5 - New Forms of Financing the Agricultural Sector in Brazil

Summary

The chapter analyses the recent trends in the organization of agricultural chains in Brazil and their effects in the patterns of agricultural production financing. From the late 1980s onwards, the Brazilian agricultural sector has experienced significant changes, particularly with the deregulation of the domestic market, which stimulated the concentration and internationalization of agro-industrial chains. This increasing international and concentrated private sector gradually assumed functions that were carried out by the State, such as the financing of agricultural production. By examining the relationships between actors operating within Brazilian soybean chains, we show how these new forms of financing production made input and processing firms able to appropriate margin on both sides of the production chain, affecting the income distribution in this agricultural value chain.