Efficiency and sustainability assessment for a group of farmers in the Brazilian Amazon (original) (raw)
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Productive Efficiency in Small Peasant and Capitalist Farms. Empirical Evidece Using DEA
World Journal of Agricultural …, 2008
Different regions and sectors of the Argentinean society depend on the consolidation of certain nontraditional productive chains; as a consequence, it would be necessary to achieve a productive transformation which allows a competitive participation of small agro industries in the dynamic markets. Efficiency has an essential role here. The caprine dairy sector in the province of Santiago del Estero constitutes an interesting case of study since, in spite of its competitive potential; it could not yet introduce its products into more dynamic markets than those of the province or region. This work aims to study the relative efficiency of the farms of the provincial caprine dairy area and to investigate about the relationship between efficiency and the main productive characteristics and styles of production. For the investigation, a mathematical programming technique known as Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) was used on the grounds of data provided by the interviews carried out in each farm. The study was completed by the Cluster Analysis and the Discriminant Analysis. The results show an efficiency level of 59.5% for the area and apparently there are not indications to assume that certain production styles are a limiting factor for the productive potential of each farm.
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DEA models assume the homogeneity of the units under evaluation (DMUs). However,in some cases, the DMUs use different production technologies. In such cases, they should be evaluated separately. In this paper we evaluate the efficiency of family farmers from the Brazilian Eastern Amazon, who use different agricultural production systems. We propose an alternative algorithm to assess the global efficiency, taking into account the non-homogeneity. The results show that the farmers that use the classical technology are more efficient than those considered "environmental friendly", as we took into account only the economic point of view.
International Journal of Sustainable Development & World Ecology, 2014
The social and environmental impacts caused by the modernization of Brazilian agribusiness have evoked a growing interest in the search of balance between social-economics development and the adequate use of natural resources, driving the country to sustainable development. Therefore, the main aim of this article is to estimate a set of indicators of relative efficiency in the Brazilian agricultural sector, which satisfy the concept of Pareto optimality, potentiates simultaneously both economic, ecological dimensions and social functions. To reach this purpose, the method of directional distance functions and data envelopment analysis was applied. These indicators confirm, in different ways, the hypothesis that it is possible to perform consistent productive strategies with the maximization of social welfare, despite the apparent antagonism among these three dimensions. In addition, it is shown that efficient Brazilian states tend to combine the three dimensions in different ways. Hence, it can be concluded that several equilibrium taken sustainable can be achieved through different actions on poverty and environmental impact reduction without necessarily generating productive inefficiencies. This result can be considered of prominent importance for sustainable development in Brazil and can also serve as a reference in the definition of goals of the plan 'Brazil without Misery' and international commitments to reduce Greenhouse Gas-GHGin Brazil, especially for the 17 inefficient Brazilian states.
Economic and Environmental Sustainability of Farms from Three Different Brazilian Regions
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Using the technique of "panels" farms were drawn as representatives from three regions of Brazil: the first was a medium size farm representing the grain production area of Northern Rio Grande do Sul State; the second, a large farm from the grain and livestock production area of Mato Grosso State; the third, a very large farm from the Amazonian livestock production area of Para State. The long-term cost of production was estimated and the yearly average net income was evaluated for each typical farm. An "energy" evaluation table, prepared according to procedures described by Odum (1996), was used to estimate each farm process of incorporating energy into its production as a way to evaluate the sustainability of the farms systems. A four quadrant reference system, based on the average measurements for each vector - environmental accounting and net farm income - allowed the plotting of the three farms on the designed quadrants. The null hypothesis indicates that su...
Economic Efficiency of Agricultural Production In Brazil 1
2004
This study measures levels of technical, allocative and economic efficiency in agricultural crop production for Brazil in 1995. A nonparametric frontier model (DEA) under constant returns to scale was used. On average, the results suggest that the sector suffers from moderate technical inefficiency and from strong allocative inefficiency. If full technical efficiency were achieved, the crop production would increase by more than 30% over that obtained in 1995. Land and labor were overutilized, while fertilizers and pesticides were underutilized. Climate, soil conditions and irrigation use affected technical efficiency levels, and education in rural areas helped explain the extent of allocative efficiency. The state of São Paulo State was the only production unit in Brazil operating in full efficiency in 1995.
Measuring agricultural sustainability in terms of efficiency: the case of Dutch sugar beet growers
Journal of Environmental Management, 2002
Sustainability embraces socio-economic and bio-ecological dimensions or attributes. This paper presents a conceptual framework for quantifying sustainability on the basis of ef®ciency theory commonly used in economics. The conceptual model is implemented using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). Sustainability is measured for a sample of Dutch sugar beet growers. The average technical ef®ciency was only 50%. A positive correlation was found between technical ef®ciency and sustainable ef®ciency. Differences in ef®ciency among farmers were persistent within and between years. We conclude that there is considerable scope for improving the sustainability of arable farming by better management.
Economic efficiency of agricultural production in Brazil
Revista de Economia e Sociologia Rural, 2004
This study measures levels of technical, allocative and economic efficiency in agricultural crop production for Brazil in 1995. A nonparametric frontier model (DEA) under constant returns to scale was used. On average, the results suggest that the sector suffers from moderate technical inefficiency and from strong allocative inefficiency. If full technical efficiency were achieved, the crop production would increase by more than 30% over that obtained in 1995. Land and labor were overutilized, while fertilizers and pesticides were underutilized. Climate, soil conditions and irrigation use affected technical efficiency levels, and education in rural areas helped explain the extent of allocative efficiency. The state of São Paulo State was the only production unit in Brazil operating in full efficiency in 1995.
Environmental Science and Pollution Research
Aiming to assist the environmental sustainability of the Brazilian Amazonian agriculture, this article developed an ecoefficiency index, indicating the possible limits to maximize economic and environmental objectives, taking into account the best practices in the municipalities of the region. Shadow prices of degraded areas and forest preservation were also estimated using data envelopment analysis with directional distance functions. The results indicate that, on average, the analyzed municipalities are able to expand the production and the forest areas by 38% and reduce degraded areas and their inputs in the same proportion. The shadow prices allowed the estimation of the annual opportunity cost of the degraded areas and the preservation of the forest on the farms. The first, US$ 3,131,571, represented 0.04% of the annual output value, indicating that the internalization of that cost should be a low burden for the eco-efficient producer. The second, the total cost of preserving 80% of the area of property, represented US$ 120,890,662 or 1.7% of the annual income of the biome producers studied. Therefore, the main conclusion of this work is that the internalization of negative and positive externalities of agricultural production in the Amazonian biome does not make agricultural production economically unfeasible in the region. In addition, the reimbursement of damages avoided by carbon sequestration, through the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) established by the Kyoto Conference, should further increase the economic and environmental sustainability of agriculture in the area.