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Copyright of Revista Tamoios is the property of Editora da Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (EdUERJ) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The literature analyzing the spatial distribution of scientific and technological production in Brazil identifies differences in the regional distribution of scientific and technological resources. In this paper, we contribute to this discussion, by analyzing the dynamics of the production of new scientific knowledge in the states that contributed the most to national scientific production in the period 2000–10: Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais and Rio Grande do Sul, also known as the ‘scientific quartet’. Our hypothesis is that even with federal policies aimed at the expansion and decentralization of the production of new scientific knowledge, this production is still strongly anchored in the ‘scientific quartet’. We further identify a concentration of scientific production in three major areas of knowledge: agricultural, biological and health sciences. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Copyright of Brazilian Review of Economics & Agribusiness / Revista de Economia e Agronegócio is the property of Brazilian Review of Economics & Agribusiness / Revista de Economia e Agronegocio and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Exacta is the property of Exacta - Engenharia de Producao and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Revista Tamoios is the property of Editora da Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (EdUERJ) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) countries are among the global leaders in the production and exports of agricultural and fisheries commodities, accounting for 15% of the world's average agri-food export from 1995 to 2019. With rising global market competitiveness, considering the agri-food sector, it is important to assess if the region can compete against other global rivals, and in what products. Accounting for regional potential economic power, remarkable agricultural food export and market expansion, this paper explored the LAC agricultural trade patterns and export competitiveness through the analysis of the Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA) index, and its modifications - SRCA (Symmetric Revealed Comparative Advantage), RTA (Relative Trade Advantage, and RC (Revealed Competitiveness) - in the agricultural sector for the period of 1995-2019. This paper contributes to the literature by presenting the export characteristics in Latin American developing countries, which can be an important instrument for decision-makers in the agricultural trade policy. Throughout the research period, the results indicated that Brazil, Argentina, and Mexico were the TOP agri-food exporters in LAC. The highest RCA, SRCA, and RTA were found in Guatemala, whereas the greatest RC was found in Argentina. At the product level analysis, oil seeds and oleaginous fruits, miscellaneous grains, seeds and fruit, industrial or medicinal plants, and straw and fodder (HS12) were the most exported items at the 2-digit level. Fruit and nuts, edible; peel of citrus fruit or melons (HS08) had the most competitiveness in the worldwide market, with the highest SRCA and RC indices, whereas coffee, tea, mate, and spices (HS9) had the highest BRCA and RTA values. The evidence suggests that among the TOP 10 exporters in LAC, all indices in the global agri-food trade are said to be relatively stable, whereas survival rates do not persist over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Labor & Engenho is the property of Universidade Estadual de Campinas - Portal de Periodicos Eletronicos Cientificos and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Geosul is the property of Geosul and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Relações Internacionais is the property of Relacoes Internacionais and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper aimed to analyze the relationships between the variables price, consumption and supply of electricity in rural Brazil and the different public pricing policies applied to the sector. To this end, an autoregressive time series model (VAR) and Granger causality are used, with data from the rural electricity sector, from 1996 to 2020, distributed quarterly. Among the contributions, it is observed that the policy of universalization of access to electrification can be considered a success regarding the number of consumer units reached, however, there is a need for a review regarding the pricing policies applied, since there is a bidirectional relationship, in which Production causes Consumption and Consumption causes Production, but Price does not cause Production, but causes Consumption. This is in line with the results of the VAR model which show that an increase in the price of energy in the Rural Zone would reduce its consumption, negatively impacting productivity, since energy is an important input for production and income in the agricultural sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Brazilian Review of Economics & Agribusiness / Revista de Economia e Agronegócio is the property of Brazilian Review of Economics & Agribusiness / Revista de Economia e Agronegocio and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Estudos Sociedade e Agricultura is the property of Revista Estudos Sociedade e Agricultura and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Purpose Studies on the performance of agribusiness cooperatives in Brazil focus on economic and financial aspects. The purpose of this paper is to further delve into such studies by investigating which commonly measurable structural production factors (horizontal, vertical and lateral