La sécurité alimentaire telle qu’elle est définie aujourd’hui combine quatre dimensions, à savoir la disponibilité, la stabilité, l’accessibilité et la salubrité. Ces dimensions forment un tout et garantissent une alimentation saine à tout à chacun. C’est justement pour cette raison qu’elles sont indissociables. Les pays en développement sont les plus touchés par l’insécurité alimentaire. L’évaluation de la sécurité alimentaire doit s’effectuer en lien avec les stratégies de développement économique adoptées. Pour la plupart d’entre eux, ce sont les politiques agricoles mises en œuvre qui sont pour une grande part responsable de l’état de leur sécurité alimentaire. La Tunisie compte parmi ces pays qui ont négligé la construction d’une structure de production agricole centrée totalement sur la réalisation de la sécurité alimentaire au sens d’un auto-approvisionnement local prédominant dans l’alimentation humaine. Elle a longtemps privilégié le recours au marché international profitant, faut-il le dire, de la tendance baissière des prix mondiaux. Cette stratégie est désormais caduque du fait que le contexte mondial a marqué un retournement qui s’est traduit par l’enclenchement d’une flambée des prix de produits agricoles et alimentaires inégalée. A ceci s’ajoute une dégradation des fondamentaux économiques et tout particulièrement la capacité d’importation ainsi que la dégradation des comptes publics et ce à un moment où d’une part la facture alimentaire explose et la poursuite de la politique de subvention atteint ses limites. Par ailleurs, la problématique de la sécurité alimentaire ne doit pas être traitée uniquement en rapport avec la production agricole mais aussi avec la situation d’endettement des pays en développement. La sécurité alimentaire se trouve pratiquement au centre d’un ensemble de problèmes liés aux vraies stratégies de croissance et de développement économique de plusieurs pays dont la Tunisie. En outre, elle devient d’autant plus problématique que la poursuite forcée vers la mondialisation qui place dorénavant l’agriculture dans le monde face à la menace de généralisation des échanges la poussant à une spécialisation qui n’est pas facile à réussir. / Food security is defined today through four dimensions, namely the food availability, stability, access and safety. These dimensions form an entity and ensure a healthy diet for everyone. It is precisely for this reason that they cannot be dissociated. Developing countries are the most affected by food insecurity. The food security assessment must be connected to the economic development strategies adopted in each country. For the most of developing countries, the implemented agricultural policies are largely responsible for the state of the food security. Tunisia is among the countries that have neglected the construction of an agricultural production structure that totally focuses on achieving food security ensured by prominent local self-sufficiency in food. For a long time, Tunisia has favored the use of the international market to take advantage of the world prices drop tendency. This strategy is now obsolete because of changes in the international context which are expressed by significant unexampled increases in the prices of agricultural products and food. In addition, there is a deterioration in the economic fundamentals especially the import capacity, as well as a deterioration in public accounts while the food bill raises and the pursuit of the subsidy policy reaches its limits. Moreover, the treatment of the food security issue should not be related only to agricultural production but also to the debt situation of the developing country. Food security is usually the focal point of all problems related to real growth strategies and economic development of many countries including Tunisia. It becomes even more problematic than the forced evolution towards globalization which now places agriculture in the world faced to the threat of widespread trade pushing it to a specialization which is not easy grasp.

