Vanessa Lucena Empinotti

Claiming (back) the land: the geopolitics of Egyptian and South African land and water grabs

Snapped up for, in places, as little as fifty cents per hectare, African land is not necessarily brought into immediate food, forestry and mining production, and when it is, staples and biofuels dominate rather than export crops. Speculative hoarding, with a view to bringing the land into production when grain and other staples commodities markets are at their most profitable or selling the cheaply acquired land off again at enormous profit at a propitious future moment. The present contribution will see land grab, along with the virtual energy and virtual water that come with the land, as a phase in an ongoing geopolitical game for influence. Moreover, the present article considers the circumstances and options of two regionally hegemonic powers, Egypt and South Africa, claiming land and virtual water - or claiming it back.

Beyond the dualities: a nuanced understanding of Brazilian soybean producers

Brazil has become one of the main agricultural commodity and food exporters in the world and countries of the Middle East are part of its consumer market. On the other hand, the increasing demand coming from these countries impacts the type of farming practices and categories taking place in Brazil. In many cases, commodity production is associated with the agribusiness model, criticized for its social and environmental costs. In this context, it is important to unveil who are responsible for production of commodities and what is behind the concept of agribusiness farming in Brazil. This paper aims at describing and discussing a more nuanced and multifaceted notion of soybean producers in the light of an empirical study conducted in Canarana at the Upper Xingu river basin, in the state of Mato Grosso. Land tenure, scale, and production models contribute to defining the farming categories in place. In this particular region, medium size farms prevail over large ones as a consequence of the type of colonization of the land as well as for historical reasons. This work suggests that, to understand the social dynamics taking place at an agricultural frontier, one has to break from the dichotomies that separate groups on opposite sides and recognize the heterogeneity that comprises farming categories in a food-export country, such as Brazil. This understanding will thus help to identify and formulate future public policies and strategies that can contribute to ensuring food availability as well as good quality of both life and the environment in an increasingly interconnected world.

Politics of Scale and Water Governance in the Upper Xingu River Basin, Brazil

The Amazon region poses a great challenge for the water resources management regime in Brazil. Its large area, widely dispersed population, and the small number of economic activities based in the region’s river basins have hampered the implementation of decentralized and participatory institutional structures as defined in Brazil’s Water Law 9433, approved in 1997. The lack of spaces for negotiation, combined with rising demand for water and energy, has led to serious conflict, as was recently the case with the Belo Monte Dam, under construction along the lower Xingu River. The growing demand for water and energy has led to conflict and distress, while state authorities and the agriculture sector have focused their attention on land tenure and deforestation, leaving water management and access as a secondary issue. However, while water is not explicitly on the agenda, it is water availability that allows intensive food production in the region to expand. So, how are formal water institutions reaching the local and municipal scale? Who are the groups involved? How are their strategies influencing water access and environmental conservation in the region?