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When does higher credit lower forest area? Amazon contexts change credit's impacts.
Patricia G C Ruggiero1,2, Paula Carvalho Pereda1, Alexander Pfaff3
1School of Economics, Business and Accounting, Department of Economics, University of São Paulo, São Paulo 05508-010, Brazil.
Access to credit in Brazil's Amazon can increase deforestation, especially for cattle ranching on new frontiers and crop production encroaching on existing forests. Context matters for credit's impact on forest loss.
Area of Science:
- Agricultural Economics
- Environmental Science
- Conservation Biology
Background:
- Economic activities, including agropastoral production, are driving significant land-use change globally.
- Access to credit can influence producer decisions, potentially leading to forest expansion or increased yield efficiency.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the heterogeneous impacts of credit access on forest loss in Brazil's Amazon.
- To differentiate credit effects based on local contexts influencing cattle and crop production.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of credit impacts across diverse local contexts in the Brazilian Amazon.
- Distinguishing contexts based on factors affecting cattle and crop production.
Main Results:
- Cattle credit exacerbates deforestation by promoting pasture expansion into native forests on remote frontiers.
- Crop credit contributes to deforestation as farms expand over existing pastures and forest remnants.
Conclusions:
- The impact of credit on forest loss is context-dependent, varying between cattle and crop production.
- Understanding this heterogeneity is crucial for mitigating rural forest loss while supporting economic development.
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