'My dream is to buy a piece of land': the 'outsiders' farming at the Amazon's last frontiers

Struggling to compete with large-scale landowners, smallholder farmers move ever deeper into Brazil's disappearing forestOnésio Nascimento has worked the land his whole life, moving from one Brazilian farming frontier to the next. During the coronavirus pandemic, he sold 20 hectares (50 acres) of land in northwest Mato Grosso state and used the money to buy another 100 hectares further north in the Amazon, in south Roraima.Today, he grows cassava and bananas on his land, an hour's drive down a bumpy dirt road, which turns to mud during the rainy season. Flanked by small herds of cattle, the road is used by loggers to extract valuable Amazon hardwoods from nearby pristine forest. Continue reading...