diversification; operating area; number of associates; and time in operation) have greater impacts on the financial performance of such cooperatives.Design/methodology/approach To achieve such a goal, a survey was conducted with a sampling pool divided by size (annual net revenues of US$ 50 million or higher), and the questionnaire was employed as a method of data collection. The sample was concentrated in the southern, south-eastern and mid-western regions of Brazil; classified by size; and deemed adequate after several adequacy tests.Findings The results were analysed using Spearman’s correlation, which showed that there were no significant correlations between the structural production factors considered in this study and the economic-financial performance of agricultural cooperatives, which leads to questions about the effectiveness of employing diversification strategies with a conjoint approach. Nonetheless, it was possible to identify several relationships not mentioned in the original hypotheses that might be addressed further in future studies.Research limitations/implications The data obtained should be interpreted with caution because heteroscedasticity was detected. Although the cause could not be clearly identified, the presence of heteroscedasticity could mean that smaller and similar cooperatives present similar variation in their diversification and production base strategies.Originality/value This work sought to generate knowledge regarding operations management, which was achieved by demonstrating that production diversification in a dynamic and relevant economic sector, that is, agricultural cooperatives, is limited in terms of financial return when performed in an isolated mode. Hence, cooperatives’ production managers should take into account the totality of structural production factors during their planning activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista de Economia e Sociologia Rural is the property of Sociedade Brasileira de Economia e Sociologia Rural and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Agribusiness participation in Brazil generates investments in rural infrastructure and employment, with direct effects on local quality of life. In this sense, government policies to support the production of ethanol from sugarcane and to promote bioelectricity from bagasse production have made Brazil a country of world leadership in this field. This paper reports an assessment of socioeconomic impacts due to sugarcane production in three regions in Brazil (Piracicaba, Presidente Prudente and Southwest Goiás). Local quality of life is defined as five dimensions: income and inequality, education, infrastructure, health and general development, analysed using panel data modelling, with variables that could explain differences in development due to local characteristics, including sugarcane activity. Presidente Prudente has the highest levels of progress in education, poverty, infrastructure and general development indicators. The models indicate that participation of sugarcane has positive impacts on the indicators of the microregion. In case of Piracicaba microregion, in two models ('L-Theil' and 'Illiteracy rate') indicators related with sugarcane sector are significant explanatory variables, contributing for better indicators. Finally, Southwest Goias-where sugarcane activity develops later-is the single microregion in which the adjusted models have no significant explanatory variables related to sugarcane sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Brasileira de Engenharia Agricola e Ambiental - Agriambi is the property of Revista Brasileira de Engenharia Agricola e Ambiental and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Revista de Economia e Sociologia Rural is the property of Sociedade Brasileira de Economia e Sociologia Rural and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Agroalimentaria is the property of Alejandro Antonio Gutierrez Socorro and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to characterize food consumption outside the home and verify the existence of relationships between income, expenditure and the prevalence of overweight and obesity in adult individuals in Brazil. Design/methodology/approach – Food expenditure data were used as well as those on the prevalence of overweight and obesity available in the reports from Family Budgets Research carried out by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) in the years 2002-2003 and 2008-2009. In addition, the authors used the Kruskall-Wallis test to verify whether there were significant differences between the classes of income with respect to the average expenditure on food outside the home. Findings – It was observed that the higher the income of the individual, the greater the expenditure on food outside the home. It was also found that the prevalence of overweight and obesity is higher in individuals who have higher income, particularly among men. Thus, it is suggested that the higher the income of the individual, the larger the expenditure on food outside the home and the greater the prevalence of overweight and obesity. Research limitations/implications – This study used spending on food away from home (FAFH), but the authors know that is need to use other variables like frequency of FAFH and quantities but this data were not available. Practical implications – The study points to the importance of restaurants in the prevention of obesity, since they can offer in their menus foods with fewer calories, and they can also increase the variety and availability of fruits and vegetables. Originality/value – The study discusses the public health problem, obesity, at the same time as it presents the importance of agribusiness in providing a balanced diet for individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work