Looking Beyond The Leaves And Understanding The Roots : Motivations And Concerns Of Farmers Planting Trees For Commercial Purposes In Brazil

The Brazilian government has launched in December 2018 its National Plan for Planted Forests setting the goal of increasing the area by 2 million hectares by 2030. In order to understand Brazilian farmersu2019 motivations to plant trees for commercial purposes, a questionnaire was applied to 65 farmers between October 2017 and July 2018. Results show that most of the farmers started planting trees because the prices were attractive by the time of planting. Also, many farmers pointed out that the lack of labour was an important factor in deciding to switch from labour-intensive crops and livestock to forestry. A high number of farmers revealed the possibility of not continuing planting trees for commercial purposes, which could pose a risk to the success of the National Plan. On the other hand, responses indicated that certified farmers are less likely to switch to other crops, suggesting that one less studied impact of certification is the persistence of land use decisions.Other important results were that farmers with less education and income are more likely to be part of associations. However, they do not receive technical support to the same extent than more educated and richer farmers do. This shows that many associations are not providing technical support to their members. In conclusion, by providing more technical support to farmers, the Brazilian government could enhance sustainability practices and the adoption of certifications which could help to detain farmers to switching from planted trees to other crops.