Environment, urbanization, and the rise of mechanized agriculture in southeastern Rondonia, Brazil

This dissertation presents a study of the expansion of mechanized agriculture in the Brazilian municipality of Vilhena, Rondonia, located in the western Amazon. It calls into question the accuracy of recent descriptions of changes associated with the activity, and it identifies the repeated use of a "frontier narrative" to describe the evolution of the Brazilian frontier over decades. The dissertation proposes three human-environment scenarios that might explain the process of agricultural expansion in Vilhena, including one based on the frontier narrative, one based on forest transition theory, and one in which no significant change occurs. These scenarios focus on changes in land cover, land ownership, and economic growth associated with economic multiplier effects. In seeking to determine the potential validity of each of these scenarios, the dissertation examines environmental, social, and economic information obtained from interviews with key informants, archival and statistical information obtained from local and national governments, and remotely sensed data on land cover. Based on this information, the dissertation argues that the frontier narrative does not adequately explain the changes taking place in southeastern Rondonia. The story that emerges is one that is far more complex than that predicted by any of the three human-environment scenarios, though the forest transition scenario appears to be the closest to reality. The most accurate scenario will likely be a hybrid of the ones presented.