O mundo contemporâneo vem passando pelas mais diversas transformações e essas à medida que vem ocorrendo têm afetado diretamente as comunidades envolvidas, inclusive no meio rural. Com isso, tem–se percebido uma maior atenção à agricultura familiar, não apenas no meio acadêmico, mas, também por parte dos formuladores de políticas públicas. Nova Esperança do Sul, município pertencente à região do Vale do Jaguari, tem buscado adaptar-se às mudanças impostas pela economia, agricultura contemporâneas e as novas exigências do meio rural. Entre essas mudanças, é perceptível a crescente diversificação da produção e o aumento da ocupação da mão de obra com a pluriatividade. Neste contexto, o presente estudo busca identificar e entender a importância da pluriatividade para a agricultura familiar local. Para isso, utilizou-se os conceitos da abordagem sistêmica, uma leitura da paisagem e entrevistas com informantes chave, visando reconstituir a evolução histórica da agricultura familiar, identificar e caracterizar as UPAs pluriativas, bem como os sistemas de produção nelas adotados. Os resultados identificaram cinco tipos de UPAs que desenvolvem a pluriatividade não apenas no setor coureiro, mas também no serviço público e no turismo rural, e que implementaram os mais variados sistemas de produção. O impacto concreto e as consequências da inserção da agricultura familiar nas atividades pluriativas pode ser visto na qualidade de vida das pessoas envolvidas e na gestão e organização dessas UPAs, o que aponta uma estratégia por parte dos produtores para tornar cada UPA mais eficiente em termos econômicos, sociais e ambientais, a fim de garantir a verdadeira sustentabilidade. / The contemporary world has been going through various transformations and such as is occurring have directly affected the involved communities, including in rural areas. With this, we have observed greater attention to family farming, not only in academia but also on the part of policymakers. Nova Esperança do Sul, municipality belonging to the region Jaguari Valley, has sought to adapt to changes imposed by economics, contemporary agriculture and the new demands of rural zone. Among these changes, it is noticeable the increasing diversification of production and the increase of labor occupation with pluriactivity. In this context, the present study sought to identify and understand the importance of pluriactivity for local family farms. For this, we used the concepts of systemic approach, a landscape reading and interviews with key informants, in order to reconstruct the historical evolution of family farming, identify and characterize the pluriactive UPAs well as production systems adopted them. The results identified five types of UPAs that develop pluriactivity not only in the leather sector, but also in public service and in rural tourism, and have implemented a wide variety of production systems. The concrete impact and consequences of the inclusion of family farming in pluriactive activities can be seen in the quality of life of the people involved and the management and organization of these UPAs, which indicates a strategy by producers to make each UPA more efficient in economic terms social and environmental, thus ensuring true sustainability.

O mundo contemporâneo vem passando pelas mais diversas transformações e essas à medida que vem ocorrendo têm afetado diretamente as comunidades envolvidas, inclusive no meio rural. Com isso, tem–se percebido uma maior atenção à agricultura familiar, não apenas no meio acadêmico, mas, também por parte dos formuladores de políticas públicas. Nova Esperança do Sul, município pertencente à região do Vale do Jaguari, tem buscado adaptar-se às mudanças impostas pela economia, agricultura contemporâneas e as novas exigências do meio rural. Entre essas mudanças, é perceptível a crescente diversificação da produção e o aumento da ocupação da mão de obra com a pluriatividade. Neste contexto, o presente estudo busca identificar e entender a importância da pluriatividade para a agricultura familiar local. Para isso, utilizou-se os conceitos da abordagem sistêmica, uma leitura da paisagem e entrevistas com informantes chave, visando reconstituir a evolução histórica da agricultura familiar, identificar e caracterizar as UPAs pluriativas, bem como os sistemas de produção nelas adotados. Os resultados identificaram cinco tipos de UPAs que desenvolvem a pluriatividade não apenas no setor coureiro, mas também no serviço público e no turismo rural, e que implementaram os mais variados sistemas de produção. O impacto concreto e as consequências da inserção da agricultura familiar nas atividades pluriativas pode ser visto na qualidade de vida das pessoas envolvidas e na gestão e organização dessas UPAs, o que aponta uma estratégia por parte dos produtores para tornar cada UPA mais eficiente em termos econômicos, sociais e ambientais, a fim de garantir a verdadeira sustentabilidade. / The contemporary world has been going through various transformations and such as is occurring have directly affected the involved communities, including in rural areas. With this, we have observed greater attention to family farming, not only in academia but also on the part of policymakers. Nova Esperança do Sul, municipality belonging to the region Jaguari Valley, has sought to adapt to changes imposed by economics, contemporary agriculture and the new demands of rural zone. Among these changes, it is noticeable the increasing diversification of production and the increase of labor occupation with pluriactivity. In this context, the present study sought to identify and understand the importance of pluriactivity for local family farms. For this, we used the concepts of systemic approach, a landscape reading and interviews with key informants, in order to reconstruct the historical evolution of family farming, identify and characterize the pluriactive UPAs well as production systems adopted them. The results identified five types of UPAs that develop pluriactivity not only in the leather sector, but also in public service and in rural tourism, and have implemented a wide variety of production systems. The concrete impact and consequences of the inclusion of family farming in pluriactive activities can be seen in the quality of life of the people involved and the management and organization of these UPAs, which indicates a strategy by producers to make each UPA more efficient in economic terms social and environmental, thus ensuring true sustainability.

