Policies to flight poverty and generate jobs reduce deforestation

To which extent can the reduction of the number of people in situations of poverty and extreme poverty coupled with an increase of formal jobs collaborate with the end of deforestation in Brazil? It is this question which is answered by the study Could the fight against poverty contribute to stop deforestation in Brazil?, launched by Instituto Escolhas, on February 2. The investigation allows for the first time in the Brazilian context for deforestation to be analyzed associated with forms of economic deprivation in a wide geographic scale, encompassing the entire Brazilian territory.

“The study assumes that the deforestation activity is unhealthy, hazardous and undesirable for individuals working at the field front. And the study tests the hypothesis that a reduction of poverty or an increase of formal job availability would entail a reduction of deforestation, because the capacity of individuals to choose less healthy economic activities would increase”, explains Jaqueline Ferreira, portfolio manager of Instituto Escolhas in charge of coordinating the survey.

The results of the study – after application of econometric modeling using data of the period 2012-2019 – showed that a reduction of 1% in the population living in the situation of extreme poverty, with a monthly family income under BRL 70 per person, is associated to a 42.7 thousand hectare reduction of the deforestation countrywide. Furthermore, an increase of the formal job rate by 1% – which is equivalent to 462,000 formally employed people – is related to a reduction in deforestation of 87.6 thousand hectare of forests.

This result is quite significant for the Legal Amazon, which accumulated 52% of the entire deforestation in the country in the analyzed period, and the North Region, where the employment rate did not even reach 10% of the population while poverty reached 30% in the analyzed timeframe.

Looking at the Legal Amazon, the study showed that a 1% drop in the rate of people living in extreme poverty has the potential to reduce deforestation in that region by about 27,000 persons. Meanwhile, a 1% increase in formal jobs in all municipalities of the region, equivalent to 42,000 people formally employed, can reduce deforestation by 67.2 thousand hectare.

Since the pre-electoral period, the combat to hunger and misery, as well as zero deforestation, are mentioned as central objectives of President Lula government. In his speech at the United Nation Climate Change Conference (COP 27), in November of last year, Lula stated that the care with the environment is inseparable from the fight against poverty. The publication of the study by Instituto Escolhas reaffirms the relevance to unite those two fronts, as explained by Jaqueline: “The data confirm the urgency to include combat against poverty and formal job generation in the list of priority strategies to keep the forest standing, together with deforestation control policies and charging accountability from those who profit with the activity. It is important to highlight that the individuals in situation of vulnerability are those who suffer most with the deforestation, either because they occupy precarious job posts with low payment in the deforestation chain or because they are hit hardest by the impacts of the climate crisis – such as droughts, heavy rains, flooding, and rising food prices.”

To access the study click here.