Presentation by Kojo Amanor (University of Ghana) at the China & Brazil in African Agriculture event in London, June 2015. See http://www.future-agricultures.org/research/cbaa/8037-china-and-brazil-in-african-agriculture-co-operation-or-culture-clash

1. Kojo Amanor
Brazil and African Agriculture

2. Origins of Brazilian South-South
Cooperation
 Early 1980s - World recession
 Influence of NIEO and Buenos Aries Action Plan on
south relations
 Diversify export oriented manufacturing, improve
balance of payments and prevent takeover by US
firms
 Gain new sources of oil from Nigeria and Angola
 emphasised “tropicalised” manufacture and joint
ventures
 Opening of African economies - Brazilian companies
play significant role in construction, mining and
petroleum industries.
 In Agriculture main influences: Social protection,
agricultural mechanisation, research services, less
significant is private sector production

3. Expansion of agribusiness
 Currently 40 percent of exports and over 30% of GDP
provided by agribusiness
 Some of largest agribusiness firms in world originate in
Brazil
 20 firms have annual sales over US $1 billion
 Citrovita the largest juice processor in the world has
orchards in Brazil and the US, and
 JBL, the largest beef processor in the world has acquired
companies and shares in companies in Argentina, US,
Australia and Europe
 Brazilian agribusiness can compete in many markets, like
many large agribusiness reluctant to invest in Africa since
lack of infrastructure, high risk
 Therefore rhetoric of suitability of Brazilian technology to
African conditions not matched by investments.

4. Agribusiness and family farming
 Social protection programmes associated with agriculture have lifted 5
million people out of poverty
 one percent of farms produce over half of agricultural GNP while three
million farms (66% of the total) generate 3.3% of income
 70% agricultural output from Cerrado
 1913-14 agricultural budget
 Total 133 billion reales
 115 billion reales for agribusiness
 18 billion reales for family farming
 Much of investment in family farming supports purchase of machinery to
modernise agriculture and serves as a stimulus for agribusiness.

5. Social Protection and More Food
 Social protection programmes directly link Brazilian
agribusiness to international development. Brazil has
drawn from international social protection
programmes and been instrumental in sharing its
experiences elsewhere (Haiti and several African
countries) often through trilateral programmes with
FAO and DFID.
 This has served as a basis for the More Food
International programme, which provides bilateral
credits for agricultural machinery for family farming
and to promote genetic improvement in crops in
Ghana, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Senegal, and
Kenya. However recipient countries often have
alternative narratives in which they fit Brazilian

6. Research
 Embrapa established an office in Accra in 2010
 Liaises with Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa
(FARA), AGRA, USAID, DFID, IFAD, FAO
 African Technological Innovation Marketplace
sponsors joint research between African and Brazilian
researchers on genetic resources, irrigation and water
conservation technologies, aquaphonic systems,
harvesting technologies, rangeland management,
feed, etc
 Cotton 4 Brazilian cotton varieties and management
techniques (Benin, Mali, Burkina Faso, Chad)
 Rice varieties and technologies with Senegal Rice
Research Institute.

7. Private sector
 In spite of many stories about large-scale
Brazilian investments in ethanol and sugar, few of
these projects have materialised.
 Example of private sector company.
 The Brazil Agro Business Group in Volta Region,
Ghana
 Engages in rice production introducing
innovations from southern Brazil
 Problems with land, disputes with communities,
problems in acquiring good quality seed, high
cost of machinery and inputs and problems with
acquiring spare parts.

8. Conclusion
 Constraints within African markets likely to result in focus
on developing seeds and input markets and food
processing and marketing, rather than investments in
large scale production.
 Minimise risk by engaging in trilateral partnerships in
which Brazil focuses on contracting out its technical
skills, while building up familiarity with the institutional
and physical environments
 Noticeable absence of partnerships with other rising
powers who also advocate South-South cooperation.
 Brazilian agricultural development likely to conform to
and build upon mainstream agribusiness developments
through joint ventures, rather than charting a radically
different course, which cautiously contributes to the
development of an agricultural infrastructure that
facilitates agribusiness.