Modern Monoculture and Periphery Processes: a World Systems Analysis of the Brazilian soy expansion from 2000-2012

Authorship SCIMAGO INSTITUTIONS RANKINGS

The article treats the broader socio-environmental and economic implications of the expansion in Brazilian soy production, during the period from 2000-2012. The World Systems Analysis (WSA) perspective of Terence Hopkins and Immanuel Wallerstein (1982) is applied in order to assess whether this development may be understood as characteristic of the economic processes of periphery formation. This theoretical framework is combined with contemporary contributions to the World Systems Analysis literature that emphasize environmental issues and the particular nature of modern agribusiness, in order to grasp the complexities of today´s Brazilian soy sector. The dynamics of production expansion and its different societal impacts are approached through a commodity chain analysis of the Brazilian soy production. A data triangulation strategy is applied within the analysis, through scrutiny of official documents, research papers, interviews and statistical material. The article concludes that while some circumstances diverge from the interpretations of the WSA perspective, other findings suggest a convergence between the recent Brazilian soy expansion and this theoretical body’s conceptualizations of global periphery. The analysis also points to the need to reconsider the structural determinism of the WSA perspective, particularly with regards to the possible potential of political agency to confront the challenges associated with commodity-based development.

Key-words:
commodity markets; farming; land tenure; agribusiness; sustainability

	Percentage of registered properties	Total area of the properties (hectares)
Less than 10 hectares	47.86%	2.36%
10 to 100 hectares	38.09%	19.06%
100 to 1000 hectares	8.21%	34.16%
1000 + hectares	0.91%	44.42%

	2000	2010
Rice	3.664.804	2.722.459
Beans	4.332.545	3.423.646
Manioc	1.709.315	1.787.467
Corn	11.890.376	12.703.373
Wheat	1.138.687	2.181.567
Soy	13.656.771	23.327.296

	Agro-defensives	Fertilizers	Total share
2007	15.69%	17.80%	33.49%
2008	15.73%	25.60%	41.33%
2009	11.87%	35.60%	47.47%
2010	12.08%	23.42%	35.50%
2011	9.57%	25.29%	34.86%
2012	12,58%	30.48%	43.06%

	Raw soybeans	Soybean meal
Brazil	32	14
Argentina	10	29

Chain point and indicators	Findings	Theoretical interpretation
Arable land input: land access	Soy expansion resulting in unequal land distribution.	Concentration of production processes favoring extensive export-oriented soy monoculture above smallholders.
Arable land input: Crop displacement	Regionally varying food access problems and general uncertainties about the implications of the increasing relative weight of soy cultivation.	Concentration of production processes favoring extensive export-oriented soy monoculture above local diversified food production.
Environmental inputs: Soil and agrochemical inputs	In conjunction degrading soil quality which becomes a depletable production input. High reliance on agrochemical inputs which significantly cuts farmers profits and lead to trade balance deficits.	Incorporation of the biological realm into the world economy through exploitation of soil nutrients and patenting of genetic material. Simple reproduction as a substantial share of the value-added agrochemical manufacturing remains abroad, while constituting a significant component in the final price of mainly uncrushed soy exports.
Environmental inputs: deforestation and biodiversity	Extensive deforestation of the Cerrado region and loss of biodiversity, yet from 2006-2011 relatively success have been made in mitigating deforestation due to soy expansion in the Amazon.	Incorporation of the biological realm into the world economy through exploitation of native vegetation and biosphere.
Labor inputs: employment	Very low employment generation in the direct production phase.	Conversion of labor through displacement of smallholders but only a low degree of reincorporation into production.
Labor inputs: labor conditions	Indications of precarious labor conditions, though difficult to generalize.	Conversion of labor into the cheapest possible factor input to production.
Governance structure of the commodity chain	Strong foreign presence in the input structure, processing and international commercialization.	Incorporation of the productive processes into an axial division of labor in which foreign MNC´s wield a high degree of market power. Direct production is nonetheless still dominated by domestic actors.
R&D inputs	Some structural ramifications from domestic agricultural research and development efforts, though still high reliance on patented seeds.	Simple reproduction is not the case due to the high degree of technological production inputs though incorporation of the genetic plant structure generates a certain degree of dependence on patented biotechnology.
Processing capacity	Some significant value added gains from crushing, feed industries, and economic development in agro-industrial hubs, though most of soy production bypasses processing at this link. High degree of external corporate control.	Simple reproduction due to lack of elaboration and structural ramifications, though is not the case for the smaller share of production being processed. Also some significant degree of spillover in food industries which diverge from this concept. Incorporation of processing into global corporate governance structures and Concentration of production processes on a single low value added capital-good for core food industries.

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[TFN1] Sourse: IBGE (2006).