Abstract
This study explores Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs) production and company–community partnerships with the multinational cosmetic industry. The objectives are to critically assess: (1) how income generated from market-oriented NTFPs extraction impacts small farmers’ livelihoods; and (2) whether membership in cooperatives linked to such partnerships is a factor in improved livelihood. Household-level data from 282 surveys conducted in remote communities in four municipalities in the Northeast region of the State of Pará provide empirical insight into NTFPs extraction and processing activities by smallholder farmers in the Brazilian Amazon. We employ a spatial econometric approach to assess if engagement in NTFPs extraction and membership in cooperatives result in statistically significant increases in the overall household income. A series of spatial regression models are used, including Ordinary Least Squares (OLS), Spatial Autoregressive Regression (SAR), Spatial Error Model (SEM), Spatial Durbin Model (SDM) and their corresponding alternative Bayesian models. Our study finds that NTFP extraction and membership in cooperatives tied to company–community partnerships are statistically significant and result in increases in total income at the household level. Findings also show that distance to transportation modes and markets are statistically significant with more distant households earning greater income. This finding presents challenges for the long-term sustainability of green alternatives to development that rely on remote, inaccessible environments for the commodities of interest. This is especially pronounced given the commitment of the Amazonian Nations, and the massive national and international investments, in the Initiative for the Integration of Regional Infrastructure in South America (IIRSA), which has as its goal the creation of a multimodal transportation hub to integrate the continent with global markets and make accessible far reaches of the Amazon.
Highlights
The Brazilian Amazon is a biodiverse region with vast carbon sequestration potential
The contemporary conservation discourse about sustainable development in Amazonia has begun to focus on supplanting the destructive agroindustrial growth model dependent on forest clearing with a new bioeconomy based on the renewable production of value-added, biology-based commodities demanded by markets for pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and foodstuffs [55]
This perspective has spurred a marked increase in company–community partnerships (CCPs) endeavors in Amazonia to supply Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs) commodities to the global cosmetic industry, and a new wave of initiatives has been announced by governments, social organizations, and private and public company coalitions (e.g., Amazônia 4.0; Amazônia Possível movement; Pro Green program) [23,55,90,91]
Summary
The Brazilian Amazon is a biodiverse region with vast carbon sequestration potential. Advocates maintain that CCPs provide the exceptional case where income derived from NTFPs is capable of providing a significant contribution to rural livelihoods, most notably because regional markets are no longer the target, and higher prices are paid to communities for niche commodities in the global market that together with other supplementary forest-based activities and farming provide genuine benefits [45,46,47] In such cases, CCPs provide the conditions to improve NTFP-based income through the provision of training, technology and support to domesticate high-value species and integrate them into farming systems, and establish market value chains for NTFP commodities [46,47]. While some studies acknowledge lower than ideal returns from NTFPs in comparison to total income, they argue the problem is that further investments are needed to support these activities, and the right mix of financial and technical input will result in sustainable forest management with benefits accruing to increased social welfare and environmental conservation [44]
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