The recent global rush for farmland in Latin America has produced a dramatic increase in the level of foreign investment in land in Brazil. The current trend accentuates the ongoing process of foreignization of agriculture associated with the production of grains, sugar, ethanol and other commodities, increasing land prices. In response, the Brazilian government reestablished a legal mechanism for 'controlling' land-based foreign investment which has proven neither efficient nor effective in solving land concentration. This paper examines this issue by analyzing the causes of the increase in investment as well as the consequences of this process with respect to land prices, critically situating land-based investments and the government's policy response in a broader discussion of the demands of agrarian social movements.

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A recente "corrida mundial por terras" transformou a América Latina, em geral, e o Brasil, em particular, em alvos preferenciais para negócios com aumento considerável de investimentos estrangeiros no setor agropecuário, inclusive na compra de terras, com a participação de empresas do setor financeiro. Mesmo sendo um mercado de baixa liquidez, negócios com terras não são novidade no Brasil, mas têm aumentado consideravelmente após 2002, sendo, inclusive, possível perceber esse processo no sistema de cadastro do Instituto Nacionalde Colonização e Reforma Agrária (Incra). De acordo com pesquisas de campo, a maioria dos investimentos recentes está relacionada à produção de grãos (principalmente soja) e de cana-de-açúcar (produção de açúcar e etanol), mas tambémà mineração, resultando em aumento dos preços da terra, entre outras consequências em algumas regiões do Brasil. Essa "corrida por terra" levou o governo federal a restabelecer um mecanismo legal para "controlar" esses investimentos estrangeiros em terra. O presente artigo discute esse processo recente de investimentos na compra de terras no Brasil, investigando causas para tais investimentos e suas principais consequências, incluindo possíveis influências sobre os preços da terra e impactos sociais e políticos nas históricas disputas pelo acesso à terra no Brasil.
The recent "rush for farmland" in the world has made of Latin America and Brazil targets in the process of land deals with a great increase of foreign investments on the agribusiness including land purchases by financial companies, among others. Despite the low liquidity, land deals and foreign investments in agribusiness are not new in Brazil, but have increased considerably after 2002, as it is possible to be seenin the registration system of the National Institute for Colonization and Agrarian Reform. According to some field researches, most of the recent investments are related to production of grains (especially soybean) and sugarcane (to produce sugar and ethanol), but also for mining,resulting, among other consequences, in a great increase of land prices in some Brazilian regions.Such rush for land has led the Brazilian government to reestablish a legal mechanism to "control" these foreign investments in land deals. This article discussesthe recent process of foreign investments in purchasing land in Brazil, focusing inmain causes for such investments and its consequences, including possible influences on land prices and social and political impacts over disputes to access land in Brazil

L’article traite des modalités du démantèlement récent des politiques publiques rurales et environnementales avec un recul de quelques années, en mobilisant l’examen de plusieurs volets : le foncier, l’agriculture familiale, le développement territorial rural, l’agroécologie et l’environnement. L’analyse porte sur les trois derniers gouvernements (Rousseff, Temer et Bolsonaro), à partir de l’approche du démantèlement de politiques publiques de Bauer et al. (Bauer MW, Jordan A, Green-Pedersen C, Heritier A. 2013. Dismantling public policy: preferences, strategies and effects. Oxford: Oxford University Press. DOI: 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199656646.001.0001). La méthode associe l’analyse documentaire des textes officiels, les statistiques portant sur les budgets et des entretiens auprès de décideurs et gestionnaires de ces politiques conduits dans le cadre de recherches initiées depuis 2012. Les transformations observées suggèrent l’intégration de différentes stratégies de démantèlement des politiques publiques, surtout depuis 2019. Moins utilisés durant les gouvernements Rousseff et Temer, ces mécanismes sont particulièrement mis en œuvre dans le cadre conservateur et belligérant du gouvernement Bolsonaro, dont la base politique répond positivement à la destruction des dispositifs de régulation de l’État.

O debate atual sobre o desenvolvimento rural no Brasil, e recentemente sobre o desenvolvimento territorial, fundamenta-se, entre outros aspectos, na observação da persistência interligada da pobreza rural e da desigualdade social e regional, e enquadra-se na discussão mais ampla sobre o desenvolvimento econômico e a sustentabilidade. De certa maneira, o conceito de território (concebido como uma escala de ação adequada para empreender políticas públicas diferenciadas) insere-se nesse contexto, refletindo as disputas existentes entre estratégias tão distintas, como aquela que acentua o processo de crescimento econômico com forte vocação exportadora na área agrícola ou, ainda, outra que valorize os processos de desenvolvimento sustentável aliado à ideia de justiça e/ou equidade social.Assim, a análise dos obstáculos existentes para a articulação de políti-cas, instituições e a construção de estratégias de desenvolvimento, bem como das soluções encontradas para superá-los, pode ser explorada levando em conta três componentes: (a) os programas governamen-

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This article analyses the determining factors affecting the land market in Brazil in an international context where the availability of natural resources, essential to satisfy the population worldwide, is again heading the agenda. This scenario provoked a rapid expansion of agribusiness and enhanced international participation based on the relative abundance of natural resources. The first part of this article presents the spatial dynamics surrounding the production of commodities and gives evidence of the sharp increase in land price in Brazil. The second part attempts to understand the factors that affect price dynamics and subsequent effects over capital allocation in the sector, addressing the impact of the recent boom of commodities and rising interest by foreign actors in Brazilian land. The conclusion elaborates on the possible land pricing developments and political unfolding.Keywords: Natural Resources; Land; Land Grabbing; Commodities; Agribusiness.Due to the sharp increase in the price of agricultural commodities since 2005, the issue surrounding the availability of natural resources essential to satisfy the needs of the population worldwide, such as land and water, is back on the international agenda. Thus, countries where such resources are more abundant, as is the case for Brazil, have gained a strategic position given their capacity for providing food to meet the growing demand worldwide. This article investigates how the increase in the price of food commodities has impacted land market dynamics in Brazil. 1One of the central hypotheses is that the food price rise brings about an increase in demand for land in countries that export such goods, as with Brazil, inducing an increase in price of land-related assets in these countries (in the short term). Moreover, following the economic theory of international trade, an increase in the relative price has significant allocative and distributive effects (Feenstra 2015): more resources will be used for export food, and the owner of these resources will benefit from the increase in export. A study by the World Bank, for example, has concluded that the increase in agricultural production