Brazilian Civil Society and South–South Cooperation: Countering the Green Revolution from Abroad

Abstract

Having transformed its hinterland to become a major exporter of agricultural commodities, Brazil has, since the mid-2000s, set up a range of South–South cooperation (SSC) initiatives to export its agri-food policies and technologies to othe countries, mainly in Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa. Both the domestic agricultural policies and SSC have been scrutinised and shaped by interactions with civil society actors, from peasant associations and trade unions to rights-based non-governmental organisations. This article explores modes of interaction and interdependence between different civil society and state actors in the context of SSC relating to food security and agricultural development. It analyses changes and continuities in civil society engagement, and mobilisation and de-mobilisation dynamics. Recently, the government’s de-prioritisation of the South–South agenda has been accompanied by very limited civil society activism. The article discusses why this needs attention and the challenges that need to be considered to reinstate productive state–civil society dynamics.

Active non-alignment: Brazil and the measurement of South-South Development Cooperation

“…This section discusses how the measurement of SSC has become not only an important dimension of international development debates in the last decade, but also a "duty" for major Southern partners. The measurement of Official Development Assistance (ODA), a concept coined by the OECD to define the contours of international development assistance provided by DAC member countries, or "donors", is a constitutive element of the IDC system (Milani and Duarte, 2015;Waisbich, 2023). ODA related measurement norms and practices, conceived and refined since the late 1960s, can be see through a set of (both formal and informal) transparency and accountability principles, rules, regulations, as well as mechanisms to guide the behavior of "donors" (traditionally from the North) and "beneficiaries" (traditionally from the South) in quantifying, evaluating, and reporting flows and results of cooperation initiatives.…”

“…The socialization of the major Southern partners (among them Brazil) to the existing regime also aimed at controlling and disciplining them, as was previously done with other members of the OECD/DAC, especially Japan (Bracho, 2017;Kim and Lighfoot, 2011;Kobayashi, 2023). In other words, by boosting the SSC measurement agenda, actors in the field sought to regulate the behavior of Southern partners based on a set of expectations about what it means to be a "good donor/development cooperation partner," which include the "duty to measure" cooperation flows and impact (Waisbich, 2023). Not surprisingly, the debate on measurement becomes then perceived, especially by diplomats in Southern partners, as (yet another) attempt by traditional donors to coerce them or, in the words of the then Indian ambassador to the UN, impose a "straitjacket" (India, 2019).…”

“…However, it remains to be seen what else will be done so that the dialogue at the UN, and in other international IDC-related forums, will be of a two-way adaptation process, of "mutual adjustments", an expression used by Ipea researchers, also on the part of traditional donors (Ferreira et al, 2020, p. 12). Although formulated as a demand on the part of the Brazilian government when negotiating the measurement of its cooperation, "mutual adjustments" have been increasingly frequent in the field, illustrating ongoing dynamics of mutual socialization and circulation of models (Waisbich, 2023) between "traditional donors" and "Southern partners". Finally, while recent negotiations have enabled the emergence of acceptable solutions for the integration of "Southern perspectives" into the existing IDC measurement systems, power dynamics still strongly shape these debates.…”

“…The data provided 18. For further discussion of the plurality of actors that make up the category of civil society active in SSC issues in Brazil, see Berrón and Brant (2015) and Waisbich and Cabral (2023).…”

“…flows stems from an accountability to the commitment made by "rich countries" to allocate 0.7% of their gross national income to international aid, an "obligation" that does not exist in South-South relations (Besharati, 2017;Bracho, 2017;Waisbich, 2023).…”