The Brazilian Soybean Complex

The rise of the Brazilian soybean complex simultaneously tells two important stories. The first story is the classic rise of an industry due to natural resource abundance (the Cerrado) and strategic investments in agricultural technology (low-latitude soybeans). Brazil is now the second leading producer of the fastest growing broad-acre crop in the world, has unparalleled arable land reserves, and has the technology to efficiently employ those reserves. The second story is about the different challenges facing developing countries in the post-modern world. Norms and standards for land use are not the same as when the United States, Canada, and Europe were being settled. Technology and scale economies have redefined a “family farm on the frontier.” Environmental and social stakeholders are now actively involved in land use and policy decisions affecting agriculture. And, the Media now plays an important institutional role in development settings communicating the activities of firms and governments to the public. Whereas agricultural productivity and growth historically were the central objective for economic advancement, policy makers and industry leaders are increasingly cognizant of new and important environmental and social expectations. This heightened social consciousness and very effective communications environment require Brazil’s agriculture to develop very differently than its forbearers in North America and Europe. To explore these themes, this article presents the soybean complex from three perspectives: as an agro-industrial complex; as an ecosystem; and as the nexus between infrastructure, institutions, and development.