Rural development and the expansion of non‑agricultural activities in the Brazilian Amazon

Bezerra, Francisco Diétima da Silva; Nascimento, Carlos Alves do; Maia, Alexandre Gori

doi:10.1590/1806-9479.2021.231355

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ARTICLE • Rev. Econ. Sociol. Rural 59 (4) • 2021 • https://doi.org/10.1590/1806-9479.2021.231355 copy

Rural development and the expansion of non‑agricultural activities in the Brazilian Amazon

Desenvolvimento rural e a expansão das atividades não agropecuárias na Amazônia Brasileira

Authorship SCIMAGO INSTITUTIONS RANKINGS

Abstract

This paper analyzes the employment and income dynamics of rural families in Brazil's North Region, the main representative of the Brazilian Amazon. We use information from the National Household Sample Survey between 2004 and 2015 to create a typology of families based on the members' occupation in agricultural and non-agricultural activities. We hypothesize that the recent increase in employment and income was strongly associated with non-agricultural activities, reproducing the dynamics observed in other developing countries and Brazil's more developed regions. The results highlight that, differently from the rural exodus observed in the other regions of the country, the number of rural households increased in the North Region, attracted by the expanding non-agricultural occupations. As a result, the importance of earnings from non-agricultural activities and non-labor (pensions, cash transfers, among others) to family income has increased considerably, especially among self-employed family farmers. The final discussion highlights the relevance of non-agricultural activities for public policies to increase income in less developed rural areas.

Keywords:
rural development; multi-activity; agricultural occupation; Brazilian North Region

Household/Family type	2004	2009	Δ (% p.y.)		2011	2015	Δ (% p.y.)
Household/Family type	2004	2009	2004/2009		2011	2015	2011/2015
Rural
Employer with more than two employees	13	10	-10.8		7	7	1.3
Agricultural	1	0	-	-	1	2	-	-
Multi-active	5	2	-	-	2	1	-	-
Non-agricultural	7	7	-7.8		4	4	2.8
Employer with up to two employees	42	42	-2.0		17	26	9.8	**
Agricultural	19	19	-1.4		7	11	7.7
Multi-active	20	14	-9.1		6	8	6.1
Non-agricultural	4	8	14.4		4	6	17.4	*
Self-employed	587	604	0.9	*	666	722	2.1	***
Agricultural	373	324	-1.8		408	428	1.0
Multi-active	118	116	0.7		137	137	0.4
Non-agricultural	97	163	8.5	*	121	156	7.0	**
Employee	303	426	6.9	***	315	354	3.1	***
Agricultural	125	142	3.0	***	140	142	0.1
Multi-active	38	63	7.3	*	42	47	4.4
Non-agricultural	140	221	9.7	***	133	164	5.4	***
Non-occupied	34	60	11.7	***	76	134	15.6	***
TOTAL	980	1.141	3.1	***	1.081	1.243	3.6	***
Total family farming	530	474	-1.4		558	585	1.0	*
Agricultural	392	344	-1.8		415	440	1.1
Multi-active	138	131	-0.5		143	145	0.7

Place of residence/Family type	2004	2009	Δ (% p.y.)		2011	2015	Δ (% p.y.)
Place of residence/Family type	2004	2009	2004/2009		2011	2015	2011/2015
Rural
Families (1,000)
Agricultural	518	486	-0.5		556	584	0.9
Multi-active	180	195	1.2		187	194	1.6
Non-agricultural	248	400	8.7	**	261	331	6.4	***
Non-occupied	34	60	11.7	***	76	134	15.6	***
TOTAL	980	1.141	3.1	***	1,081	1,243	3.6	***
Share (%)
Agricultural	52.9	42.6	-3.5	**	51.5	47.0	-2.6	***
Multi-active	18.4	17.1	-1.9		17.3	15.6	-2.0
Non-agricultural [2]	25.3	35.0	5.4	*	24.2	26.6	2.7	**
Non-occupied [3]	3.5	5.3	8.3	***	7.0	10.8	11.5	***
TOTAL	100.0	100.0			100.0	100.0
[2] + [3]	28.7	40.3	5.8	*	31.2	37.4	4.9	***

