ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to describe what we have learned from the process of colonization in the Transamazon Hig-hway. It examines the motives and aims for Amazonian colonization, proceeds with an examination of the determinants of farmer success, and deals with an examination of the Altamira Project in the Transamazon Highway. The chapter analyses the viability of trends in development policy oriented at promoting small farmer settlement. The occupation of the lands along the Belem-Brasilia highway is a classic case of spontaneous settlement in the Brazilian Amazon. In the aggregate, the health problems of the population are rarely a major constraint to production unless particularly low and unsanitary areas are chosen for settlement. Road construction and directed settlement were but the pioneer fronts for a larger-scale process of resource development and geopolitical integration guided by direct government intervention. The literature on colonization makes three distinctions based upon the degree of government participation in discussing projects: directed, semi-directed, and spontaneous colonization.
