A Q-Method Analysis of Environmental Governance in Brazil's Northeastern Soy Belt

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Land devoted to modern agriculture is expected to increase globally, especially in developing countries, as a result of the predicted doubling of global cereal production by 2050. The Brazilian Cerrado, a savanna ecoregion covering nearly one-fourth of Brazil, is expected to be a key region helping to meet this increased demand. State officials, private entities, and non-governmental organizations are participating in the complex management tasks of reducing or stabilizing the negative environmental consequences that will result from cropland expansion. This research project will determine empirically the shared and divergent beliefs of key actors engaged in environmental governance in a region of Brazil's soy belt. Preliminary research in the study region in the western region of Bahia state has determined qualitatively the nature and scope of an environmental debate pitting farmers against environmentalists. In addition, preliminary studies have been conducted on remotely sensed satellite imagery to quantify land-cover and land-use changes from 1980 to 2005. The investigator will use the Q-method, which is an intensive and quantitative technique in which respondents (m individuals) sort statements (n tests) into a quasi-normal distribution ranging from "most disagree" to "most agree." Statements will focus on organizations, policies, the environment, and underlying causes of environmental change. Respondents will include representatives of government (federal, state, and municipal levels) and civil society organizations (environment and agriculture). Correlation and factor analysis will be performed on the responses or "sorts" of respondents. This analysis is expected to reveal ideal types of discourses or beliefs. In follow-up interviews, the researcher will ask respondents to explain and interpret the ideal types resulting from factor analysis.This project will provide new insights into the nature of environmental governance in the modern agricultural sector of a globally important agricultural producer, Brazil, and into environmental governance more broadly. Unexpected areas of agreement and conflict may be revealed, which may help advance environmental governance in the study region. The research will also explore the usefulness of the Q-method in understanding the role of state and non-state actors in environmental governance.