Submitted by Renata Lopes (renatasil82@gmail.com) on 2016-09-06T20:17:47Z No. of bitstreams: 1 vanessalourencovazcosta.pdf: 20856020 bytes, checksum: 24457527ce60a438a26fc467fade27cc (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Diamantino Mayra (mayra.diamantino@ufjf.edu.br) on 2016-09-09T10:51:59Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 vanessalourencovazcosta.pdf: 20856020 bytes, checksum: 24457527ce60a438a26fc467fade27cc (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-09-09T10:51:59Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 vanessalourencovazcosta.pdf: 20856020 bytes, checksum: 24457527ce60a438a26fc467fade27cc (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-04-17 / A ocupação do território atravessado pelo Caminho Novo iniciou-se simultaneamente à sua abertura, logo após a descoberta dos veios auríferos nas minas gerais. Este caminho tornou-se a principal via de trânsito de pessoas e de transporte do ouro e mercadorias entre as minas e o Rio de Janeiro. As primeiras pessoas a ocuparem essa área – correspondente às freguesias do Caminho Novo, ou Caminho Novo do Mato, e Simão Pereira – se dedicaram à lavoura e pecuária de abastecimento dos viajantes. Por essa razão, mantinham também ranchos e estalagens. Essa freguesia viu seus rendimentos agrícolas declinarem com a queda do ouro. Entretanto, com o avanço da fronteira agrícola para a Zona da Mata, em virtude do redirecionamento da sua produção, essa região conseguiu um crescimento espantoso. Isso se deu graças à expansão da lavoura do café, no período compreendido entre o final do século XVIII e início do século XIX. Este trabalho tem por objetivo investigar esse processo de transição, e busca identificar os personagens envolvidos nas transformações desse período. Para isso contamos com uma fonte até agora pouco explorada: os registros de dízimo. Eles constituem o núcleo mais importante por serem, até o momento, a melhor fonte de que dispomos para determinar as flutuações da produção agrária. Dispomos de séries completas de livros, pertencentes à Coleção da Casa dos Contos, que nos permite realizar o acompanhamento por períodos da ocupação de terras por freguesia. Basicamente, trabalhamos no intuito de direcionar holofotes sobre os principais contribuintes, ou seja, aqueles que contribuíam com as maiores quantias. Com isso, podemos estabelecer as continuidades e as rupturas que ocorreram na região que hoje constituí a cidade de Juiz de Fora. / The occupation of the territory crossed by the New Way started simultaneously with its own opening , right after the discovery of auriferous veins at the mines . This road became the foremost route traffic of people, and gold and commodities transport between the mines and Rio de Janeiro. The first people to occupy this area - corresponding to the parishes of the New Way or the Bush New Way, and Simon Pereira - were dedicated to farming and livestock supply to travelers. For this reason, they also maintained inns and ranches. This parish has seen its agricultural income decline with gold fall. However, with the expansion of agriculture for the ―Zona da Mata‖, due to the redirection of its production, this region achieved a astonishing growth. This happened thanks to the expansion of coffee plantations in the period between the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century. This paper aims to investigate this transition process, and seeks to identify the characters involved in the transformations of this period. For that, we rely on a source very little explored until now: the records of tithing. They are the most important core for being, so far, the best source that we have to determine the fluctuations of agricultural production. We assort a full series of books, belonging to the collection of House of Tales, which allows us to perform the monitoring by periods of land occupation by parish. Basically, we work in order to direct the spotlight on the major taxpayers, in other words, those that contributed with the largest amounts. With that, we can establish the continuities and ruptures that occurred in the region that now constitutes the city of ―Juiz de Fora.

