Impacts of the deforestation driven by agribusiness on urban population and economic activity in the Dry Chaco of Argentina

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Resumen

Agriculture expansion oriented to global market has changed the relation between population and deforestation in South America. Actually, the population dynamic in an agricultural frontier turned into a consequence of deforestation (rather than the cause). For Dry Chaco of Argentina during the period 1991–2001, we explore the impacts of deforestation over urban population and employment dynamics in small- and medium-size urban centers. We used deforestation maps from remote sensing data and demographic information from the national census. We found a positive relation between population growth and deforestation. Additionally, urban centers in a context of new and active deforestation stages generate more jobs than in a context of advanced stages. Based on our results, we suggest a boom and bust pattern. Agriculture expansion and deforestation generate transient jobs and benefits, but in a long-run perspective, positive impacts are uncertain.

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http://hdl.handle.net/11336/55353