Maria
del Carmen
Vera-Diaz, Ipam/Boston University, mcarmen@bu.edu
(Presenting)
Robert
Kaufmann, Boston University, kaufmann@bu.edu
Daniel
Curtis
Nepstad, Ipam/Woods Hole Research Center, dnepstad@whrc.org
Investments planned under the last Brazilian Government’s “Avança Brasil” (Forward Brazil) federal program and continued under the Lula’s government aim to improve transport networks and build infrastructure (ports, waterways, and hydroelectric power plants) in the Amazon region. These politics have important economic and environmental impacts by reducing transport costs, facilitating access to remote places, and promoting the expansion of the agricultural frontier in the Brazilian Amazon. These changes will benefit agro-industry by increasing the area where soybean production is economically viable.
We estimate spatial variations in transportation costs from the Amazon basin to soybean export ports. Cost surfaces are generated for the entire Amazon using a least cost location approach in GIS-Software. Additional cost surfaces are created to simulate the complete pavement of Cuiaba-Santarém highway.
Preliminary results indicate that transport costs vary greatly over Brazilian territory. The highest transport costs occur in the Amazon region. In some areas, costs exceed US$800 per ton of shipped product because poor transport infrastructure and large forest areas restrict accessibility. In general transport costs in the Eastern Amazon are lower than the Western Amazon because of government investments in transport infra-structure.
Submetido por Maria del Carmen Vera-Diaz em 23-MAR-2004
Tema Científico do LBA: LC (Mudanças dos Usos da Terra e da Vegetação)