Orientadores: José Luis Sanfelice, Maria Isabel Moura Nascimento / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Educação / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-19T09:37:04Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Martiniak_VeraLucia_D.pdf: 902747 bytes, checksum: a19342e2f89b846684088cfa4a320446 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011 / Resumo: Esta tese tem como objeto de pesquisa as escolas agrícolas da região dos Campos Gerais do Paraná, e teve como objetivo analisar, dentro de uma perspectiva histórica, o seu processo de constituição e o modelo de ensino oferecido por estas instituições. As escolas de trabalhadores rurais, no Paraná, foram criadas durante o governo de Getúlio Vargas e visavam qualificar a mão de obra para a agricultura. As escolas eram destinadas aos filhos de agricultores, entretanto, sua gênese reside na criação dos patronatos e abrigos para menores que tinham como objetivo atender a infância desvalida do estado. Assim, o ensino agrícola tinha um duplo sentido: a formação da mão de obra para os filhos de agricultores e a consequente melhoria da produção agrícola com o uso de técnicas e máquinas modernas; e segundo, sob a égide do assistencialismo, o trabalho agrícola nestas instituições passou a ser utilizado como disciplinador do futuro trabalhador. O estudo está delimitado no período de 1910 a 1961, abrangendo, portanto cinco décadas de história. O ano de 1910 é o marco inicial do ensino agrícola, com a criação do Ministério da Agricultura, onde o ensino técnico passou a ser subordinado a este órgão, passando somente à responsabilidade do Ministério da Educação, com a promulgação da Lei de Diretrizes e Bases da Educação Nacional, em 1961. A pesquisa partiu da análise das partes envolvidas na relação trabalho e educação, demandando a necessidade em analisar o desenvolvimento histórico do capitalismo do Brasil e os desdobramentos para o desenvolvimento econômico, político e social da região. Para compreender a institucionalização das escolas agrícolas na região dos Campos Gerais, problematizou-se a partir da análise desta conjuntura, baseando-se em três categorias fundamentais: o singular, o particular e o universal. Os resultados da pesquisa apontam que para o processo de modernização da agricultura se fez necessário formar profissionais com o domínio de conhecimentos básicos sobre a agricultura e manejo de máquinas e insumos agrícolas. No entendimento que resulta desta pesquisa, as instituições agrícolas criadas na região dos Campos Gerais, tinham um caráter mais regenerador do que propriamente profissionalizante. O caráter profissionalizante foi se alterando conforme o avanço nas relações capitalistas, forjando um novo trabalhador pronto para atender os interesses do capital. / Abstract: This thesis objected to research the agricultural schools from Campos Gerais Region in Paraná, and aimed to analyze its constitution process and the teaching model offered by these institutions in a historical view. The country-side worker schools, in Paraná, were created during Getúlio Vargas? government and aimed to qualify the manpower for the agriculture. The schools were destined to the agriculturist?s children, although its genesis reside in the creation of patronages and shelters for under ages which objective was to assist the state?s devalued childhood. So, the agricultural teaching had two senses: the manpower formation for the agriculturalists? children and the consequent improvement of the agricultural production with the usage of modern techniques and machines; and in the second place, under the aegis of the welfarism, in these institutions, the agriculture worker started to be used as a future-worker?s discipliner. This study is delimited from 1910 to 1961, which covers five decades of the history. The mark of the beginning of the agriculture teaching is 1910, with the creation of Ministério da Agricultura, where the technical teaching became subordinated to this organ, being a responsibility of the Ministério da Educação, with the National Education?s Lei de Diretrizes e Bases promulgation in 1961. The research started with the analysis of the parts involved in the relation between work and education, demanding the necessity of analyzing the historical development of the capitalism in Brazil and the procedures for the region?s economical, politic and social development. In order to understand the institutionalization of the agricultural schools in the Campos Gerais region, it was problematized considering the analysis of this situation taking into consideration three principal categories: the single, the private, and the universal. The research results show that it is necessary to graduate professionals who dominate basic studies about agriculture and agricultural input and machines dealing for the agricultural modernization process. The understanding of the research portraits that the agricultural institutions created in the Campos Gerais region had a more regenerating character than a professionalizing one. The professionalizing character had been altering according to the advances in the capitalist relations, forming a new worker which was ready to supply the capital concerns. / Doutorado / Doutor em Educação

