Brazilian presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro won the national elections on Sunday by securing 55.1% of the ballots cast. The Social Liberal Party candidate campaigned on a conservative platform, promising to fight corruption, strengthen ties with the United States and loosen gun controls. The victory comes during a period mired by corruption scandals in Brazil and the biggest economic recession in the country’s history. In this strange climate, there has been one industry that has carried the economy through recession and is expected to continue growing in the future: agriculture. Despite what some consider far-right views, Bolsonaro has attracted the support of the agricultural sector in Brazil as his helm leaves the country’s buoyant food sector poised for further growth.
The Parliamentary Agricultural Front (FPA), which represents the country’s more powerful agribusiness sector in both houses of the senate, endorsed Bolsonaro weeks ahead of the election. This support comes with the hope that he will help remove obstacles for agricultural producers, which are constantly held aback by regulations that make human resources complex, bureaucratic and mired in red tape. Moreover, the prospect of a Brazil without the endemic corruption of recent years offers opportunities for the nation to awake from recent years as a sleeping giant.
Brazil boasts the world’s eighth-largest GDP, is the largest economy in Latin America, and one of the largest agricultural exporting nations in the world. Expected to become the world’s largest foods exporter by 2020, the agriculture and agribusiness sectors have been the biggest contributor to the economic recovery of Brazil, now representing 23.5% of GDP, the highest level in 17 years. The most recent harvest report in Brazil (16/17) is projected to be 238 million metric tons, more than double the harvest just ten years ago.
In recent years, Brazil has advanced to strengthen the sustainability attributes of agribusiness, based on balanced farming, forestry integration and resource preservation. Investments in agricultural innovation continue to increase, with a focus on technologies that enhance productivity and efficiency. Methods like precision agriculture, for instance, aim to reduce the use of pesticides and enhance soil condition for the long-term, and are becoming increasingly prominent across Brazil.
As an agricultural project in northeast Brazil, Primal stands to benefit from a president that supports the agricultural sector by promoting exports and opening the doors to foreign investment projects. Although the media and some foreign governments have raised concerns about Bolsonaro’s right leaning views, it was very clear that Bolsonaro was the preferred choice for the agricultural industry.
Agriculture’s market dynamics are clear – the sector is set to outperform other sectors in the future, due to the growing demand for food in our world caused by a rising population, expected to reach 10 billion by 2050.
The new government in Brazil will strive to ensure the country’s position at the forefront of the sector, due to its great importance to not only the national economy, but the global one as well.
The overwhelming reception from the agriculture industry has been emphatic in its support for Bolsonaro, and whether you concur with his views across the board or not, the agriculture sector looks set for exponential growth under his stewardship. While not all of the incoming President’s views are to our liking, his presidency in terms of support for agriculture, looks to be a good thing for our business. We are confident that the new government will work with companies like us to ensure a bright future across the agricultural sector.
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