Place of residence/Family type	2004	2009	Δ (% p.y.)		2011	2015	Δ (% p.y.)
Place of residence/Family type	2004	2009	2004/2009		2011	2015	2011/2015
Rural
Employer with more than two employees	1.4	0.9	-13.5		0.7	0.5	-2.2
Agricultural	0.1	0.0	-	-	0.1	0.1	-	-
Multi-active	0.5	0.2	-	-	0.2	0.1	-	-
Non-agricultural	0.7	0.6	-10.6		0.3	0.3	-0.8
Employer with up to two employees	4.3	3.7	-4.9		1.6	2.1	6.0
Agricultural	2.0	1.7	-4.4		0.7	0.9	3.9
Multi-active	2.0	1.2	-11.8		0.5	0.7	2.4
Non-agricultural	0.4	0.7	10.9		0.4	0.5	13.4
Self-employed	59.9	52.9	-2.2	***	61.6	58.1	-1.5	***
Agricultural	38.0	28.4	-4.7	**	37.7	34.5	-2.5	***
Multi-active	12.0	10.2	-2.3		12.7	11.0	-3.1
Non-agricultural	9.9	14.3	5.2		11.2	12.6	3.2
Employee	30.9	37.3	3.7	***	29.1	28.5	-0.5
Agricultural	12.8	12.4	-0.1		12.9	11.4	-3.4	*
Multi-active	3.8	5.5	4.1		3.9	3.8	0.7
Non-agricultural	14.3	19.4	6.4	***	12.3	13.2	1.8	***
Non-occupied	3.5	5.3	8.3	***	7.0	10.8	11.5	***
TOTAL	100.0	100.0			100.0	100.0
Total family farming	54.0	41.5	-4.4	**	51.6	47.1	-2.5	***
Agricultural	40.0	30.1	-4.7	**	38.4	35.4	-2.4	***
Multi-active	14.0	11.4	-3.5	*	13.2	11.7	-2.8

Place of residence/Family type	2004	2009	Δ (% p.y.)		2011	2015	Δ (% p.y.)
Place of residence/Family type	2004	2009	2004/2009		2011	2015	2011/2015
Rural
Employer with more than two employees	100.0	100.0			100.0	100.0
Agricultural	10.0	3.5	-	-	20.1	25.6	-	-
Multi-active	36.9	20.8	-	-	29.3	21.7	-	-
Non-agricultural	53.1	75.7	3.4		50.5	52.7	1.4
Employer with up to two employees	100.0	100.0			100.0	100.0
Agricultural	45.1	46.3	0.6		42.5	43.1	-2.0
Multi-active	46.5	33.7	-7.2		33.7	32.2	-3.4
Non-agricultural	8.4	20.0	16.7		23.8	24.8	6.9
Self-employed	100.0	100.0			100.0	100.0
Agricultural	63.5	53.7	-2.6	*	61.3	59.4	-1.0	*
Multi-active	20.1	19.3	-0.2		20.6	19.0	-1.6
Non-agricultural	16.4	27.0	7.6		18.2	21.7	4.8	**
Employee	100.0	100.0			100.0	100.0
Agricultural	41.3	33.3	-3.6	***	44.4	40.2	-2.8	*
Multi-active	12.4	14.8	0.4		13.5	13.4	1.3
Non-agricultural	46.3	51.9	2.6	***	42.1	46.4	2.3	***
Total family farming	100.0	100.0			100.0	100.0
Agricultural	74.0	72.5	-0.3		74.4	75.2	0.1
Multi-active	26.0	27.5	0.9		25.6	24.8	-0.3

Employment type	2004	2009	Δ (% p.y.)		2011	2015	Δ (% p.y.)
Employment type	2004	2009	2004/2009		2011	2015	2011/2015
Rural
Agricultural EAP	1,555	1,273	-3.4	*	1,427	1,316	-1.9	*
Employee	233	259	1.6		240	238	-0.6
Formal	37	43	4.7	*	52	50	1.9
Informal	196	216	0.8		188	188	-1.3
Self-employed	490	399	-2.5		537	525	-0.9
Employer	44	33	-6.4		15	20	4.5
Subsistence work	290	247	-3.3	**	286	345	6.3	**
Unpaid work	498	336	-7.1	*	349	188	-14.8	***
Non-agricultural EAP	615	825	4.3		635	732	3.4	**
Employee	256	350	6.5	***	229	256	2.8	***
Formal	118	162	7.7	***	84	105	5.3	**
Informal	138	188	5.6	***	146	151	1.2	**
Military	1	2	-	-	0	1	-	-
Statutory civil servant	51	92	15.4	***	69	79	3.9	**
Paid domestic work	64	84	3.7	*	47	69	6.4
Self-employed	171	225	4.1		194	234	5.0	**
Employer	17	21	-0.6		11	14	9.6
Self-construction	1	1	-	-	3	3	-	-
Unpaid	53	50	-5.8		82	78	-2.4
Non-occupied	944	1,225	5.8	***	1,183	1,496	5.6	**
Non-occupied EAP	51	75	3.5		52	52	4.2
Retiree with pension	91	152	10.0	***	184	290	11.7	***
Retiree without pension	803	998	5.4	***	948	1,154	4.4	**
TOTAL	3,114	3,323	1.4	***	3,246	3,545	2.1	**

