Indicators of income inequality and poverty in agriculture in the state of Minas Gerais/Brazil

Abstract

The aim of this article was to analyze the changes in income inequality and poverty of people (in the state of Minas Gerais /Brazil) whose main occupation relies on agriculture. Such study was carried out from 1991 to 2000, a period in which the modernization in agriculture took place more intensively. For this, two basic points were taken into account – geographical and socio-demographical, the first one, by separating the poverty index and income concentration in the twelve mesoregions of the state, the latter one was obtained by decomposing it into the position of occupation, education, age, gender and race. A decrease in the labor force in agriculture and an increase of unpaid people working have been observed in every mesoregion of the state. The income concentration, measured by the Gini index, remained stable during this period and the key factors to such situation, when measured by the Theil coefficient, were the position in occupation followed by education. Due to the efficiency gained in the sector, not only had a decrease in poverty, how has been observed, but also the elimination of underpaid jobs. The modernization process in the agriculture of Minas Gerais, in that period, which took place mainly in agriculture borders, was both concentrating and eliminating, a fact that leads to a significant portion of the population below the poverty line.