Made available in DSpace on 2014-08-20T13:44:38Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 disertacao_daniel_de_brito_goulart.pdf: 295632 bytes, checksum: 483434d36600646923538dc56c950dae (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007-11-08 / The aim of efficiency in the production and commercialization of soybean seed is what keeps a company in the competitive seed market. The crop of a harvest was planned two years before, when the seed fields were installed. So, the planning of the whole process of seed production, from the installation of the fields, going through the crop production, processing, storage and commercialization, until the final result, that it is the crop of the grains originated from these commercial seeds, all those are part of the sophisticated system of seed production, where the efficiency aim in all of the processes determines the profitability and the permanence of the company in business. This way the aim of the present study was to analyze the indexes of efficiency in production and commercialization of soybean seed at Sementes Arco-Íris company, located in the district of Alto Garças -MT. The variables used were utilization of fields, moisture at harvesting, physiologic quality during the storage, approval of lots for the commercialization and commercialization efficiency. The results showed that: 1- The good utilization of fields is variable according to cultivar and crop year, obtaining an average of 32.9%; 2- Seed drying is necessary for most of the production, this procedure could reach to 100% for some cultivar; 3- The UBS productivity was low, it could be considered 70%; 4- The germination reduces in 2.6 percentile points from April to September while the average of emergence in soil was reduced 3.2 p.p. there are differences among the cultivar for the storage potential; 5- It is reached more than 90% of commercialization of the approved volume, occurring variations from 64,7% to 100% of commercialization, mainly in function of the offer and demand of the specific cultivars for each crop year / A busca de eficiência na produção e comercialização de semente de soja é o que mantêm uma empresa no competitivo mercado de semente. A colheita de uma safra foi planejada dois anos antes, no momento em que os campos de semente, que deram origem às lavouras comercias, foram instalados. Assim, o planejamento de todo o processo de produção de semente, desde a instalação dos campos, passando pela colheita, beneficiamento, armazenamento e comercialização, até o resultado final, que é a colheita dos grãos oriundos destas sementes comerciais, fazem parte do complexo sistema de produção de semente, onde a busca de eficiência em todos os processos determinam a lucratividade e a permanência da empresa no negócio. Desta forma objetivou-se neste trabalho analisar os índices de eficiência de produção e comercialização de semente de soja da empresa Sementes Arco-Íris, localizada no município de Alto Garças-MT, nas safras 2002/2003 a 2005/2006. Foram analisados os dados de aproveitamento de campos, umidade de colheita, qualidade fisiológica durante o armazenamento, aprovação de lotes para a comercialização e eficiência de comercialização. Os resultados mostraram que: 1- O aproveitamento de campos é variável em função da cultivar e da safra analisada, obtendo uma média de 32,9%; 2- Há a necessidade de secar a maior parte da produção, podendo chegar a 100% para algumas cultivares; 3- O rendimento de UBS foi baixo, podendo ser considerado 70 %; 4- A germinação reduz em 2,6 pontos percentuais entre os períodos de abril a setembro enquanto a emergência em solo média reduziu 3,2 p.p., há diferenças entre as cultivares para o potencial de armazenamento; 5- Após o beneficiamento descarta-se praticamente 10% lotes; 6- Do volume aprovado para comercialização alcança-se mais de 90% de comercialização, ocorrendo variações de 64,7% a 100% de comercialização, principalmente em função da oferta e demanda de cultivares específicas para cada safra.

