Abstract
This paper analyzes the level of market integration of a relatively isolated Kayapó community. The goal is to understand how the commercial networks devoted to non-timber forest products are affecting one community by including cash-income into the economic life of communities previously dominated by non-monetary transactions but currently dominated by a mix of monetary and non-monetary practices. Non-timber forest product projects are a much lauded and much criticized form of sustainable forestry management. This case study analyses different non-timber forest product projects in Aukre, a village that is part of the Kayapó Indigenous Territories, Brazil. Th is article identifi es ten criteria that the villagers use to evaluate cash-income opportunities and, considering these criteria, why community members consider non-timber forest product projects desirable. Desirable projects should provide maximum participation, off er alternative markets to intense extractive networks, and build longterm partnerships based on a common interest in maintaining the territorial integrity of the Kayapó’s homeland. Th e evaluation of non-timber forest product projects is accompanied by an analysis of other types of cash income in the community, and a comparison of past and present economic opportunities to future possibilities. Th e results indicate the community of Aukre still values non-timber development projects within their community, despite a varied experience with timber and non-timber markets. However, their participation within these markets is based on several criteria, which community members perceive to be integral to project success.
DOI
http://dx.doi.org/10.5038/2162-4593.13.1.2
Recommended Citation
Zanotti, Laura C.. "Economic Diversification and Sustainable Development: The Role Non-timber Forest Products Play in the Monetization of Kayapó Livelihoods ." Journal of Ecological Anthropology 13, no. 1 (2009): 26-41.
Available at: https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/jea/vol13/iss1/2
