Resilience of small-scale farming to the emergence of bioenergy as a climate policy: lessons from Brazil’s social biodiesel programme

Abstract

This master thesis describes effects of the Brazilian social biodiesel policies on smallholder farmers. Through interviews, documental analysis and a simulation model, it rejects a dynamic hypothesis about market manipulation by biodiesel refineries indirectly financed by these biodiesel policies. It examines some of the threats posed by these policies to conclude that their risks are more relevant when associated with pull migration factors. It analyses decisions smallholders make and reveals which of them are more important to their own resilience. It demonstrates that land sales timing is key to determine smallholder farmer resilience and that the emergence of industrial agriculture phenomena such as regional biodiesel supply chains might be an opportunity for them to leave rural areas with more assets, which can help them adapt to urban life. It recommends an array of policy instruments to mitigate the researched risks when it comes to future bioenergy policy design.