Unpacking Brazil’s Leadership in the Global Biofuels Arena: Brazilian Ethanol Diplomacy in Africa

Abstract

Biofuels represent an opportunity for Brazil to exert global leadership by substantially scaling up the production, consumption, and international trade of bioethanol. Africa represents an ideal venue in which to do this, given its suitable agro-climatic conditions and extensive land area. Brazil has consequently sought to establish bilateral partnerships with African countries, as well as North-South-South trilateral partnerships involving the EU and US. However, empirically grounded assessments of how Brazil's leadership aspirations have unfolded in practice through these partnerships are limited. In this article, we examine Brazil's potential to exert global political leadership, by analyzing its policybased, structural, and instrumental qualities in making bilateral and trilateral inroads regarding bioethanol production in Africa. Interviews in Brazil, Africa, and Europe suggest that both the bilateral and trilateral avenues have produced meager results. Lack of domestic strategy and vision, economic recession, and a fragmented alliance network have reduced Brazil's capacity to achieve its ethanol diplomacy objectives.

Fuelling friendships or driving divergence? Legitimacy, coherence, and negotiation in Brazilian perceptions of European and American biofuels governance

“…sugar, meat and cereals. 4 Such protectionism is perceived as hypocritical, as it distorts international competition at the expense of the developing world (BR-POL#2, 2013; BR-POL#8, 2015).…”

“…Afionis and Stringer [4] point to the policy implications of such contrasting perceptions. For example, US public and private actors have been far more active in Brazil in the area of advanced biofuels compared to their EU counterparts.…”

Brics on the African Energy Market: Current Situation and Prospects for Mutual Cooperation

“…We have transformed the hypothesis put forward in (Olivier and Suchkov, 2015;Fidan and Aras, 2010) into a new dimension of Africa-BRICS energy cooperation. Afionis et al (2016) specify the main areas of energy cooperation between Brazil and Africa and emphasize the Brazilian strategy of conquering the African markets. Furthermore, they state that the energy exports of a country depend on its energy specialization, and allow us to make conclusions on the specialization of the BRICS countries in energy sector.…”

Local-global linkages in the food regime: global history and the internationalization of Brazilian agribusiness

“…Despite the benefits of "innovation-promoting institutions" (e.g., Copersucar) (Doner et al 2009), which were essential for the production of ethanol and state support of Brazilian producers, Brazil has not sustained domestic production and has not been able to create a global demand for ethanol. Reasons for this include mismanagement in the sugarcane production, political crisis in a highly subsidized sector, and lack of vision to carry out its "ethanol diplomacy" (Afionis et al 2016).…”