presents a review related to the obtainment of cellulose from different structures in agro-industrial residues, both for application in the food industry and for the reinforcement of other materials. Cellulose nanofibers are produced by the heart of palm (Bactris gasipaes) industry in Brazil and are used as a stabilizer in avocado oil emulsions; conversely, cellulose nanocrystals are produced in waste from the tequila industry (Agave tequilana Weber var. Azul) in Jalisco, Mexico, and are used for reinforcement applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Business cycle analysis faces the challenge of high-dimensional databases with a time-irregular span. This study addresses these issues to estimate the Brazilian agricultural business cycle by proposing the use of an entropic test of relative information and the estimation of a generalized dynamic factor model in the context of a time-irregular span. In addition, we assess the co-movements between the estimated cycle and a wide range of weather, macroeconomic, and sectoral variables. The main results are: (i) the sharpest crises of the agricultural cycle are associated more with weather events than with Brazil's economic crises, reinforcing that agriculture has a stabilizing role in the aggregated cycles; (ii) among all the variables analyzed, those related to weather (minimum and maximum temperature and precipitation) present the greatest commonalities with the agricultural cycle and are leading indicators; (iii) minimum temperatures and precipitation in states are essentially pro-cyclical, while maximum temperatures are pro-cyclical in typically colder states and counter-cyclical in warmer states; (iv) following the weather variables, credit variables had the highest average commonalities, with phases of expansion in the agricultural cycle leading to contractions in the indicators of arrears and defaults and in the interest rate of rural credit, with some time lag; (v) the behavior of the Brazilian economy and global demand for imports are also antecedent and pro-cyclical, but with relatively smaller commonalities; and (vi) expansions of the agricultural cycle lead to contractions in the unemployment rate of the economy. The contribution of this study is twofold: (1) its methodological innovation and (2) its application to the Brazilian agricultural business cycle, both of which are unprecedented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This full paper has made part of a huge one project titled "For a geography in the baiano west". Full paper which one was developed in the area in Geography's graduation in the Institute of Ambient Sciences and Sustainable Development at Federal university from Bahia (ICAD/UFBA) and had like a point to analyze one of the areas of agricultural modernization of the northeast region in Brazil, the Baiano's West, it understands while a product historically constructed in order to recognize the paper of the work and the technological conquests in the estructuration of the territory, in the regional differentiation and the particularityes of the place. It's really important to consider the changes of Baiano's West occurred of the introduction of informacional-scientific-technician way had introduced new relations on the space, with implications of social, cultural, politics and ambient order, which it needs to be investigated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on field research in southern Brazil, this paper examines successful experiences of encampment, and especially of two agricultural cooperatives of the Landless Rural Workers Movement (MST) as part of the solidarity economy. These co-ops exemplified collective searches for better living conditions to respond to people's needs and hopes, beside and beyond the market economy. The paper thus explores (1) community dynamics and movement-building among MST participants as they interact with one another and are shaped by daily practices in their collective struggle for land access and justice; (2) how they foster alternative imaginaries (vision, hope, projects), forms of production, and social reproduction that nurture greater autonomy, solidarity, cooperation, and democratic participation; and (3) how various forms of cooperation allow MST participants to appropriate, defy and transform dominant norms and practices in their everyday lives. The latter process is crucial for researchers and activists interested in social change since these forces are contributing to opening up spaces that allow the emergence of new norms and values, intertwined with new practices and ways of being in the making, despite existing obstacles and challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Dos Algarves: A Multidisciplinary e-Journal is the property of Dos Algarves: A Multidisciplinary e-Journal and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of REUNIR: Revista de Administração, Contabilidade e Sustentabilidade is the property of REUNIR - Revista de Administracao, Contabilidade e Sustentabilidade and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Acta Geográfica is the property of Acta Geografica and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The existing international economic order has been heavily shaped by US power and the US has been a key driver of globalisation and neoliberal economic restructuring, prompting speculation about whether the rise of new developing country powers could rupture the current trajectory of neoliberal globalisation. This paper analyses the case of Brazil at the World Trade Organization (WTO), a core institution in global economic governance. In the last decade, Brazil successfully waged two landmark trade disputes against the US and EU and created a coalition of developing countries – the G20 – which brought an