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Are Risk Attitudes And Rainfall Variability Determinants Of Diversification? Evidence From Rondonia, Brazil, Brenna Swinger

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Risk exposure and management are inherent to smallholder farmers. One of the risks they face is climate change. Climate change decreases rainfall, increases frequency of drought, adds heat stress to crops from higher temperatures, and leads to higher rainfall variability. The threat of rainfall variability causes higher production in some years and lower in others. Even if the average income remains the same, people’s welfare is reduced by the variability and the size of the loss will depend on their attitudes towards risk.

Diversification is one adaption strategy that may help reduce climate risk. Diversified farmers produce multiple types of …

Adoption Of Pasture Management Practices In Rondônia, Brazil: Social Media As An Informational Influence, Cassandra Sevigny

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The welfare of rural households depends on income from agricultural production. The adoption of new agricultural practices can improve farmer welfare by increasing yield and/or lowering production costs, but farmers do not always adopt beneficial practices. I examine whether social media use influences pasture management practices among smallholder cattle farmers in Rondônia, Brazil. This Amazonian state is heavily deforested for use as farmland, especially pasture for beef and dairy cattle. Traditional pasture management degrades soil over time, requiring pasture productivity interventions or deforestation for new land. Nontraditional practices can reduce degradation. Agricultural technology adoption literature explores the influence of risk, …