The chapter systematically examines some of the main analytical arguments and empirical evidence regarding the impact of technological progress in agriculture on deforestation. Three factors have been highlighted that are important in determining deforestation outcomes: (1) the type of...

The introductory chapter discusses the assumptions behind policies which have led to deforestation of tropical forests, and outlines the aims and scope, and key conclusions of the book. A summary of each chapter in the rest of the book is also included.

This chapter seeks to determine how changes in policies and technology affect deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon, and identify strategies to reduce forest clearing. This was done using a computable general equilibrium model, adapted to capture regional economic structures and the environmental...

This paper examines the relation between soyabean technology and the loss of natural vegetation in south Brazil, central west Brazil (the Cerrado) and Santa Cruz, Bolivia. The theoretical framework is presented. The interaction between technology and other factors to stimulate soyabean expansion,...

This paper examines how controlling livestock trypanosomiasis, transmitted by tsetse-fly (Glossina spp.), affects the rate and location of agricultural expansion in Ghibe Valley, Ethiopia. Control of the disease will reduce animal mortality, increase productivity per animal and cause livestock...

This paper is based on farm surveys and historical reviews of regional cocoa cycles conducted in 1980-1985 and 1997/98 in Côte d'Ivoire and in 1989-1999 in Sulawesi (Indonesia). A qualitative model of cocoa cycles is presented. The adoption of cocoa and new manual techniques of forest clearing and...