end to the dominance of the US and EU at the WTO and made their trade policies a central target of the Doha Round. Brazil's activism has been widely hailed as a major victory for developing countries. However, I argue that rather than challenging the neoliberal agenda of the WTO, Brazil has emerged as one of the most vocal advocates of free market globalisation and the push to expand and liberalise global markets. I show that Brazil's stance has been driven by the rise of its export-oriented agribusiness sector. This case demonstrates that business actors from the Global South are becoming significant new protagonists in global economic governance; they are taking the tools created by the states and corporations of the Global North – in this case, the WTO and its neoliberal discourse – and turning them against their originators. At the same time, their interests are being wrapped in and advanced through a discourse of development and social justice and a strategic mobilisation of the politics of the North-South divide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Mediacoes is the property of Universidade Estadual de Londrina and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Revista Eletrônica em Gestão, Educação e Tecnologia Ambiental is the property of Revista Eletronica em Gestao, Educacao e Tecnologia Ambiental and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Acta Geográfica is the property of Acta Geografica and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Revista Espaço de Diálogo e de Desconexão is the property of Revista Espaco de Dialogo e de Desconexao and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Revista de Economia e Sociologia Rural is the property of Sociedade Brasileira de Economia e Sociologia Rural and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Revista Eletrônica em Gestão, Educação e Tecnologia Ambiental is the property of Revista Eletronica em Gestao, Educacao e Tecnologia Ambiental and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The world's most influential development agency, the World Bank Group (WBG), is the leading actor in development finance and plays a central role in global efforts to protect the environment. Following the Rio Earth Summit in 1992, the institution was responsible for all investment projects of the Global Environment Facility (GEF), which was then newly established to serve as the interim financial mechanism for the United Nations Conventions on Climate Change and Biodiversity. The promise that the GEF would lead to the “greening” of development finance remains largely unfulfilled. More recently the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change appointed the WBG as the interim trustee of the new Green Climate Fund which plans to mobilize an estimated US$ 100 billion per year by 2020. While the World Bank Group plays this critical role in global environmental efforts, its main business continues to be lending for development. This includes the financing of large-scale infrastructure projects, agribusiness, large dams as well as investments in gas, oil and mining. This regular lending portfolio for development is often at odds with environmental sustainability. For example, despite the growing area of climate finance, support for fossil fuel projects continues to be dominant in the institution's lending for the energy sector. Another climate-related area is the World Bank's pioneering role in advancing REDD+, an initiative designed to reduce the emission of global green house gases by integrating efforts to protect forest areas into global carbon markets. Ultimately, its success will depend on addressing sensitive questions such as land ownership, forest governance and the equitable sharing of benefits. In conclusion the paper considers the underlying corporate culture and the difficulties in reconciling environmental and social sustainability with the institution's supply-side driven focus on meeting lending targets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of RAE: Revista de Administração de Empresas is the property of Fundacao Getulio Vargas and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The use of sugarcane as an energy source makes Brazil responsible for one of the most important renewable energy programmes in the world. Besides being an important strategic and cheap option, the partial substitution of ethanol for gasoline in the country's automobile fleet has a strong environmental appeal: it contributes to improving the air quality in urban areas and to the reduction of emissions of greenhouse-effect gases. Fuels derived from sugarcane, which include ethanol, sugarcane processed stalks, known as bagasse, and sugarcane straw are the driving force behind profound changes in Brazil's agriculture, industry and energy supply. These renewable fuels are already the second-most important source of energy in the country, accounting for 16% of the country's entire consumption, behind only petroleum. This paper presents the current status and future perspectives of the sugarcane agribusiness in Brazil, highlighting the advances in productivity, costs and exports, the environmental and social benefits of their products and the main challenges facing its future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The expansion of agrofuel crops challenges us to rethink policies, territories, human agency, and the paradigms used to explain them. In Brazil, policies supporting the expansion of agrofuel crops and the intensification of agrofuel production are reorganising rural land use and undermining some forms of participation in the capitalist and family modes of production. To reflect on this new reality, we study peasant movement reactions, proposals, and territorial disputes with agribusiness. Using the Pontal do Paranapanema