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The Brazilian organic food sector: Prospects and constraints of facilitating the inclusion of smallholders

Author

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  • Julien Blanc

    (EAE - Eco-Anthropologie et Ethnobiologie - MNHN - Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle - UPD7 - Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

  • Paul R. Kledal

    (IGFF - Institute of Global Food and Farming - Institute of Global Food and Farming)

Abstract

The Brazilian organic food sector has experienced important growth during the last two decades. Brazilian smallholders, however, are facing huge challenges to enter and benefit from this growth in a sustainable way. Combining the lens of New Institutional Economics and socio-anthropology, we analyze six experiences of Brazilian smallholders who converted to organics in the 1990s'. Three different food systems are featured in this analysis: an alternative food system, which is strongly interwoven with the Brazilian Agro-ecological movement and two commercial food procurement systems oriented towards domestic and an export markets driven mainly by supermarket chains. The analytical focus was on 1) the governance of these food systems, 2) the constraints farmers are facing within these food systems and, 3) the benefits that they can expect from market inclusion. We highlighted the roles that NGOs, Faith-based organizations and public-related agencies play in supporting the inclusion of smallholders into all three food systems. We confirmed the arguments in support of pursuing the agroecological development based model in Brazil, but underlined that there is a critical lack of support for farmers included in the commercial market-oriented food systems. Such a lack is even more critical as the food systems driven by expanding supermarket chains are characterized by strong asymmetric power relations at the expense of smallholders. Considering the reluctance of NGOs and Faith-based organizations to support these farmers, we call for efforts to be made to provide a policy framework to enable public-related entities to secure sustainable inclusion into these systems and exit strategies for those experiencing exclusion from these highly competitive food systems.

Suggested Citation

  • Julien Blanc & Paul R. Kledal, 2012. "The Brazilian organic food sector: Prospects and constraints of facilitating the inclusion of smallholders," Post-Print hal-00768458, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-00768458
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jrurstud.2011.10.005
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-00768458v1
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    2. Tavella, Elena & Papadopoulos, Thanos, 2017. "Applying OR to problem situations within community organisations: A case in a Danish non-profit, member-driven food cooperative," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 258(2), pages 726-742.
    3. Mercy Mwambi & Jos Bijman & Patience Mshenga, 2020. "Which type of producer organization is (more) inclusive? Dynamics of farmers’ membership and participation in the decision‐making process," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 91(2), pages 213-236, June.
    4. Hansen, Henrik & Trifković, Neda, 2014. "Food Standards are Good – For Middle-Class Farmers," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 226-242.
    5. Elvira Molin & Michael Martin & Anna Björklund, 2021. "Addressing Sustainability within Public Procurement of Food: A Systematic Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(23), pages 1-21, December.
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    7. Isabela Kopperschmidt de Oliveira & Leise Kelli de Oliveira & Maria Rosa Amorim Faria Lisboa & Ellen Caroline Nunes Madalon & Luiza Fleury de Freitas & Augusto Cezar Peres Filho, 2021. "The Geographical Distance between Producers and Consumers of the Organic Street Markets: The Case of Belo Horizonte, Brazil," Logistics, MDPI, vol. 5(2), pages 1-15, May.
    8. Oswaldo Viteri & Jesus Ramos-Martin, 2014. "Principales patrones de uso del suelo como generadores de ingresos económicos de los pequeños productores de café y cacao en la Amazonía norte del Ecuador," UHE Working papers 2014_02, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Departament d'Economia i Història Econòmica, Unitat d'Història Econòmica.
    9. Vincent Canwat & Myles Oelofse & Stephen Onakuse & Andreas de Neergaard, 2020. "Effects of certified‐organic production on supplier failures and potential income effects of supplier failures on producers: Evidence from vegetable and macadamia producers in Kenya," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 36(4), pages 751-769, October.
    10. Lemeilleur, S. & Allaire, G., 2019. "Participatory Guarantee Systems for organic farming: reclaiming the commons," Working Papers MoISA 201902, UMR MoISA : Montpellier Interdisciplinary center on Sustainable Agri-food systems (social and nutritional sciences): CIHEAM-IAMM, CIRAD, INRAE, L'Institut Agro, Montpellier SupAgro, IRD - Montpellier, France.

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