-2 45-9, 126
trade 12, 92, 93, 100, 109-12, Rw anda 25, 26
121-2, 132
urbanization 11, 12, 91, 96, 97, Sabah, M alaysia 12, 90-1, 92, 94,
110 111, 121, 132, 133
M ali 24, 26 Sao Felix do Araguaia, Brazil 10,
M ato Grosso, Brazil 10, 36-8, 36-8
40-5, 103 Sao Paulo, Braz il 10, 45-9, 126
M auritania 24, 26 Saraw ak, M alaysia 12, 90-1, 92,
M balm ayo Forest Reserve, 94-5, 111, 114, 121, 132, 133
Cam eroon 13, 87-8 Saudi Arabia 25, 2 7
M exico 17, 24, 2 7 Senegal 25, 26
m igration 7 Sierra Leone 25, 26
see also u n d er countries Solom on Islands 25, 26
M irassolzinho, B raz il 10, 42-5 Som alia 25, 26
A g r i c u l t u r a l E x p a n s io n a n d T r o p i c a l D e f o r e s t a t io n
South A frica 25, 26, 131 deforestation results, G uatem ala

South Am erica see Latin Am erica 11, 61, 104, 105-6
Southern Bakundu Forest Reserve, deforestation results, M alaysia
Cam eroon 13, 86-7 12, 13, 110-12, 132
Sri Lanka 25, 26 regulations 135-9
Sudan 25, 26 Trinidad & Tobago 25, 27
Surinam 25, 27 T unisia 25, 26
sustainable developm ent 1-2, 4, T u rkey 25, 27
58-61, 118-20, 124-34, 135,
137-9 Uganda 25, 26
Sw aziland 25, 26 U nited Arab Em irates 25, 2 7
Syria 25, 27 U n ited States 104-6
urbanization 1, 21
Tanzania 25, 26 see also under countries
T hailand 25, 28, 92 U ruguay 25, 26
tim ber production 4 U SSR 16, 19
see also under countries
Togo 25, 26 Vanuatu 25, 27
Tocantins, B ra z il 10, 38-40 Venezuala 25, 27
trade Vietnam 25, 28
deforestation results 2, 99-101,
114-15, 138 Yem en 25, 28
deforestation results, B raz il Yunnan Pro vin ce, C hina 14, 73-9,
33-4, 101-2, 103-4 108, 120-1, 133
deforestation results, Cam eroon
112-14, 131 Zaire 25, 26
deforestation results, China Zam bia 25, 26
107-9 Zim babw e 25, 27, 131

Agricultural Expansion and Tropical Deforestation Poverty, International Trade and Land Use by Barraclough, Solon Ghimire, Kléber Bertrand

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Agricultural Expansion and Tropical Deforestation Poverty, International Trade and Land Use by Barraclough, Solon Ghimire, Kléber Bertrand

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Solon L Barradough and Krishna B Ghimire

Solon L Barradough and Krishna B Ghimire

Copyright © United Nations Research Institute for Social Development, 2000

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List o f Maps, Tables a n d Boxes vii

1 Introduction: Social D eterm inants o f D eforestation 1

2 The Extent o f Tropical D eforestation and

3 Tropical D eforestation and Agricultural Expansion

4 Linkages w ith International Trade 99

5 Towards More Sustainable U se o f Tropical

1.1 A g ricu ltu ral Expansion and D eforestation

2.1 Concepts and D efinitions o f D ifferent Types o f Forests

In just over three decades, the W orld W id e Fu n d Fo r N ature

throughout five continents, 24 national organizations, five asso­

CDC Cam eroon D evelopm ent C orporation

Q G L Y T JH B Q uanguo Lin ye Tongji H u ib ian (N atio n al

A ccelerated tro p ical deforestation during recent decades has re­

frien d ly appears m ore prom ising in term s o f stopping destructive

d ram atically changing. W h at international reform s could, in the

T rop ical deforestation has been a m ajor them e in the countless

The second set o f issues related to the roles o f p o licies in

benefits. In agrarian societies land tenure also defines the obliga­

N atural environm ent

dynam ics o f each ecosystem have to be taken into account. O ne

T able 1.1 Agricultural Expansion a n d DeforesUition in Case Study

Land area 845,651 845,651 845,651 845,651 - -

Arable-permanent 57,820 68,970 78,650 59,000 1180 2

Land area 10,843 10,843 10,843 10,843 - -

Arable-permanent 1613 1726 1875 1885 272 17

Land area 46,540 46,540 46,540 46,540 - -

Arable-permanent 6160 6912 7008 7040 880 14

Land area 32,855 32,855 32,855 32,855 - -

Arable-permanent 4580 4765 4880 4880 300 7

Land area 932,641 932,641 932,641 932,641 - -

Arable-permanent 101,376 100,415 96,115 96,302 -5074 -5

country w as taking place at a rate o f nearly 3 m illion hectares annu­

FA O ’s estim ate o f forest clearance betw een 1973-1992 indicates

incidents o f ille g a l tree cutting (M enzies and Peluso, 1991). In

Land use changes at global and national levels in developing

B o x 2 .1 C o n cep ts a n d D e fin itio n s o f D iffe r e n t Types o f Forests

Forest: this is an aggregate to indicate what is normally understood as forest, namely

Table 2.1 D istribution o f the W orld’s Forest Lands

North 1835 734 40 459 63 275 na na

Tropical 4815 2346 49 1202 25 1144 734 410

Africa 2190 869 40 217 25 652 486 166

World 13,077 4499 34 2792 62 1707 734 410

Asia: 15 896,600 310,800 274,800 3500 -1.2

Africa: 40 2,243,300 650,400 600,100 5100 -0.8

Total 87 4,815,500 1,884,100 1,714,800 17,000 -0.9

T ab le 2.3 Net Conversion o f Land to Crops by Region, 1700-1980

T ropical Africa 44 222 405

global level. The w id e differences betw een rates o f cropland in­

o f forest land to agriculture (FA O , 1982). The W orld Ban k asserts

Land area 2,930,454 2,930,454 2,930,454 2,930,454 - -

Land area 2,015,444 2,015,444 2,015,444 2,015,444 - -

Land area 2,669,674 2,669,674 2,669,674 2,669,674 - -

Arable-permanent 444,094 447,066 452,210 455,142 11,048 2

Africa, Latin America and Asia increased by 8, 21 and 20 per cent

• In 14 co u n tries a g ricu ltu ra l area increased w h ile the area o f

throughout five continents, 24 national organizations, five asso

A ccelerated tro p ical deforestation during recent decades has re

benefits. In agrarian societies land tenure also defines the obliga

country w as taking place at a rate o f nearly 3 m illion hectares annu

global level. The w id e differences betw een rates o f cropland in

leave the poverty-stricken north-east and areas in the south in or

introduced by the m ilitary governm ent. B y 1950, nearly tw o cen

forest. Land speculators (grileiros ) vio le n tly ex pelled the squat

The m ilita ry governm ent im posed no restrictio n s on sp ecu

opm ent has becom e a m ajor contributor to deforestation in sev

G uatem ala is a sm all cen tral A m erican co u n try w ith an ex cep

densely populated M otagua valley. This valle y also provides G ua

H ig h er up the m ountains in the ‘cloud forest’ part o f the Re

deciduous broad-leaved forest, sub-tropical evergreen broad