region of Sao Paulo state as a case in point, the paper analyses territorial disputes between expanding sugarcane plantations and agrarian reform settlements as well as biodiesel production projects developed by the Landless Workers Movement (MST) and the Western Sao Paulo Federation of Settlement and Family Farmer Associations (FAAFOP). It also analyses the agrofuel policies of other peasant organisations, including Via Campesina. The production of agrofuels has changed the processes of land acquisition and use by both agribusiness and the peasantry, provoking new insights into the nature of territorial conflicts and thereby stimulating the need to revise perspectives on the agrarian question in Brazil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Brazilian Journal of Applied Economics / Economía Aplicada is the property of FEA-RP, Universidade de Sao Paulo and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Abstract: This paper presents a study based on the Systems Thinking and Scenario Planning (STSP) method, focusing the biodiesel production chain of Rio Grande do Sul State. The aim of the study was to identify key elements to comprehend the systemic structure of interaction among the ties of this chain. The study was held by a team of specialists over five months, including 15 meetings. Discussions were based on quantitative and qualitative data and a systemic map was constructed and refined. Based on this modeling, four different prospective scenarios were comparatively analyzed in order to propose strategic actions to promote the sustainability and competitiveness of the chain. The results were then presented to two different groups of external specialists in order to validate the conclusions drawn and the proposals. Both groups agreed with the ideas presented. The paper is constructed as follows: a brief introduction focusing on contextual elements of the biodiesel production in Brazil and in Rio Grande do Sul; some background material regarding agroindustrial production chains and an overview of the biodiesel production chain of interest; a description of the method used to perform the research; main results and discussion; and conclusions. With this paper the authors also hope to contribute to the discussion regarding competitiveness and sustainability of biofuel chains in Brazil. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Copyright of Sociologias is the property of Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Cuadernos de Desarrollo Rural is the property of Pontificia Universidad Javeriana and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Agriculture has always been an important economic activity in Brazil and is now among the most dynamic sectors in the Brazilian economy. However, a lot of controversy has risen over the impact of such phenomenon on the Brazilian Amazon. This paper offers a critical overview of the literature on the expansion of the Brazilian agricultural frontier, demonstrating its impact on the degradation of the Amazon forest based on secondary data and institutional document sources. An overview of the historical development of the Brazilian Amazon basin is conducted by looking in a critical way at some implications of such a phenomenon. Rather then commenting on an empirical study, the objective of this paper is to present a theoretical analysis of the models of development adopted for the Amazon region in Brazil, showing the relative importance of different variables and factors to the depletion of that ecosystem. It is argued that although the figures show net benefit to the Brazilian economy, the prosperity which is advocated to be brought by the agricultural explosion favors mostly established elites and vested international interests, which have contributed to the degradation of the Amazon forest for a long time. It is suggested that the focus on Brazilian agricultural growth as the main driver of deforestation of the Amazon has omitted the historical links to the deforestation problem and the related role of effective international cooperation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista de Economia e Sociologia Rural is the property of Sociedade Brasileira de Economia e Sociologia Rural and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Latin American Business Review is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The Xingu River Basin (XRB) in the Brazilian Amazon region has a great relevance to the development of northern Brazil because of the Belo Monte hydropower plant and its crescent agribusiness expansion. This study aimed to evaluate the potential of the Lavras Simulation of the Hydrology (LASH) model to represent the main hydrological processes in the XRB and simulate the hydrological impacts in the face of land-use change scenarios. Following the trend of the most relevant agribusiness evolution in the XRB, four agribusiness scenarios (S) were structured considering the increase in grasslands (S1: 50% over the native forest; S2: 100% over the native forest) and soybean plantations (S3: 50% over the native forest; S4: 100% over native forest). Average hydrographs were simulated, and the frequency duration curves (FDC) and average annual values of the main hydrological components for each scenario were compared. The results showed that, in general, changes in land use based on deforestation in the XRB would lead to an increase in flood streamflow and a reduction in baseflow. The increases in direct surface runoff varied from 4.4% for S1 to 29.8% for S4 scenarios. The reduction in baseflow varied from −1.6% for S1 to −4.9% for S2. These changes were reduced when the entire XRB was analyzed, but notable for the sub-basins in its headwater region, where the scenarios were more effective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]