Brazilian Agriculture: Balancing Growth with the Need for Equality and Sustainability

Abstract

SummaryBrazil's agricultural sector has grown rapidly over the past 20 years, but two reservations have been frequently expressed with respect to the country's development model. The first is that the benefits of agricultural growth have accrued principally to a narrow group of large‐scale commercial farmers, while smaller‐scale traditional farmers, and the rural economy more generally, have languished. A second concern relates to the environmental footprint of agricultural development, and in particular agriculture's contribution to the loss of rainforest. This article suggests that future growth can be reconciled with rapid poverty reduction and improved environmental sustainability. In order to sustain agricultural growth, policies need to support further innovation and tackle constraints that stem from the wider context in which the sector operates. Achieving that growth more equitably will require support for development pathways within and outside agriculture, with policies that take a more realistic view of which farmers have the potential to be economically viable. Improved environmental progress will mean putting ambitious legislation into practice. Government policies have identified the correct priorities, which need to be better reflected in the allocation of public funding.