Off‐farm Work among Rural Households: A Case Study in theBrazilianAmazon

Abstract

This article analyzes off‐farm work among subsistence‐level farmers in the Santarém region of the Brazilian Amazon. We build on the literature on rural livelihoods in the Global South by exploring how the opportunity to work off the farm is embedded in social relationships. We additionally differentiate our analysis by type of off‐farm work, and examine how other characteristics such as human capital, the available labor supply, and access to infrastructure vary by work outcome. In general, the factors that contribute to more secure, relatively higher‐paying work differ from those important in understanding patterns of lower‐paying, daily wage work. We find that on‐farm social capital, measured as the presence of a co‐resident on the property who works off the farm, increases an individual's probability of working off the farm, but has a stronger effect for lower‐wage work. We also find that the farm owner's relationship to households on the farm property plays a significant role in predicting patterns of off‐farm work. These findings suggest that social capital plays an important role in providing access to employment and therefore to cash income, but that farm‐level social capital does not necessarily provide pathways to stable or high‐paying jobs outside agriculture.

Income diversification of migrant colonists vs. indigenous populations: Contrasting strategies in the Amazon

“…In a qualitative analysis on the Brazilian Amazon, for example, Steward (2007) noted that young people prefer off-farm jobs emainly in the public sector-to agricultural jobs, the returns to which are considerably lower due to low market prices, lack of credit and lack of extension services. VanWey and Vithayathil (2013) found that the likelihood of taking part in off-farm work is higher for males, those more educated, and those residing closer to urban areas.…”

Networks Versus Need: Drivers of Urban Out-Migration in the Brazilian Amazon

“…She argues that family ties in this context generally serve as information on low-paying agricultural or construction opportunities, while community ties to other young migrants offer information on higher wage opportunities in cities. In addition, a study among smallholder farmers in rural Santarém finds that individuals with a close family member or friend working off of the farm have increased likelihoods of finding off-farm work (VanWey and Vithayathil 2012) and a study in the Ecuadorian Amazon finds that the number of migrants within an individual’s household strongly predicts one’s likelihood of migration (Barbieri et al 2009). These studies indicate that close extra-local networks influence labor mobility in the Amazon region, and we suggest that part of the variation in information provided by family ties reflects the life course nature of networks.…”

Composição demográfica domiciliar e dinâmica do uso do solo em Machadinho d’Oeste, Rondônia: evidências baseadas nos estágios iniciais da fronteira

“…Inspirado em estudos similares desenvolvidos no contexto amazônico VITHAYATHIL, 2013;LOMBARDI et al, 2015;GUEDES et al, 2017), este trabalho analisa como a composição demográfica e o tempo de residência das famílias de pequenos agricultores se relacionam com a intensidade observada do desmatamento em assentamentos agrícolas na Amazônia. Para tanto, foram utilizados dados sobre os colonos do Projeto de Assentamento Machadinho d'Oeste, no estado de Rondônia.…”