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The study of the Transamazonian territory of Altamira (Parб-Brazil) - Nathalie Paralieu
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| 4. RESULTS OF THE REGIONAL APPROACH |
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In view of this geographical level of analysis, the territory of Altamira may have reserved prospects for the future. Actually, this analysis does not reveal elements that would put an end to the evolutionary process of decline, which is leading:
- To the extinction of the last forest resources, all the more since a third of the conquered areas are fallow lands.
- To the development of landownership along the most well-kept roads, which increases the population of the major urban center to the detriment of public services and administration.
This observation leads us to consider three points:
- There is a difficult change from an extractive economy to a productive economy.
- An inadequate development of the urban center does not sufficiently sustain the development of the rural outskirts.
- The organization of the marketing networks is planned by a minority of actors, economically powerful, but not willing to invest in the development of endogeneous policies of marketing networks with a higher exchange value.
A difficult change from an extractive economy to a productive economy
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For years, Altamira has relied upon a unique fluvial and extractive marketing network, which derived from the space structure of Eastern Amazonia. It remained the only commercial system from the 17th century to the middle of the 19th century.
In the beginnings, Altamira was just a minor corporation in charge of a minor flow of products and people. But from the end of the 19th century to the middle of the 20th century, this town obviously became a strategic area since it made connections easier between the Xingu River and the rubber extraction zones, which were completely enclosed within the lands.
In setting up a new marketing system, both fluvial and terrestrial, the opening of the Transamazonian road has changed the space structure and has also affected the economy and the populations of the area. At first, the road became the main line for the transport of products and, subsequently, the combination of these fluvial and terrestrial networks gave importance to the town of Altamira, since it was located at the point of intersection between these two trajectories. But the endogenous financially profitable marketing networks were at a standstill. As a main consequence to the opening of the road, the extractive economy is favored because of the opening of new areas and a better access to new resources, as exemplified by the trade between Altamira and the south of the country (wood exports southward, food imports northward). Nowadays, the center and the South-east of Brazil can rely upon the resources of Amazonia, just like some foreign countries did some time ago (Picture 4).
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However, the development of agriculture and cattle breeding is closely related to the process of colonization, which occurred along the Transamazonian road. This development leads to the emergence of supplying areas which provide the northern towns (Belйm , Manaus, Macapб). The agricultural system in highlands opened for cultivation gives a boost to new regional markets. It must be pointed out that, as a consequence, the development of the transamazonian area has been put to a disadvantage compared with the development of agriculture in the outskirts of the towns. All this goes to show that the exploitation of the Transamazonian territory does not particularly favor intensive cultivation.
The illustrated view of the evolutionary process of land exploitation at the regional level, east and west of Altamira shows the development of both cattle breeding and the lumbering industry (Picture 5). The subsequent profits are induced by an application program of mining exploitation methods.
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The urban center does not strongly intervenes in the development of the rural outskirts
The influence of the town of Altamira is extending over the region because Altamira is a small trade and service center. It is a small urban center. Because of its strategic geographical position at the point of intersection between land and river, it has been subsidized and favored by the Federal State’s first credit programs and investment policy. Actually, agricultural installations were subsidized by the Federal State (1971-1974) and from 1975 to 1979, the town was granted 40 % of the profits of the Polamazonia (National Program for the development of Amazonia).
Unfortunately, this investment policy has developed the town’s infrastructure to the detriment of the elaboration of new operative production system. The agricultural industry is underdeveloped and lacks sufficient credits to favor continual food crops and their marketing. In this connection, the agricultural products’ marketing network is unsettled. Altamira is a reserve of local seasonal workers, of small jobs because of an increased need of services (offered by the recent middle class workers from the public administration and the professions). The suburbs are poverty-stricken and more and more children are on the streets. The town facilities have become obsolete, because the production is not sufficient enough and the commercial benefits of its inhabitants do not provide new marketing activities yet necessary to maintain the process of the improvement of public services.
Altamira does not control the colonization process of the frontier areas expanding up to the frontier of the rainforest. Its rural areas are disadvantaged by a damaged and mismanaged road infrastructure, and differ now from the other rural zones. Their specific development process depends on small urban centers and they are also confronted with huge difficulties of territorial planning. The town of Altamira mainly controls the economy of these areas, because group salesmen and independent tradesmen are in charge of the local and regional marketing networks and of the distributing networks too and they control the cocoa and wood trajectories to the export zones.
The marketing network depends of a minority of economically powerful actors, who do not invest their profits in the elaboration of profitable endogenous marketing networks
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The organization of intermediary marketing networks has changed to face the long distances subsequent to a linear and extensive territorial planning. The marketing networks have been reorganized into a hierarchy depending on their space structure as well as to the level of responsibility of each of its members.
West of Altamira, the case of the marketing networks of the cocoa illustrates the space organization of the marketing networks (picture 6):
- The regional tradesmen of Altamira work with intermediaries situated at every strategic point of the local or sub-regional production. This network is a direct (relying on a local business store, on small retailers or producers) or an indirect one (relying on independent wholesale stores).
- The local tradesmen rely on the same marketing strategy. Within the cocoa production area, they have adopted the direct marketing strategy, and they are not involved in Altamira’s network, despite the fact that they work with the same business store as the regional tradesmen.
The main tradesmen control the trajectories of the products and work at strategic points with commercial agents or intermediaries (within the production areas, at the crossroads, by the side of the roads, in small retail shops). They play a key role in the organization of the territorial management and planning. They connect the production areas and the retailers; they protect the producers’ families and guarantee their production. They used to be in charge of allowing bank credits, until the moment when, in 1992, new producers’ organizations started to save credit money to the benefit of the small agricultural production. Yet, the tradesmen still have the power to provide their clients health insurance unlike the rural organization, which do not have the necessary corporate structure.
Because of the rapid evolutionary process of the commercial activities and trajectories, the marketing of agricultural products has generated huge profits. The success of merchants gives a boost to individual strategies of making profits. The commercial activities vary from the production to the marketing and sometimes to the manufacturing of products. The development of commercial activities is reinforced by the increased process of landownership and the strategy of diversification of the products outside the area.
To summarize, as they want to favor stock farming, the major tradesmen invest in extensive cattle breeding and in the buying of land. But the region’ s economy has subsequently come to a standstill because the main investors (big farmers, cattle breeders, tradesmen, and lumbering industrials) do not break new ground in the agro-industry or forestry fields. As a consequence, the family products are a source of the diversification of income.
As a conclusion of the regional level of analysis, and in spite of reserved prospects for the future of this area, it must however be recognized that the situation is far from being so pessimistic. We must allow for the revival of decisive public works which have brought electricity to the area beyond the Tucuruн dam. All of this leads us to expect that the region will soon be able to make new profits. The construction of a hydroelectric dam is planned. So, will the local actors be able to develop their own strategies, grasping the opportunity on relying upon large Federal State subsidies, which would then give a boost to the rural areas? Or else is the increased selling process of land still favoring the big owners whereas the only job opportunities will be offered by the hydroelectric building site?
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