THE CAUSES OF LAND DEGRADATION ALONG SPONTANEOUSLY EXPANDING AGRICULTURAL FRONTIERS IN THE THIRD-WORLD

Although the factors causing small farmers to migrate to agriculture's extensive margin and to clear too much land are widely acknowledged, the cycle of excessive deforestation and erosive farming usually observed along Third World agricultural frontiers has received scant attention. Focusing on the cycle emerging along "spontaneously' expanding frontiers, this analysis addresses colonists' choices among resource development options with the aid of a model designed to reflect land tenure arrangements typically encountered in areas undergoing settlement. -from Author