Magister Philosophiae (Land and Agrarian Studies) - MPhil(LAS) / Fast track land reform in Zimbabwe has caused a raging debate drawing a lot of attention to the re-distribution programme. The invasion of commercial farms had a bearing on agricultural production, food security, security of tenure, rule of law and respect for property rights. This thesis examines the implications of such a frayed land reform resulting in strained donor and government relations. The crux of the argument is that land reform is harmful and damaging when the rule of law is flouted, directly impacting on social and power relations at grassroots level. These strained relations result from a lack of commitment by government, external donors and white commercial farmers to correct land injustices from the colonial period and ineffective agencies of restraint. This thesis will test these perceptions and views basing on the experiences of the grassroots people. It will also attempt to test whether the land question in Zimbabwe has finally been resolved or there are still aspects to it that need attention, since land reform is often viewed in moral and political terms. Was poverty alleviation prioritized in fast track land reform by giving land to the landless poor; to help redress population imbalances or meant to reward those who struggled for liberation? The thesis attempts to answer the question of ‘equity’ or restructuring of access over production and ownership of land. It then questions the equity trump card as touted by the government. Did the government commit another injustice while trying to redress past injustices by overlooking the rightful claimants in favour of entrenching state power? This thesis contributes to the raging debate on fast track land reform in Zimbabwe, using the case study of UMguza resettlement scheme.

Les pays en développement (PED) enregistrent un taux de croissance démographique particulièrement élevé et une forte demande alimentaire. Par ailleurs, l’investissement direct étranger (IDE) est au centre des politiques d’investissement de ces pays. Les PED attirent l’IDE pour améliorer la croissance économique. Cette vision optimiste est contredite par des effets négatifs sur leur économies. En se basant sur trois facteurs que nous jugeons très importants pour la sécurité alimentaire (SA) : la production agricole, la qualité institutionnelle et la dépendance en importation alimentaires, nous investiguons les effets de l’IDE sur la SA.Les résultats montrent que l’IDE agricole améliore la SA et l’IDE secondaire améliore la production agricole grâce au transfert technologique et du savoir-faire avec des effets nuisibles qui peuvent apparaitre comme la pollution de l’environnement. L’IDE tertiaire a tendance à baisser la main d’œuvre dans l’agriculture et à augmenter la demande alimentaire dans les zones urbaines. En ajoutant l’institution locales à l’analyse, les résultats montrent qu’à partir de certains seuils de qualité institutionnelle, l’IDE primaire et secondaire améliorent la SA. L’intérêt des PED est d’améliorer leur qualité institutionnelle et de cibler l’attraction de l’IDE. / Developing countries (DCs) have a high population growth and food demand. Moreover, foreign direct investment (FDI) is in the heart of investment policy. DCs attract FDI to improve their economic growth. This optimistic view is contradicted by negative effects on their economies. We based our analysis on three important factors: agricultural production, institutional quality and the food import dependency, we investigate the effects of desegregated and aggregated FDI on the food security. The results show that agricultural FDI improves food security and secondary FDI improves agricultural production through technology transfer and know-how with harmful effects that may occur as the environmental pollution.The tertiary IDE tends to decrease labor in agriculture and increasing food demand in urban areas. By adding the local institution to the analysis, the results show that from certain institutional quality thresholds, primary and secondary IDE improves food security. Our recommendation is that DCs has the interest to improve their institutional quality and targeting the attraction of FDI. Finally, aggregated FDI tends to deteriorate the ability to import food in countries with low and lower middle income. These countries have an interest to attract export-oriented FDI.

