Financialization of agribusiness and land use: the strategies of SLC Agricola Group in Brazil

• Grant number: 14/25472-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: March 01, 2015
• End date: March 31, 2016
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Geography - Human Geography
• Principal Investigator: Samuel Frederico
• Grantee: Yuri Martenauer Saweljew
• Host Institution: Instituto de Geociências e Ciências Exatas (IGCE). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Rio Claro. Rio Claro , SP, Brazil
• Associated scholarship(s): 15/18704-0 - Financialization of agribusiness and land use: strategies of SLC Agrícola group in Brazil, BE.EP.IC

Abstract

In times of strong financial expansion of the historical geography of capitalism, such as the current period of globalization, the financial logic prevails over the economic logic, autonomizing itself from societies and the real economy, and to impose its profitability standards for enterprises and territory . However, the strategies and the scope of action of different financial agents are not independent of socio-spatial training, its forms and its norms. Thus, in order to understand the relationship between the current global financial phenomenon and the agricultural use of Brazilian territory, we will analyze the strategies pursued SLC Agrícola company. Thereunto, we will analyze how the capitalization resulting from the initial public offering of the stocking exchanges may introduce a new territorial logic of action, based upon the use of new technical and normative content: intensification, standardization and specialization, new territorial division of the company's work, continuing need for expansion of production scale. At the same time, as its actions depend on the material and normative conditions of the Brazilian socio-spacial formation: availability of land with favorable climate and soil qualities (soil and rainfall), inability to acquire land with environmental liabilities and dual ownership and logistic conditions problems. In order to learn and qualify strategies SLC Agrícola research includes the three main aspects approach: a) the identification of financial agents and how it can impose its profitability logic to agricultural production activities; b) the main technical systems used for production intensification and expansion of production scale; c) the strategies of choosing location to its production units.