ASSESSMENTS

Brazil's Farming Lobby Wields Its Growing Power

Aug 29, 2018 | 09:00 GMT

A worker holds organic coffee beans produced at the Fortaleza Environmental Farm in Mococa, about 300 kilometers northeast of Sao Paulo, in 2015.

A worker holds organic coffee beans produced at the Fortaleza Environmental Farm in Mococa, about 300 kilometers northeast of Sao Paulo, on Aug. 6, 2015. Agriculture helps drive Brazil's economy.

(NELSON ALMEIDA/AFP/Getty Images)

Highlights

  • Brazil's farm lobby will continue to expand its political influence, and upcoming elections are unlikely to diminish its power.
  • The economic importance of the country's agricultural sector will continue to grow over the next decade.
  • Because agriculture is Brazil's main trade offensive interest, the farm lobby will push Brasilia to pursue trade liberalization and to open up export markets as part of new trade deals.

Agriculture is big business in Brazil; from sugar, to coffee, to soybeans and everything in between, the country's farming sector has become a juggernaut on the world stage over the past 40 years. And in parallel with the strength of agricultural goods, the Brazilian farming sector's clout has also grown, unlike the fate of its counterparts in the United States and European Union. Today, the country's farm lobby backs close to half of the lower house's deputies, representing a level of support that is unlikely to change no matter who emerges victoriously in general elections in October. With such power inside and outside of Congress, the lobby is well-placed to dictate Brazil's domestic agricultural policies – and, increasingly, even some of its foreign ones....

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