A instalação de empreendimentos hidrelétricos ocorreu de forma crescente no Brasil na última década. De igual modo, a importância da produção agrícola na economia nacional também cresceu. A supressão de terras e a alteração do fluxo da água causada pelo alagamento necessário à implantação de usinas hidrelétricas alteram a estrutura e a dinâmica das regiões diretamente afetadas em função de aspectos ambientais e sociais como reassentamentos, migrações, especulação imobiliária, êxodo rural etc. Estes impactos das hidrelétricas têm sido amplamente descritos pela literatura. O presente trabalho buscou analisar de forma especifica os impactos ocasionados pelos alagamentos sofridos pelos municípios brasileiros afetados por usinas hidrelétricas e seu reflexo nos modos de produção agrícola dos municípios afetados. Para tanto, realizou-se uma análise exploratória com indicadores na esfera nacional e um estudo de caso com as hidrelétricas de Jirau e Santo Antônio em Porto Velho (RO) baseado em entrevistas semiestruturadas. Os resultados na fase exploratória as correlações indicaram que quanto maior tamanho da área alagada maior é a variação de áreas plantadas e PIB agrícola dos municípios afetados. Com o estudo de caso foi possível identificar que há impactos significativos sobre os modos de produção agrícola, essa mudança pode ser explicada pela diferença entre a qualidade do solo de regiões ribeirinhas e a qualidade do solo nos reassentamentos. Tais impactos podem influenciar os indicadores que refletem a quantidade de áreas plantadas destes municípios. Identificou-se também que os impactos sobre a agricultura não são previstos nos estudos de impacto ambiental das hidrelétricas de Jirau e Santo Antônio. / The installation of hydroelectric projects has increased in Brazil in the last decade. Likewise, the importance of agricultural production in the national economy has also grown. The land suppression and the alteration of the water flow caused by the flooding necessary to the implantation of hydroelectric plants alter the structure and dynamics of the regions directly affected by environmental and social processes such as resettlement, migration, real estate speculation, rural exodus, etc. These impacts of hydroelectric plants have been widely described in the literature. The present study sought to analyze in a specific way the impacts caused by the floods suffered by the Brazilian municipalities affected by hydroelectric plants and their reflection in the modes of agricultural production of the affected municipalities. The study included an exploratory analysis of the impacts of hydroelectric dams on agriculture using selected indicators from the national scale, complemented by a case-study at the local scale, focusing on the Jirau and Santo Antônio power plants in Porto Velho, Rondônia, through semi-structured interviews.The results from correlations obtained in the exploratory phase showed that the larger the size of the flooded area, the greater the variation of planted areas and the agricultural GDP of the affected municipalities. From the case study it was possible to identify that there are significant impacts on the agricultural production methods, and that this change can be explained by the difference between the quality of the soil of riverside regions and the quality of the soil in the resettlements. Such impacts may influence the indicators that reflect the amount of planted areas of these municipalities. The study also revealed that the impacts on agriculture were not predicted in the environmental impact studies of the Jirau and Santo Antônio hydropower plants.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Agricultural Economics / Vincent Amanor-Boadu / Allen M. Featherstone / Estimation of cost functions can provide useful economic information to producers, economists, and policy makers. From the estimation of a cost function, it is possible to calculate cost efficiency, economies of scope, and economies of scale. Economic theory specifies the cost function as a frontier since firms cannot operate at lower cost than the cost minimizing input/output bundle. However, traditional parametric estimation techniques often violate economic theory using two sided-error systems. The stochastic frontier method has allowed the estimation of a frontier but continues to restrict the technology through functional assumption. Nonparametric frontier estimation is an alternative approach to estimate a cost frontier by enveloping the data which by its construct, conforms to economic theory. This research expands the economic information available by deriving multi-product scale economies and product-specific scale economies from the nonparametric approach. It also tests its ability to accurately recover these important economic measures under different assumptions of the cost function, and cost inefficiency distributions. Next, this new method is compared to other methods used to estimate cost functions and associated economic measures including a two-sided error system, stochastic frontier method, and an OLS model restricting the errors to take on only positive values. Finally, the nonparametric approach with the new measures is applied to a sample of Kansas farms. The nonparametric approach is able to closely estimate economies of scale and scope from estimation of a cost frontier. Comparison reveals that the nonparametric approach is closer to the “true” economic measures than some parametric methods and that it is better able to extrapolate out of sample when there are no zero output firms. Finally, the nonparametric approach shows that potential cost savings from economies of scale and economies of scope exist for small Kansas farms. However, cost savings from economies of scale become exhausted when farms exceed gross annual revenues of $500k, while economies of scope also diminish as farms grow larger. Results also show from annual frontier estimations that estimates of economies of scale, scope, and cost efficiency have remained relatively stable from 2002 to 2011.