Pasture and deforestation

The semi-arid region of northeast Brazil (sertão) is the poorest of the country. Over 60% of the local biome (caatinga) has been deforested mostly because of extensive pasture. Milk production represents the main source of income for small farmers. However, despite the unconfined grazing, milk yields are the lowest of Latin America because of an unbalanced animal diet and limited access to production technologies. Farmers end up deforesting large areas of the "caatinga" to feed their animals

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