Lec 27: Amazon Livelihoods: Myths and Realities Flashcards
Describe rain forest peasants
2 types: Amerindian and folk people
Live along amazon river and its tributaries
practice traditional agriculture and forest harvesting, but sell their products in markets
poor in income and assets
are guardians of the forest
Why is it believed that peasant societies are egalitarian? Why is this a myth?
- “peasant ethos”: no obvious class or status distinction
- This is a myth because people have different levels of access to land, labor, and inputs (such as seeds)
How do peasants access land?
What is land inequality driven by?
How does land inequality decrease?
- access land through deforestation
- Huge land inequality driven by
○ What people started with
○ Access to labor for clearing + access to seed - decreases by land diversification and land transfers
qualify the different sources of labor (3)
sources of labor:
- household
- wage labor: limited and very unequal
- cooperative labor: work groups, intra-household labour
describe access to seed in the amazon
seeds are key to:
- agricultural productivity
- subsistence security
- market specialization
- agrobiodiversity
very scarce in the amazon and unequal within AND across communities. multiple seed exchanges between households
Why is it believed that traditional forest use is sustainable?
Why is this a myth?
Long believed that indigenous agricultural practices were a model for sustainability and a path out of poverty, because:
- they are low input
- they incorporate indigenous knowledge
- they use stewardship ethic
- they are practiced by poor people
However, the sustainability of a use is not due to group practices or “traditional practices”. Instead, it depends on:
- the type of product being harvested
- the circumstances of harvesting
- the circumstances of the harvester
What is the moral of the charcoal vs. chambira palm case?
just because something is traditional doesn’t mean it’s sustainable. More a question of how it’s produced
Charcoal linked to deforestation, however in these short-fallow systems it is sustainably produced. Palm fiber is not!
Why is it believed that the rain forest is a safety net?
Why is this a myth?
it is believed that protecting the rain forest protects forest peoples. this is only true to a certain extent
Along tropical forest rivers : rivers, not forest
as safety net
Fishing is the most common response to shocks such as illness and floods
What are two points that disprove the pristine myth, or the myth that the Human imprint on landscape is small?
archeological evidence in landscape
- 500 archeological sites
anthropogenic forests and terra preta soils
- A large % of the forest is anthropogenic
- Terra preta: places where cultivation improved natural soils
What does policy discourse about climate change assume about poor people and vulnerability to environmental change?
○ They’re more vulnerable
○ They’ll be left worse off after natural disasters
Why is it a myth that poor people are the most vulnerable to environmental change?
Studies show that after an environmental disaster,
- land inequality reduced
- deforestation rate lowered
- resilience to future hurricanes increased
Environmental shocks actually open a window of opportunity for the poor!
What are the 6 realities about Amazonian livelihoods?
Rain forest peasants are market product specialists.
2. Rain forest communities are inegalitarian, ‘naturally’.
3. Traditional forest use is not necessarily sustainable.
4. Rivers more important than rain forest as safety net.
5. Human imprint on landscape can be substantial.
6. Environmental change poses risks but also
opportunities for positive change for the poorest.
Why is it believed that peasants are generalists?
Why is this a myth?
Believed that everyone does a little bit of everything
This is a myth because in fact there is a high degree of product specialization
different regions/households/communities specialize on specific market products
