118
5 Brazil Between Bioeconomy Barons and Grassroots Agroecology
For that, the state could further its position as the leading financier of biofuels and
put additional conditions on the incentives it gives. The same approach could also be
used to make agricultural practices more sustainable (e.g., better water management
practices, reduced chemical-input use), besides more stringent land-use and pesticide regulations. Furthermore, investment in agricultural R&D—which is mainly
public through the EMBRAPA national company—would need to focus increasingly on value-adding technologies rather than primarily on crop productivity. Smallholders, in particular, would benefit from further investments in rural infrastructure,
agricultural and biofuel-making technologies suitable to their contexts and scale.
They would also greatly benefit from organizational capacity building (e.g., helping
form cooperatives) and additional technical assistance—with proper monitoring and
evaluation—to improve the use of those resources.
Finally, bioeconomy governance would be more equitable and likely facilitate the
policy changes above if it included key stakeholders such as national smallholder
and peasant organizations. That is not only locally at contract negotiation but also in
decision-making and designing bio-based value chains—a space routinely granted
to private agroindustries. However, any of these changes require either a change of
beliefs within the dominant agribusiness coalition or more effective agency from the
agroecology coalition. The former may realize that a better sustainability profile can
effectively improve Brazil’s position in global trade and environmental negotiations,
as well as penetration in more demanding markets such as Europe. In turn, the
contenders may need to show how agroecological development can help meet Brazil’s
economic and geopolitical ambitions, or it will just continue to be regarded as a niche
or as a utopia.
References
Altieri MA, Toledo VM (2011) The agroecological revolution in Latin America: rescuing nature,
ensuring food sovereignty and empowering peasants. J Peasant Stud 38(3):587–612
Angelo C, Rittl C (2019) Análise das emissões brasileiras de gases de efeito estufa e suas implicações
para as metas do Brasil. Observatório do Clima. http://seeg.eco.br. Accessed 17 Oct 2020
ANP (2013) Anuário estatístico 2013. Agência Nacional do Petróleo, Gás Natural e Biocombustíveis
(ANP). http://www.anp.gov.br/?pg=66833. Accessed 15 Oct 2020
ANP (2020) Dados de aquisições por distribuidores. Agência Nacional do Petróleo, Gás Natural
e Biocombustíveis (ANP). http://www.anp.gov.br/distribuicao-e-revenda/leiloes-de-biodie
sel/dados-de-entregas-e-de-aquisicoes-de-biodiesel/dados-de-aquisicoes-por-distribuidores.
Accessed 17 Oct 2020
Barros S (2020) Sugar annual. USDA Global Agricultural Reporting Service, GAIN Report
BR2020-0012, São Paulo
Bastos Lima MG (2008) Sustainable food security for local communities in the globalized era: a
comparative examination of Brazilian and Canadian case studies. UWSpace. http://hdl.handle.
net/10012/3660. Accessed 25 Oct 2020
Bastos Lima MG (2012) The Brazilian biofuel industry: Achievements and geopolitical challenges.
In: Amineh MP, Guang Y (eds) Secure oil and alternative energy: the geopolitics of energy paths
of China and the European Union. Brill Publishing, Leiden, pp 343–369
5 Brazil Between Bioeconomy Barons and Grassroots Agroecology
For that, the state could further its position as the leading financier of biofuels and
put additional conditions on the incentives it gives. The same approach could also be
used to make agricultural practices more sustainable (e.g., better water management
practices, reduced chemical-input use), besides more stringent land-use and pesticide regulations. Furthermore, investment in agricultural R&D—which is mainly
public through the EMBRAPA national company—would need to focus increasingly on value-adding technologies rather than primarily on crop productivity. Smallholders, in particular, would benefit from further investments in rural infrastructure,
agricultural and biofuel-making technologies suitable to their contexts and scale.
They would also greatly benefit from organizational capacity building (e.g., helping
form cooperatives) and additional technical assistance—with proper monitoring and
evaluation—to improve the use of those resources.
Finally, bioeconomy governance would be more equitable and likely facilitate the
policy changes above if it included key stakeholders such as national smallholder
and peasant organizations. That is not only locally at contract negotiation but also in
decision-making and designing bio-based value chains—a space routinely granted
to private agroindustries. However, any of these changes require either a change of
beliefs within the dominant agribusiness coalition or more effective agency from the
agroecology coalition. The former may realize that a better sustainability profile can
effectively improve Brazil’s position in global trade and environmental negotiations,
as well as penetration in more demanding markets such as Europe. In turn, the
contenders may need to show how agroecological development can help meet Brazil’s
economic and geopolitical ambitions, or it will just continue to be regarded as a niche
or as a utopia.
References
Altieri MA, Toledo VM (2011) The agroecological revolution in Latin America: rescuing nature,
ensuring food sovereignty and empowering peasants. J Peasant Stud 38(3):587–612
Angelo C, Rittl C (2019) Análise das emissões brasileiras de gases de efeito estufa e suas implicações
para as metas do Brasil. Observatório do Clima. http://seeg.eco.br. Accessed 17 Oct 2020
ANP (2013) Anuário estatístico 2013. Agência Nacional do Petróleo, Gás Natural e Biocombustíveis
(ANP). http://www.anp.gov.br/?pg=66833. Accessed 15 Oct 2020
ANP (2020) Dados de aquisições por distribuidores. Agência Nacional do Petróleo, Gás Natural
e Biocombustíveis (ANP). http://www.anp.gov.br/distribuicao-e-revenda/leiloes-de-biodie
sel/dados-de-entregas-e-de-aquisicoes-de-biodiesel/dados-de-aquisicoes-por-distribuidores.
Accessed 17 Oct 2020
Barros S (2020) Sugar annual. USDA Global Agricultural Reporting Service, GAIN Report
BR2020-0012, São Paulo
Bastos Lima MG (2008) Sustainable food security for local communities in the globalized era: a
comparative examination of Brazilian and Canadian case studies. UWSpace. http://hdl.handle.
net/10012/3660. Accessed 25 Oct 2020
Bastos Lima MG (2012) The Brazilian biofuel industry: Achievements and geopolitical challenges.
In: Amineh MP, Guang Y (eds) Secure oil and alternative energy: the geopolitics of energy paths
of China and the European Union. Brill Publishing, Leiden, pp 343–369