Agricultural Technologies and Tropical Deforestation

This book includes a theoretical framework, 8 case studies from Latin America, 4 from sub-Saharan Africa and 4 from South East Asia, in addition to two studies on the historical experience of developed countries in Europe and the USA which discuss whether improvements in agricultural technology protect or endanger tropical forests. The studies address the view of many in the development, environmental and agricultural research communities that better agricultural technologies can save forests by producing more food on the existing land area vs. the premise from basic economic theory that anything which makes agriculture more profitable should stimulate land expansion and deforestation.