Activity branches	2004	2009	Δ (% p.y.)		2011	2015	Δ (% p.y.)
Activity branches	2004	2009	2004/2009		2011	2015	2011/2015
RURAL
Agriculture	1,555	1,273	-3.4	*	1,427	1,316	-1.9	*
Cassava cultivation	461	301	-3.8		398	335	-2.5
Cattle breeding	263	247	-1.9		256	292	3.0	**
Poultry farming	182	140	-5.9	***	139	167	5.2	***
Fishing and related services	37	37	-4.4		76	119	7.8
Permanent crops production	120	57	-13.9	***	70	65	-3.6
Mixed production: farming and livestock	1	66	-	-	140	60	-21.7	***
Growing vegetables, legumes, and others	41	79	8.8	*	53	59	4.9	*
Agriculture-related services	16	40	21.3		37	36	1.8
Forestry and logging	43	15	-16.3	**	15	19	0.7
Other activities	392	291	-5.4	***	244	165	-9.6	***
Non-agriculture	615	825	4.3		635	732	3.4	**
Transformation industry	126	170	0.9		157	155	-0.9
Trade and repair	122	146	4.6	*	111	139	5.2	*
Education, health, and social services	84	123	5.7	**	92	126	8.4	***
Construction Industry	68	85	8.1	**	70	78	3.7	**
Paid domestic services	64	84	3.7	*	47	69	6.4
Accommodation and food	27	47	11.7	**	38	44	1.3
Transport, storage, and communication	30	45	9.2	***	33	37	2.5
Public administration	34	54	9.3	***	41	32	-4.5
Other activities	14	14	5.4		17	18	3.7
Other industrial activities	15	17	3.5	*	10	16	15.7	*
Collective. social and personal services	23	24	2.5		15	15	4.9
Non-defined activities	9	16	-	-	4	4	-	-

Place of residence/ Family type	2004					2015
	Income from work		From non-labor		Average family income (R$)	Income from work		From non-labor		Average family income (R$)
	Agriculture (%)	Non-agriculture (%)	Pensions (%)	Other (%)	Average family income (R$)	Agriculture (%)	Non-agriculture (%)	Pensions (%)	Other (%)	Average family income (R$)
Rural
Employer with more than two employees	54.5	41.6	2.0	1.9	5,479.89	53.0	43.3	3.3	0.4	9,958.36
Agricultural	92.3	0.0	7.7	0.0	5,188.71	70.9	0.0	28.8	0.4	3,282.01
Multi-active	78.9	18.9	1.3	0.9	8,615.11	81.2	18.8	0.0	0.0	26,567.81
Non-agricultural	0.0	94.2	1.6	4.2	3,357.74	0.0	96.5	2.5	1.0	6,356.94
Employer with up to two employees	68.9	20.1	9.1	1.9	2,651.06	56.7	33.2	7.6	2.6	4,829.71
Agricultural	91.7	0.0	5.5	2.8	2,381.68	86.5	0.0	10.6	2.8	5,181.65
Multi-active	62.8	23.4	12.3	1.6	2,884.64	58.3	36.5	0.9	4.3	3,523.48
Non-agricultural	0.0	92.6	7.4	0.0	2,805.89	0.0	92.7	6.4	0.8	5,515.54
Self-employed	49.8	32.5	12.0	5.6	1,306.45	38.5	29.8	20.4	11.3	1,528.98
Agricultural	76.4	0.0	17.1	6.5	971.00	57.3	0.0	28.2	14.4	1,273.49
Multi-active	50.4	33.0	9.7	6.9	1,824.43	36.3	45.9	10.6	7.2	2,295.80
Non-agricultural	0.0	92.2	5.5	2.3	1,867.22	0.0	77.9	13.3	8.8	1,697.03
Employee	28.3	61.9	5.2	4.7	1,227.70	25.9	56.1	11.0	7.1	1,617.04
Agricultural	88.3	0.0	7.3	4.4	847.05	77.6	0.0	12.0	10.4	1,135.66
Multi-active	27.3	60.3	7.8	4.6	1,161.24	25.8	53.9	13.8	6.5	1,867.27
Non-agricultural	0.0	91.6	3.6	4.8	1,582.98	0.0	84.8	9.7	5.6	1,961.59
Non-occupied	0.0	0.0	78.7	21.3	749.81	0.0	0.0	81.2	18.8	1,172.46
TOTAL	44.0	39.0	11.7	5.3	1,358.46	33.6	35.5	21.1	9.8	1,630.58

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[1] Source: Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística (2018) Microdata. Prepared by the authors.

[2] Notes: The two dashes (-) indicate the family types with less than six observations in the sample. Asterisks (***, **, *) express significance at the levels of 5%, 10%, and 20% respectively. Total family farming = sum of households with self-employed and employers with up to two employees, both agricultural and multi-active.