Farmers, Autonomy and Biodiesel: What Can We Learn from Brazil’s Experiment with Biodiesel for Rural Development Policy?

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Abstract

Brazil’s National Biodiesel Production and Use Policy (PNPB), structured to support smallholder family farmers, promised rural development and social inclusion outcomes whilst maintaining several elements of productivist agriculture. By 2011 a peak of up to 100,000 smallholder farmers were participating in the PNPB and yet by 2015, this had dropped less than half with only 45,000 remaining. By 2018, the
Brazilian State had largely turned away from the biodiesel experiment and quietly started the process of the dis-vestment from the sector and the social inclusion focus. However, before the state had turned away, the smallholder farmers themselves were opting out, co-opting the resources from the program and resisting involvement. This paper will explore (a) what can be learnt from smallholder farmers experiences of the PNPB in terms of agricultural policies for social outcomes and (b) in imagining agrifood
transitions how might the autonomy of smallholder farmers inform our starting point?

Conference

ConferenceIV ISA Forum of Sociology Challenges of the 21st Century:
Country/TerritoryBrazil
CityPorto Alegre
Period22/02/2128/02/21
Internet address

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