Impacts of Cash Transfer Programs on Rural Livelihoods: a Case Study in the Brazilian Amazon Estuary

We conducted a large household survey in a region of the Amazon estuary in Brazil to investigate the dependence of small farming households on government cash transfers and to identify the main factors that lead to better livelihood outcomes. The study examined the factors that contribute to heterog...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Human ecology : an interdisciplinary journal 2017-10, Vol.45 (5), p.697-710
Main Authors: Dou, Yue, Deadman, Peter, Robinson, Derek, Almeida, Oriana, Rivero, Sergio, Vogt, Nathan, Pinedo-Vasquez, Miguel
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agriculture
Anthropology
Case studies
Decision making
Environmental Management
Estuaries
Geography
Higher education
Households
Human geography
Income
Livelihood
Multiculturalism & pluralism
Policy making
RESEARCH REPORT
Rural areas
Small farms
Social Sciences
Sociology
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:We conducted a large household survey in a region of the Amazon estuary in Brazil to investigate the dependence of small farming households on government cash transfers and to identify the main factors that lead to better livelihood outcomes. The study examined the factors that contribute to heterogeneous household livelihoods and patterns of dependence on cash transfer programs. Multinomial logistic regression was used to evaluate household attributes affecting the level of dependence on cash transfers. Results indicate that households engage in a diversity of livelihood strategies, and vary in dependence on cash transfers. Lower levels of dependency are associated with higher levels of education and income from off-farm activities as well as larger property sizes and holdings in the várzea. Recognition of the causes and potential range of dependence on cash transfer programs adds decision-making capacity for policy makers seeking avenues to reduce dependence and increase program effectiveness.
ISSN:0300-7839
1572-9915
DOI:10.1007/s10745-017-9934-1